An anti-communication device designed by Kate for people in a dispute. Harsh words are lost within the soft felt tube while the users are forced into eye contact.

Although she could only stay for a short time, I had the great pleasure of a brief interaction with wearable computing expert Kate Hartman who was one of the presenters at the Cenart series here in Mexico City.

She brought some props for audience interaction in her inspiring presentation.

Kate is best known for the project Botanicalls, in which sensors on houseplants call plant owners asking for watering, sunlight, etc. Here is a fun video about the project:

After the initial phone project, Kate and her collaborators created a twitter kit with Sparkfun electronics that is still in distribution. She also was involved in the creation of the Lilypad, a version of the arduino board designed to be integrated into clothing using conductive thread. She’s working on a how to book that I am looking forward to getting. What I did really like about her work is that she doesn’t privilege work that uses electronics over good, simple ideas, and students in her wearable computing lab can make work using whatever technology is appropriate to the project.

At a lucheria (I think that’s the right word?) in Coyacan Mercado

Here is Kate’s inspiring TED talk: