Prototyping

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Tried rolling up the entire piece of cloth, so that it could capture air and keep the air in.

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It did not quite work with the Muslin cloth so I used this plastic table cloth instead and it works! img_4114

Tried adding on zips to the Muslin cloth too, but it only made the air escape easier.

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So since zips were not a good option, I tried velcro, to see it it could really keep the air in. It worked, but not very well. There were still slight openings between the velcro for the air to escape. Also, the process of having to velcro the entire piece is too long and a too much of a hassl, during an emergency    img_4303 img_4304

Thought of ways to allow the back to have several functions too.
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Tried using polyester and burnt the edges such that they would get stuck together. It did manage to contain air but the finish was not what I desired. img_4307 img_4308

For the back of the jacket, I did my own modified template to see how we can make the back as functional. img_4311 img_4312 img_4322 img_4323

Yayyy making the pants!
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Processed with VSCO with hb1 preset

Processed with VSCO with hb1 preset
Sewing in the elastics, so that the pants can be used by people of different sizes.img_4429img_4430 img_4431 img_4432 img_4434 img_4435 img_4436

Developing on the top part of the neck – the vest. In the vest, is a fused plastic that is waterproof, to protect all electronics and serves its main purpose, which is to inflate. Neoprene is a stretchable material that allows the inflation to occur and follows the shape.

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Here, I tried with bubble wrap first, in which it did not quite work because when the bubble wrap pops, it leaves holes, allowing air to escape.
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Knowing that it did not quite work with the bubble wrap, I used plastic fusing to fuse the plastics together to create an inflatable piece for the inner neckpiece. A mouth piece to blow is also attached to the fused plastics, to allow it to inflate. img_5168

Fused plastic is placed inside the neckpiece. Zippers allow the electronics and the plastic to be taken out as and when users don’t need it. It allows allows for maintenance of the electronics to be easily accessible. So when the user blows through the mouthpiece, the entire neck piece inflates. The choice of plastics was also crucial in ensuring that the electronics stay dry in a waterproof condition.

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Tried putting plastics at the edges of the seam to allow light to pass through but the entire neckpiece became very sloppy so i did away with it.
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