Thighmaster consists of the thorn actuator ring worn on the thigh as well as several sensors measuring the environmental devotion of the wearer such as electricity consumption and the wearer's commitment to her houseplants. Electricity consumption is measured using a hall effect sensor chip developed by Allegro Micro. Commitment to the plant is measured by using a custom made human speech sensor. Both sensors communicate with a base station via wireless Xbee transmitters. This basestation logs sensor activity and in turn communicates with the ring. The system uses the mini version of the #6 microcontroller board developed by the Computing Culture Group at the MIT media Lab. For more specifics check out the Xbee daughterboard section of the #6 site
The Thorn Actuator
The thigh ring consists of two circles.The inner circle is stationary. The outer circle rotates and pushes the thorns through the holes in the inner circle toward the thigh. Thighmaster does not use springs, it relies on the elasticity of the skin to act as a spring.
