Project Proposal: Interactive Teddy Bear

Intention

For my final project I want to make an interactive teddy bear for children. A homemade pressure sensor using conductive fabric and two layers of non-conductive material would be sewn inside of the bear. When you hug or squeeze the bear, red LEDs in its cheeks light up so the bear seems to glow and smile. When I was a little kid playing with toys I would imagine my teddy bear was alive and could hear me and speak with me, so I’d like to be able to explore that interaction in a pretty simple way.

Components

- soft fuzzy fabric

- cotton stuffing

- conductive fabric and thread

- sewable battery cap and small battery

- red sewable LEDs

(pressure sensor and pattern images from instructables.com)

Reflection

After this class I was really interested in the concept of homemade sensors, and after doing some research realized that they’re pretty easy to make and have broad possibility. One issue to consider for this project may be accessibility to the circuitry once being sewn in (may have to make an openable back or something similar).