Ashley D Goodenough: "Exogenesis" Prosthetic Accessory

Concept: “Exogenesis” is the idea that life on Earth could've begun somewhere else in the universe. The design concept for this lower leg prosthetic accessory sprang up from a combination of aesthetic ideas that meshed well together after a lot of trial and error: plant cell structures and various cyborg and living machine concepts in media. From the combination of these two came something that reminded me of advanced, mechanical life, and that became "Exogenesis." I enjoy finding interesting ways to combine organic structures and patterns with human-made fabrications. This prosthetic accessory is split into two parts, a lower leg section and a separate but complementary shoe that can be used if and when you want. 

Modeling: Modeling the accessory began with getting a very simplified starting surface from clean curves. I used interpolate points curves on surface as well as off. I also used offset curves and Curve2View to get the foot shape I wanted. Using snaps, I connected a shoe sole curve to four side curves and then to a top curve to create a boot-like opening at the top. To ensure a smooth surface, I created a few cross sections in problem areas. From there, I rebuilt all curves and used curve analysis, made sure they were all connected, and used a network surface to create the last. I used CreateUVCurves and FlowAlongSurface (plus planarSrf) for many of the detailed cutouts, but also used basic curve projection when that tool wasn’t getting the results I wanted. I used DupEdge when I needed to retrieve a curve I’d lost. I used all varieties of Boolean, Split, Explode, Join, Sweeps, Lofts, OffetSrf, Trim, and Untrim to make sure I was keeping a watertight object and not creating naked edges. As always, there was plenty of filleting to keep me busy.

Additions: I added supports to the prosthesis itself to show how this accessory would be attached to an ankle joint. The following renders show the new joint and prosthetic foot, as well integrate my concept art with the new renders.

Materials: I used mostly metallic Axalta Paint materials for my prosthetic, because I wanted it to feel bright, lively, and machined. The color palette was monochromatic at first, then I branched out into some analogous ideas. Eventually, I landed on a combination of mostly metallic colors and one flat: flat white for the accent tubes on the ribbons, lime for the ribbons themselves, dark turquoise for the large sections, and a color resembling goldenrod for the prosthetic pipe. My added prosthetic pole and foot are the same goldenrod color, and the joint is ruby red.