DESC
Materials, tools and tech used
Special thanks to...
Sebastián Morales, Rushali Paratey and Jingwen Zu and Kat Sullivan for their tech aid; Paula Ceballos and Fran Rodríguez for their fabrication advice; my niece, Natalia, for user-testing, giving me feedback and being my model for the video (and everybody that helped me make this work!)
Branding
![](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/BRANDING-COVA-1024x512.png)
Inspiration
This prototype was strongly inspired by Linda Liukas’s beautiful Hello Ruby project.
To read more about this and other sources of inspiration, check my blog documentation, under “Conceptualization and Inspiration”.
Sketches, playtesting & trials
![1](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/1-1.png)
![2](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2-1.png)
![3](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/3-1.png)
![4](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/4-1.png)
Prototypes & schematics
![1-pinoutdiagram](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/1-pinoutdiagram.png)
![2-schematic](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2-schematic.png)
![3-shape-guide](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/3-shape-guide.png)
![4-cases](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/4-cases.png)
![5-late-night](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/5-late-night.png)
![6-prototype-breadboard](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/6-prototype-breadboard.png)
Interface and character design: cova
![0](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/0.png)
![17](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/17.png)
![18](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/18.png)
![1](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/1.png)
![2](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2.png)
![3](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/3.png)
![4](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/4.png)
![5](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/5.png)
![6](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/6.png)
![7](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/7.png)
![8](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/8.png)
![9](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/9.png)
![10](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/10.png)
![11](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/11.png)
![12](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/12.png)
![13](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/13.png)
![14](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/14.png)
![15](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/15.png)
![16](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/16.png)
For the working prototyped I presented as my Physical Computing final I borrowed visual asset’s of Ruby’s character from Linda Liuka’s site. Above are the images I used in the P5.js sketch. For future iterations I started the development of Cova and her clothes, but didn’t get as far as animating them. Below are some samples of the clothes and expressions I designed:
![Character-design](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Character-design.png)
![Character-design-2](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Character-design-2.png)
Fabrication
I spent a great deal of time fabricating the physical interface. Here are some snapshots of this part of the process:
![](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/laser.gif)
![](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/inserting.gif)
![](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/sewing.gif)
![](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/painting.gif)
![](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/shapes.gif)
![](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/slots.gif)
![](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/soldering.gif)
![](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/solderingwires.gif)
![](http://pilargomezruiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/stranded.gif)