Project Calico: Wearable Chemical Sensors for Environmental Monitoring
This work addresses environmental monitoring for general public awareness, but it is incremental as it builds on existing cosmetic and fabrication methods without introducing new sensing paradigms.
Project Calico tackled the problem of unnoticed environmental hazards by developing wearable chemical sensors integrated into fashion items like hair and temporary tattoos, which change color in response to UV exposure, with findings from focus groups indicating user interest and potential use patterns.
Environmental hazards often go unnoticed because they are invisible to the naked eye, posing risks to our health over time. Project Calico aims to raise awareness of these risks by augmenting everyday fashion with color-changing chemical sensors that can be observed at a glance or captured by a smartphone camera. Project Calico leverages existing cosmetic and fabrication processes to democratize environmental sensing, enabling creators to make their own accessories. We present two fashionable instantiations of Project Calico involving UV irradiation. EcoHair, created by hair treatment, is UV-sensitive hair that intensifies in color saturation depending on the UV intensity. EcoPatches, created by inkjet printing, can be worn as temporary tattoos that change their color to reflect cumulative UV exposure over time. We present findings from two focus groups regarding the Project Calico vision and gathered insights from their overall impressions and projected use patterns.