Selected Press and Publications

  • Fashionable Technology: The Intersection of Design, Fashion, Science, and Technology by Sabine Seymour. Springer Publishing, May, 2008.

  • BBC tech news
  • Glamour Magazine
  • LCI France
  • La Presse, Montreal
  • El Pais, Spain
  • Naver, Korea
  • Eslite, Taiwan
  • Newstalk Ireland
  • W Radio Colombia
  • Core77
  • We Make Money Not Art
  • Wired blog
  • Gizmodo
  • Engadget
  • Boing Boing
  • Apartment Therapy
  • SwissMiss

Working Papers

Reflective Informational Displays: The Smoking Jacket and The Malignant Mole Bikini by Fiona Carswell. Working Paper, May 2008.
Abstract: Behavioral choices which have a negative connotation in society, e.g. smoking and tanning, can be difficult to design around, due to the complex and contradictory emotions behind making those choices. For example, people who tan may struggle with the desire to appear "healthy" with a tan, yet they also are aware of how unhealthy it is. This paper explores using humor and reflective design to create an atmosphere of self-estrangement where people might be able to realize the contradictory nature of the behavior in which they are choosing to engage. Two explorative design prototypes are discussed and tested: "The Malignant Mole Bikini", a bikini which "grows" moles after exposure to UV light, and "The Smoking Jacket", a jacket with exposed lungs that fill with smoke as a smoker exhales. Accepted to the International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR) conference 2009 (unable to attend). Please email me for a copy.

Co-Dependent Gloves: An Analysis of Heat Elements, Magnetic Connectors, and Gesture in Co-Dependent Hand-warming Glovesby Fiona Carswell. Working paper, July 2008.
Abstract: Inter-human dependencies, such as the need for body warmth, can be lost in modern world technology that aims for independence and self-reliance. Co-Dependent Gloves is a set of warming gloves that rebel against one aspect of self-reliant, survivalist technology: self-heating winter gloves. Co-Dependent Gloves requires that two people hold hands in order to warm their hands. When wearers grasp each other's hands, heating elements in both gloves are triggered through a series of magnets and conductive fabric, warming both the back of your hand, and the fingers of the other person. In this paper I analyze the use of 9-volt flat-panel heating elements in a soft circuit design, and I present a technique for guiding the wearers into a hand-holding gesture which enables completion of the circuit without short-circuiting the gloves. Please email me for a copy.

Pacifica Pier: Observations at the Rev. Herschell Harkins Memorial Pier in Pacifica, California by Fiona Carswell. January 2009. Quick study of direct and latent design needs at a local fishing pier.Please email me for a copy.

Exhibitions

  • SIGGRAPH 2007
  • ITP Winter Show, 2005 and 2006
  • ITP Spring Show, 2006 and 2007