Calascere Enables Warm Interactions Through Loomia Pressure Matrices

Tech companies love to tout the user-friendliness of their apps and devices. That isn't necessarily inaccurate, but the truth is that most people find interactions with technology to be cold experiences — both in the literal and figurative sense. Your smartphone is just a rectangular screen that forces you to tap on hard glass and not many devices are any better. Majenta Strongheart and Erika Earl want to bring some warmth to technological interaction and are on a mission to create interfaces that further that goal. To start, they developed an interactive tile called Calascere.

Calascere doesn't have a specific purpose; it is a generic interface device that has the potential for use in many different applications. It is like a big button that detects pressure points, so pushing on the top-right corner can register differently than pushing on the bottom-left or middle. On its own, that is pretty nifty and enables a lot of possibilities. But Strongheart and Earl wanted to create a unique experience, so Calascere has a few distinct features. First, a layer of foam provides a soft tactile sensation. Second, heating elements make the tile literally warm to the touch. And finally, an LED matrix generates visual feedback.

There are two key components that facilitate this functionality. An Arduino UNO board monitors pressure, controls the heating elements, sets the LEDs, and outputs data to a connected system, such as a computer. A Loomia Mega Pressure Matrix detects presses through a 3×3 grid of pressure sensors. Those are analog sensors, so it is possible to infer the location of a press with greater than 3×3 resolution. Both the heating elements and the RGB LED matrix are Adafruit products.

This all comes together through a stack of layers in a 3D-printed frame. The bottom layer is the Loomia Mega Pressure Matrix. The LED matrix sits on top of that, followed by silicone pad, the heating elements, foam, and finally a silicone top layer.

Strongheart and Earl coded a simple sketch that illuminates LEDs in the matrix based on where Calascere detects presses. That is neat, but doesn't have any real utility. There is, however, a lot of potential here and Calascere tiles could serve many purposes. The warmth and softness certainly create an experience that we don't often find in the tech industry.