Visualizing the invisible

Agneilli Davide, Buzzini Dario, and Drori Tai at the now-closed Interaction Design Institute Ivrea, collaborated on exploratory projects that investigate the three-dimensionality of hertzian space. One of their projects called Fashion Victims, makes visible the space that surrounds us and the radiation that permeates it.

The project is implemented in a collection of garments including soft hats, shirts and bags that detect surrounding cell phone signals. The garments then “bleed” depending on the strength of the signal that results in changing the garment’s color. Each piece is meant to react once until it is completely saturated.

The implementation focuses on the “complex aesthetics” (as they describe) by seamlessly integrating technology into the form and textiles of the garments.

Striking the perfect balance

Kathryn Bauer, a recent graduate of New York University's ITP program, presented a project for her master's thesis, titled Ovu, The project tracks and detects fertility easily and fashionably.

One of the many things that makes this implementation so beautiful is that she considered the form of the garment and its implied meaning for her concept. She could have just as easily implemented the idea using a leg or arm band to get it working as a proof of concept. Instead, she chose a garment that implies intimacy and sex, a perfect match for fertility tracking and its context. Kudos to Bauer for striking a perfect balance between concept, integrated intelligence, and garment connotation.

Aesthetically augmented corsets

Francesca Lanzavecchia designed a line of incredibly beautiful back braces that focus on merging function with aesthetics. Her book, ProAesthetics: Disability Artifacts, explores the intersection between function and aesthetics that sparks a dialogue around disability aids and the context of the wearer. Normally taboo and hidden under your garments, Lanzavecchia makes these medical devices so beautiful that they could be worn as the outer garments themselves.

Gwendolyn Huskens is another designer exploring this topic. Her line of footwear called "Medic Esthetic" pushes our idea of how we wear and use foot braces. She considers the fashionable aspect and makes them so beautiful, it’s no longer necessary to be embarrassed and hide your ailment. In fact, I would wear these even without an ailment:

A wearable device that helps you walk

Honda recently unveiled a robotic wearable device that helps you walk. The seat is similar to a bike seat that connects a robotic leg to your shoes. It's strong enough to reduce the stress of body weight on the knees and gives you extra strength for actions like walking up stairs. Similarly, Cyberdyne created a full robotic wearable suit called HAL (Hybrid Assisted Limb) that enhances your natural physical capabilities by sensing and reacting to your nerve signals.

The technology is incredible, but aesthetically awkward if you had to walk around in public wearing one. This could be a great opportunity to integrate the technology directly into the aesthetics and textiles of the garment so if a wearer needed assistance, it would be as simple as putting on a pair of pants or slipping on a jacket. In fact, I would prance around town like a superhero if it looked like Dainese's gorgeous etched leather bike racing suit:

(source trendhunter.com)

Living, breathing sculptures as second skin

Extra-Soft (XS) labs has created some beautiful pieces that change shape, reveal hidden layers, and expose the wearer's skin by using the shape memory alloy, nitinol. The material contracts when current is applied to it. Some experiments include Kukkia-a kinetic flowering dress, a felt jellyfish that opens and closes, and Vilkas-a dress that shortens to reveal the wearer's knee (similar to Chalayan's shape-shifting garments  posted below).

Using nitinol, Joanna Berzowska (XSlabs) and Di Mainstone recently collaborated on a line of futuristic-looking wearable sculptures that act as living, breathing second skins called SKORPIONS. One of the garments, Enleon, is a play on fear and desire. Its pod or cocoon-like shape gives the wearer a sense of security, while its exterior kinetic scales reveal a mirrored layer that reflects light. The movement is actually quite vulnerable and charming. See it in action here:

The antithesis of original function

I recently discovered work by Joon Youn Paek who has some terrific explorations that challenge the use of everyday products by augmenting their original functionality. Pillowig, makes a humorous statement on our rapidly growing sleep-deprived lives by offering a functional pillow that you can wear as a hat. And Polite Umbrella adds charm by allowing you to shrink one side of an umbrella or the entire thing when passing by someone (I laughed out loud when I watched the demo of it in action).

One of my favorite projects is his exploration into sports garments and equipment, called Spoetry. He claims that the project "promotes self-expression by modifying sports gear", but a more interesting outcome that he hasn't articulated is that his augmentations force the wearer to interact, move and gesture in the exact opposite way that was intended in the original product (they also happen to be gorgeous). For example, when two people are riding on a bike, the person in the back normally sits facing the person in the front so they can hold on and see where they're going. His tandem bike helmet forces the passenger to sit facing backwards, stripping them of the ability to see where they're going and to hold on for dear life.