The ITP program at NYU always has something cookin' in the wearable technology space. This vid shows what kinds of experiments the students are up to. There are a series of interviews where students who are exploring wearables talk about their projects, what the project's intentions are, and what they see in the future.
I’m running a wearable technology workshop this weekend at Frayedwire, which will introduce people to soft-circuits and how to work with conductive threads. Here's the workshop:
Making Electronic Fabrics: Integrating Conductive Thread, LEDs, and Soft Switches into fabrics
This workshop will be a hands-on session focused on integrating electronics into fabrics and making soft switches out of snaps, hooks, zippers and other fashion-hardware. We will be making fashion accessory Palz, soft plush robots that light up when they hold hands. Turn a snap into a switch that turns an LED on and off. All of the circuitry will be sewn directly into the fabric. I'll also be talking a little about the Lilypad (Arduino for wearable technology).
See pics of the workshop and project here.
Designer, Plusea, created this solar-powered t-shirt with an integrated electronic necklace. A motor mounted on the shoulder runs continuously or in short bursts, depending on how much sunlight is available. The result "tickles" your cheek at variable speeds. This would make me want to sneeze all day, however, the designer put together a great tutorial on how to make this wearable on instructables so that DIYers can get an introduction into soft-circuits and wearables.
Pulsea also considered washability by integrating the circuitry into the t-shirt using conductive fabrics and threads and keeping all of the non-waterproof electronic components built into a detachable necklace so that it can be removed when washing the t-shirt.
Check out the project's flickr set here. And a recent workshop here.
Alas! After waiting for a few weeks for the backorder to be filled, the LilyPad has finally arrived! It's a terrific platform for those interested in prototyping wearable concepts. It's light, thin, sew-ready, and comes with the basic components that you need to get started. I ordered the LilyPad developer's kit from SparkFun Electronics. I also ordered a few LilyPad XBee components, which allow you to connect your wearable projects wirelessly. Here's what the basic kit includes:
Now, off to go experiment...
Hannah Perner-Wilson is exploring alternative sources of input through wearable suits and footwear. Her latest project, Joy Slippers, plays a soundscape that you control through your foot movements. "These slippers are designed with two pressure sensors embedded in each sole and can sense the weight being shifted between the toe and heel of each foot. This information is fed into a computer where a drawing application translates this analog input into drawing directions, so that the wearer of the Joy Slippers can draw with their feet in an etch-a-sketch fashion." Here's a video of it in action:
Check out more photos on her flickr set.
Gizmodo just announced this fantastic Brother QuattroT 6000D that includes a full color HD display and a camera that allows fabric to be auto-positioned for automatic embroidery. I immediately imagined using this machine to embroider circuits into textiles much like Becky Stern’s embroidered circuits titled “A Tribute to Leah Buechley". The possibilities of using embroidery to change the aesthetics of circuitry is endless.
Read more on my earlier posts around challenging the aesthetics of circuitry.