I’ve recently become fascinated by the evolving world of wearable technology (sometimes called soft circuits or just wearables). Clothing and accessories that incorporate electronics and advanced technologies are something that belonged to SciFi movies and TV programs I was obsessed with as a kid, so seeing them become more and more of a reality definitely makes me feel like I’m living in the future.
It’s probably no surprise that celebrities and high fashion designers are using wearable technologies to position themselves as leading edge. So far this year, we’ve seen Lady Gaga sport a “living dress” – a kinetic dress that featured moving parts – and the Katy Perry, Rihanna, and European pop star Safura have all done some dazzling in futuristic LED/video gowns.
Rihanna's Last Girl on Earth Tour
Lady Gaga's Living Dress
But I’m really interested in the more pragmatic applications of the movement, and the closer-than-you-think possibilities: we will be interfacing even more directly with our computers and gadgets, “plugging in” through our garments, heightening our senses (I’m excited by the implications of wearable technology for the disabled), and going way behind snarky t-shirts to express ourselves with our clothing. I’m also excited by the possibilities of DIY wearable technology – tech crafting – and the way it may help get more girls and women interested in engineering and computing fields. [Shameless self-promotion alert!] I just contributed an article on that to Bitch magazine (“Making Geek Chic: Can Tech Crafting Outfit More Girls for Technology?”) and would love for you to head over there and take a gander.
Social networks and portals for tech crafting like fashioningtechnology and Lillypond are starting to cultivate and connect a larger community. (Lillypond is a project of the High-Low Tech group at MIT, whose goal is “to engage diverse audiences in designing and building their own technologies by situating computation in new cultural and material contexts, and by developing tools that democratize engineering.” If that’s not cool, I don’t know what is.) Most tech crafters won’t be making Rihanna’s Last Girl on Earth dress anytime soon, but they can produce very cool, useful stuff like the turn signal hoodie, below.
Turn Signal Jacket, by Leah @ Lillypond (http://lilypond.media.mit.edu/projects/8-turn-signal-jacket)
Fashion – like all types of design – will have to undergo some changes as electronics become more and more integrated. From a process perspective, I think we’ll see more of a product development model being employed to make clothing and accessories. And the potential? Well, it’s just rad. Here are two videos from a project designed by a team at Georgia Tech working with embroidered conductive thread. (Videos via fashioningtechnology.)
Yeah, that’s right: embroidery that interfaces with digital devices. The future! We may not have brain implants yet, but pretty soon we might all be wearing patches that display our whuffie scores.
LEDs are the New Sequins: Fashion, Crafting, and Wearable Technology
I’ve recently become fascinated by the evolving world of wearable technology (sometimes called soft circuits or just wearables). Clothing and accessories that incorporate electronics and advanced technologies are something that belonged to SciFi movies and TV programs I was obsessed with as a kid, so seeing them become more and more of a reality definitely makes me feel like I’m living in the future.
It’s probably no surprise that celebrities and high fashion designers are using wearable technologies to position themselves as leading edge. So far this year, we’ve seen Lady Gaga sport a “living dress” – a kinetic dress that featured moving parts – and the Katy Perry, Rihanna, and European pop star Safura have all done some dazzling in futuristic LED/video gowns.
Rihanna's Last Girl on Earth Tour
Lady Gaga's Living Dress
But I’m really interested in the more pragmatic applications of the movement, and the closer-than-you-think possibilities: we will be interfacing even more directly with our computers and gadgets, “plugging in” through our garments, heightening our senses (I’m excited by the implications of wearable technology for the disabled), and going way behind snarky t-shirts to express ourselves with our clothing. I’m also excited by the possibilities of DIY wearable technology – tech crafting – and the way it may help get more girls and women interested in engineering and computing fields. [Shameless self-promotion alert!] I just contributed an article on that to Bitch magazine (“Making Geek Chic: Can Tech Crafting Outfit More Girls for Technology?”) and would love for you to head over there and take a gander.
Social networks and portals for tech crafting like fashioningtechnology and Lillypond are starting to cultivate and connect a larger community. (Lillypond is a project of the High-Low Tech group at MIT, whose goal is “to engage diverse audiences in designing and building their own technologies by situating computation in new cultural and material contexts, and by developing tools that democratize engineering.” If that’s not cool, I don’t know what is.) Most tech crafters won’t be making Rihanna’s Last Girl on Earth dress anytime soon, but they can produce very cool, useful stuff like the turn signal hoodie, below.
Turn Signal Jacket, by Leah @ Lillypond (http://lilypond.media.mit.edu/projects/8-turn-signal-jacket)
Fashion – like all types of design – will have to undergo some changes as electronics become more and more integrated. From a process perspective, I think we’ll see more of a product development model being employed to make clothing and accessories. And the potential? Well, it’s just rad. Here are two videos from a project designed by a team at Georgia Tech working with embroidered conductive thread. (Videos via fashioningtechnology.)
Yeah, that’s right: embroidery that interfaces with digital devices. The future! We may not have brain implants yet, but pretty soon we might all be wearing patches that display our whuffie scores.