Ping: a social networking garment

[gallery] Alas! I recently completed a project that I've been working on called Ping. It's a garment that connects to your Facebook account wirelessly and from anywhere. It allows you to stay connected to your friends and groups of friends simply by performing natural gestures that are built into the mechanics of the garments we wear. Lift up a hood, tie a bow, zip, button, and simply move, bend and swing to ping your friends naturally and automatically. No phone, no laptop, no hardware. Simply go about your day, look good and stay connected.

I'm investigating three important and emerging areas in wearable technology through this project:

Connection to larger systems The garment investigates ways to connect to larger software systems that can add more functionality and longevity to the experience while offering a new platform for communication and expression.

Aesthetics Rather than simply attaching technology to clothing, the project investigates garments that have electronics built directly into them resulting in a new aesthetic of form and behavior that become a core part of our expression, our identity, and our individuality.

Marketability Very few wearable technology projects successfully target consumers outside of the sports, medical and military fields. We are just not there yet. The project aims to generate market desirability for a wide variety of people to use in everyday life.

Project Site: Go to the project site to see the rest of the concept. Let me know what you think! I would love to hear form you.

Press: CNET, FastCompany, fashioningtech, Alison Lewis @ Smart Fabrics Conference Miami, talk2myshirt, poshspace.ru, podcastingnews.com, ecouterre.com, geeksugar.com, San Francisco Chronicle, podcastingnews.com, notcouture.com, netdiver.net, Inventor Spot, Gizmodo, Engadget, DVICE, Tuvie, TechFlash, Protect Your Bubble, Trendhunter, TechNews, Artefact, Fashion Industry Network, newwebpick.com issue #30

Interviews: AOL Stylelist, iHeartSwitch,

The growing trend of geometric patterning

[gallery] Fashion designer Irina Shaposhnikova created this gorgeous collection called Crystallographica, which consists of garments inspired by geological formations of crystals and minerals. The application of geometrical patterns is making a comeback in design aesthetics lately. Philips Design created a beautiful exploration for their Design Probes series called Fractal: Living Jewelry, which was also inspired by crystalline formations.

Opposite of natural geometric formations, some designers are allowing the fabrication tools to create geometric patterns. Rem Koolhaas' United Nude created Low-resolution modeled footwear that resulted in strong geometric patterns. And Mashallah Design and Linda Kostowski created digitally printed garments using an unfolding polygon method that is commonly used by industrial designers to explore dimensional forms through paper models.

I can't help but imagine using the simple geometric shapes as a platform for electronics. For example, could the material in Shaposhnikova strict triangular-patterned slacks be replaced with solar panels to harvest energy? Or could a triangle or two in her dresses be replaced with a display?

Read more about Crystallographica on pleatfarm.com. Photos from pleatfarm.com.

Nancy Tilbury infuses biological experiences into couture

Recently sent to me, Nancy Tilbury in collaboration with Visual Artists 125 Creative, has created a collection of incredibly evocative explorations that infuse biological experiences with couture. From digital cosmetics to couture that we cultivate, Tilbury visualizes what it would be like to wear living skins. 

"A Fashion Futures Film set in 2050. Couture becomes a biological experience, gowns are assembled by gas and nano-electronic-particles, where tailoring and cosmetics are constructed by 3D liquid formations, including swallowable technologies exciting the mind, body and soul through physical expression. It is a time when couture will be cultured and farmed as fashion facets of human flesh. A Fashion Futures Film to provoke...

This Film encompasses the work of Interdisciplinary Fashion Designer Nancy Tilbury and Visual Artists 125 Creative. It's narrative is formed in partnership with Philips Design, Probes Director Clive van Heerden as well as specialist concepts in the area of Living Skins with the Design for Need Expert Amanda Sleet." Continue reading on digitalskinsbodyatmospheres.

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Photos from vimeo from left to right: Cloud Gown, a dress made of gas and active nanoparts. E-Pannosa, an electrodynamic moisturiser. Ether Dress, a thinking dress activated by nanignation implants. Tendo Veluntos, swallowable couture. Abeo Eyes, electric eyes. Dynamic Varnish. Humanous Heels, cultured stilettos.

More on Nancy Tilbury.

Turning energy into beauty

[gallery] Student Mae Yokoyama from the Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design created this beautiful piece made almost entirely of solar panels. What I love about this work is that she allows the size and rigidity of the circuit components to inform the structure of the necklace and leaves them exposed to create the aesthetic.

The "collar is made of solar panels, accumulating energy during daytime. When the sun goes down a string of pearls is illuminated, turning the functional look of the solar panels into a subtle and fashionable necklace." Continue reading at Konstfack.

Photos by Andreas Nyquist and Mae Yokoyama, from Konstfack.

Daan Roosegaarde explores technology and intimacy

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Daan Roosegaarde is currently an artist in residence at V2_labs in the Netherlands. He's known for his incredibly beautiful electronic works such as (one of my favorites) Dune, which consists of hundreds of flexible led-tipped stalks. Collaborating with fashion designer Maartje Dijkstra, his most recent work explores the relationship between technology and intimacy titled (logically) Intimacy.

"Intimacy, developed by Studio Roosegaarde and V2_Lab, is a project that straddles the world of fashion, wearables and the electronic arts, while exploring the relation between technology and intimacy in contemporary tech-society. The project consists of high-tech garments made with wireless, interactive technologies and smart foils, which can become transparent. The distance towards the garments determines their level of transparency, creating an intimate experience and a sensual play of disclosure. Roosegaarde’s ‘e-fashion’ works as a second skin that transforms the body of the wearer into a tangible interface. This interface acts as an emotional meter that measures and makes visible the level of transparency, disclosure and thus intimacy experienced by the user/wearer in social interaction." (source)

Continue reading on V2_Labs. Photos by Lotte Stekelenburg, model: Kimora - Jimmy Model Management, make up: Joyce Kern, images from V2_Labs.

Swine flu mask reacts to your temperature

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"Tis the season for the flu, and if the regular strain wasn’t bad enough, we have a new, porcine terror to contend with. These brightly patterned medical face masks, however, may ward off H1N1 and its brethren simply by virtue of being stylish—looking like Wacko Jacko in his latter days notwithstanding. Designed by Marjan Kooroshnia, a Swedish textile-design student, these face masks have a bonus feature: They’re printed with thermochromic ink that changes color with any uptick in breathing temperature." (source)

If you've ever experimented with thermochromatic inks, I am skeptical that this concept will even work as the variations of temperature from your breath might be too small. Some of the inks are fairly sensitive to heat so the pattern might change no matter what temperature your breath is. Regardless, it's a nice concept.

Read the rest of the article on couterre. Images from couterre.