Cats Among Us
An IoT Halloween costume for your Imposter cat!
Introducing: Cats Among Us!
Does your cat like to attack you in the dark? Are you constantly scared that you’ll catch the claws when the lights suddenly turn off? Inspired by the video game Among Us, I bring to you — Cats Among Us! This product is an IoT costume for your cat that ensures you, as the owner (or Crewmate), are not brutally attacked by your Imposter cat.
So, how does it work? The Cats Among Us costume contains body sensors that tracks your cats location and movements as well as environmental brightness. The costume both indicates your cats current status with an integrated light and transmits this data to your smartphone. In the dark, the costume’s light automatically turns on and shows your cat’s Imposter status. If it’s green, your cat has been good and is likely to be a Crewmate. If it’s yellow, your cat’s movements indicate aggression or playfulness. And if it’s red, look around your house and look for a fallen victim — your cat has attacked someone.
Purpose of Investigation
The purpose of this investigation is to understand the product’s feasibility in terms of physical form and owner interest. For this product, I utilized fabric to design the prototype because I wanted to test if the form was achievable. Fabric provides an opportunity for this by being flexible in its form and production process. Additionally, I used an LED sewing kit to begin experimentally integrating functional electronics into the product.
It is important to note that, although, the product consists of a mobile application, this investigations focuses on cats as users and not their owners. That means that the mobile application component will not be discussed in the following sections.
Prototyping
For this prototype, I used: felt, a sewing machine + kit, an LED sewing kit 4 buttons, 4 hairbands, and pipe cleaners.
During the brainstorming stages, I was very set on creating an Among Us costume for my cat. In order to translate the Crewmate/Imposter character design into something that fits the average cats’ body, I began sketching out design alterations. The image above indicates how I translated the measurements of a cat’s body to the Crewmate/Imposter design.
During the critique session, when I expressed difficulty in getting the costume on my cat, people recommended me to take a look at Halloween pet costumes to get some ideas. From this, I implemented the leg fasteners. Below is a detailed list of the design specifications of the final iteration’s main components, which includes function, design rationales, and constraints.
Design Specs
Cats Among Us includes three main physical components: the body costume, the leg fasteners, and the sensor circuit.
1. Body Costume
Fits around the pet’s body and contains all other components.
Rationale. The overall shape of the costume is to maintain its resemblance to the Among Us characters. I replaced the Among Us characters’ backpacks with an opening for the cats’ bodies and widened the face shield to ensure that it is not tight around cats’ necks.
Constraints. I was limited to using the average size of a cat. I assumed the largest of my two cats is the average size and had to measure the costume based on his measurements.
2. Leg Fasteners
For easy placement around the cat’s legs and accurate detection of claw retraction, claw extension, and leg position.
Rationale. Used buttons and hairbands for the leg fastener because without being able to open up —if a cats claws are extended— it is near impossible to put their paws through the sleeve. I used a hairband instead of cutting a hole through the fabric to increase elasticity .
Constraints. Since I was constrained into using felt, the material increased the difficulty of putting a cat’s paws through the sleeve. The material is not scratch resistant and offers great friction.
3. Sensor Circuit
Tracks the cat’s Imposter status, transmits information to the owner’s mobile application, and visually indicates status on costume.
Rationale. I placed the circuit on the head to reduce chances of getting damaged. The battery is placed in a pouch with “tunnels” to prevent the wires from crossing. The indicator and sensor is placed on top to increase visibility.
Constraints. I could not fully implement and prototype the wires that would running throughout the costume in order to monitor the cat’s movements, position, and claw retraction/extension.
Evaluation
Prototype
A big motivation for this project is to create a Halloween costume for my cat. What worked well is that I was able to maintain the main character designs of the Among Us characters. This is important as to ensure that owners are interested in the product.
There are, however, many opportunities for the physical form to improve. First, I would keep working to make the costume more versatile for various sized cats. Second, I would continue to use flexible material, but will refrain from using low fidelity cloth like felt. Lastly, I would keep exploring alternative ways to prototype the body sensors — perhaps more advanced technology and more experience with sewing?
Additionally, although the physical form of the costume closely resembles that of the Among Us characters, the difficulty in placing the costume on cats may turn some owners away from the product. Overall, this prototype has failed the evaluation for feasibility in terms of physical form and owner interest.
Process
The process was driven by the want to create an Among Us costume for my cat. However, what made the process go by a lot faster was the mini sewing machine that I used. Without it, I would have spent three times more time sewing the first draft and less time being about to reflect and iterate.
Throughout the process, I kept in mind what I learned from the first two projects and made sure that I first iterated on the idea on paper before creating the physical product. Additionally, I also wrote down my next steps as I was crafting as to not get side tracked. My prototyping process has improved, but there is still plenty of room left for improvement.
If I pursued another iteration, I would create a timeline and place a limit on the amount of time I spend on each step. I constantly found myself wanting to make the prototype “perfect”— even if it is, in fact, a prototype. This time and effort can be allocated to creating multiple iterations as to not get stuck on a single idea.
