For the last week, @Kickbee has been in the spotlight, and I appreciate every comment and critique I’ve heard or read.

I think one of the problems with Kickbee being publicized so early in its production was the fact that it still looked cold and uninviting.  I had always intended to make the Kickbee soft and comfy, but the fleece cover was the last of my priorities while I was attempting to make it actually work.

At the ITP Winter Show 2008, however, I was able to present the Kickbee to the public as it was intended…as a piece of interactive maternity clothing:

That’s my beautiful wife, Ellen!  I’m no seamstress, but I hope the cover characterizes the Kickbee as a safe and comfortable garment.

Of all the criticisms I have heard, the only ones that have bothered me are those that assume I created the Kickbee to advertise the fact that we’re having a baby and should therefore be paid attention to, or that I was attempting to “control” or even “fix” my wife’s pregnancy in some way.  I assure you, the Kickbee was created for one simple purpose:  to provide a way for me to connect with my wife and our developing child remotely.  The ability to share the activity with the public is just incidental.  In fact, the technology itself is incidental.  It’s not about utilizing sensors, Bluetooth, or Twitter…it’s about using tools available to us to reach out in ways never before possible.

This has become even more important to me when talking to people interested in Kickbee.  One gentleman who left a comment on my last Kickbee blog post wrote to tell me how he had to go overseas for two months for work, and would be missing the final months and birth of his second child.  Kickbee could afford him a way to connect with his wife and baby.  And what about the thousands of men in our armed forces who are stationed abroad and are not able to put their hands to their wives’ bellies to feel that little nudge underneath?

Additionally, I have heard from several new and potential mothers and grandmothers that are eager to use a Kickbee to help monitor fetal movements for medical reasons.  I’m not sure Kickbee is at the point where I would trust it to register every kick, nor do I think it would sense the rolling and turning movements inside the womb that are nearly imperceptible to external touch, but I can see how using a properly-optimized version of Kickbee could potentially assist mothers and their doctors by acting as a fetal movement monitor.

I would also like to dispel some misinformation that has been spreading about the Kickbee and myself.  While I have mentioned that Kickbee could easily update Facebook, it currently does not do so, nor do I believe that it would be a good solution.  This would run counter to my intention of not imposing our baby’s activity on an unwilling public, as updating a Facebook Status would push the “kick” out to each and every Facebook friend, and they would have no way to prevent it.  I would also like to clarify that I am not a PhD candidate at NYU, I am expecting a Masters degree.  (No “Dr. Menscher” anytime soon!)

I would like to thank all those who have responded to me personally, whether via comments, email, or who visited me at the ITP Winter Show 2008.  I am completely humbled by the attention and responses Kickbee has generated.  I am also extremely grateful to the faculty and my amazingly talented fellow students at ITP.  The support of the ITP community is second to none!  And of course, I’d like to thank my wonderfully supportive wife, Ellen…who not only “gets” the project and why I created it, but sat for four hours each night of the ITP Winter Show to model it.  She even did a lot of talking about the project without me!  Between the three of us, it was definitely a family effort.

As the creator of Kickbee, I’ve been getting a kick (hah!) out of many of the comments on the blogs that have written about it.  It seems there are two categories of people…those who think the Kickbee is a nice idea, and those who are all but disgusted by it.

My original idea was to have Kickbee connect to my wife’s mobile phone and send an SMS message directly to me.  But my wife and I have iPhones, so using a Sparkfun Bluetooth module and an Arduino microcontroller would not have been possible.  (The iPhone’s bluetooth functionality is locked down to all but the most basic “headset” features, which prevents creative exploration such as this.)  As an avid Twitterer, I realized that I could just use Twitter to send SMS messages to my phone.  It is an ideal solution because its API is very easy to implement.  This has the added bonus of being able to use Twitter as a data log.  The log of activity could easily be pulled into a visualization app or the like in either XML or JSON data formats.  Twitter is more than a microblogging social network, it’s a platform that anyone can utilize.

Twitter enables us to share the baby’s movement activity with anyone.  Initially, I had the updates set as “private”…so you would have to request permission to follow Kickbee.  But since Kickbee is just a concept I’ve developed in the context of graduate school, and is being presented publicly at the ITP Winter Show (http://bit.ly/itpWinterShow08), I’ve made it public.

But the most important point to make about using Twitter is that the updates are completely voluntary by the RECIPIENT.  Those who complain about having to receive incessant messages about our baby kicking its mother must not understand Twitter.  If you don’t care to know, don’t “follow” Kickbee!  I would never presume to impose our baby’s activity on an unwilling public.

I’d also like to respond to some comments about “irradiating” my baby.  The piezo sensors are simple sensors that generate a very small electrical current when tapped or vibrated.  They are not powered in any way.  The wires you see on the front go to the two sensors, plus a button and an RGB LED that indicates when it’s in “standby” or “active” mode (which pauses updates to Twitter).  The Arduino and bluetooth module are at the mother’s back.  I’ve spoken to faculty about this, and considering the very low wattage, it’s unlikely much of the electromagnetic radiation will reach the baby.  Even so, I’m looking into placing the circuitry on radio-absorbing material.

The positive reactions I’ve gotten are very heartwarming.  Most of the people I’ve spoken to who have kids (or want them) have responded well.  It’s also important to note that there is a practical application, in that mothers are told to monitor a baby’s activity in the womb, as low activity can indicate fetal distress.  Oh and by the way, the final version will NOT look so scary.  I had to hastily take some photos when it showed up on BoingBoing, and I intend to make a cover so it’s a bit more inviting!

I really created Kickbee for our own use, and never thought people would react so strongly.  It’s been fun, and I look forward to continue tweaking its accuracy, and making it look a bit more “friendly”.  Thank you for your interest!

So, the Kickbee is now public.  I’ve posted a description on my portfolio site. It was completed as a final project for Dan O’Sullivan’s class, “Rest Of You”.  Hope you like it…

Remind Me by Röyksopp

Areva commercial

Were these two videos created by the same people? Either way, they’re awesome!

Vogue Paris has an editorial where 20 year old female model Eniko Mihalik photographed to look ages 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60. The photographer used makeup, wardrobe, hair styling, and camera angles to achieve the effect.  Interesting concept and well executed.