I.E.D (Improvised Empathetic Device)

I.E.D (Improvised Empathetic Device)
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I.E.D (Improvised Empathetic Device)

The current U.S. led war in Iraq has suffered enormous casualties, where the toll on civilian lives in Iraq is vague and many times unreported. The number of U.S. casualties is reported and monitored, many of which are the result of I.E.D.s (improvised explosive devices). Yet the media coverage of these atrocities are often overshadowed by more personal and spectacular stories, such as jailtime for heiresses and runaway brides.

SWAMP’s I.E.D. project aims to give substantial and physical awareness to the death and violence occurring in the Middle East, by creating direct physical pain from the reported events of killed American soldiers, whose details are not found to be as newsworthy by the media.

A custom software application continuously monitors a website (icasualties.org) that updates the personal details and numbers of slain U.S. soldiers. When new deaths are updated on the website, the data is extracted and sent wirelessly to custom hardware installed on the I.E.D. armband. The LCD readout displays the soldiers’ name, rank, cause of death and location and then triggers an electric solenoid to drive a needle into the wearers arm, drawing blood and immediate attention to the reality that a soldier has just died in the Iraq war.