Vital Jacket monitors heart rate

"All sorts of huge machines are used by hospitals to monitor a patient’s vitals, but with the pace in which technology is miniaturizing, there are no real doubts about fabrics becoming the next genuine machines...

We’ve seen wearable technology on a maturing track, and the Vital Jacket is yet another case in point. Combining textiles with innovative medical diagnostic technology, BioDevices has unveiled this wearable vital-signs monitoring system." source

I love how this concept is both functional and aesthetically beautiful. They weren't shy about hiding the sensing materials and circuitry and use it as the main aesthetic element. As a runner who uses a hard-cased heart monitor, I would replace that with this product immediately. It provides freedom of movement and it's gorgeous.

For related postings, The Future of Things has a couple of interesting articles about bio-sensors integrated into clothing and the challenges inventors and designers are facing:

• a Doctor in Your Pocket
• smart fabrics that monitor physiological signs 
• Killer Kevlar

Making sound from soft coils

(image source)

Designers Vincent Leclerc, Joanna Berzowska, and XS labs created the Accouphene Tuxedo, which emits a sonic environment through gestures. The jacket is decorated with 13 soft speakers that are embroidered on the jacket in the shape of a coil and a magnet is placed in the center. The yarn used is highly conductive so when it receives an electrical charge, it acts as a soft flexible speaker that emits a small sound. The sound is created when the wearer moves the sleeve across it or if the coils are bent through the flexing of the fabric.

What I find interesting about this project is that the designers were able to replace traditional rigid and unwashable audio components with soft and sewable materials that are used both functionally and aesthetically.

See it in action via youtube.

Joanna Berzowska writes a paper on electronic textiles

Wearable technology designer and researcher Joanna Berzowska wrote a paper that is a great introduction to smart textiles titled Electronic Textiles: Wearable Computers, Reactive Fashion, and Soft Computation (pdf).

Abstract  "Electronic textiles, also referred to as smart fabrics, are quite fashionable right now. Their close relationship with the field of computer wearables gives us many diverging research directions and possible definitions. On one end of the spectrum, there are pragmatic applications such as military research into interactive camouflage or textiles that can heal wounded soldiers. On the other end of the spectrum, work is being done by artists and designers in the area of reactive clothes: 'second skins' that can adapt to the environment and to the individual. Fashion, health, and telecommunication industries are also pursuing the vision of clothing that can express aspects of people’s personalities, needs, and desires or augment social dynamics through the use and display of aggregate social information."

Read the full pdf here. More papers by XLabs here.

The aesthetics of DIY

Leah Buechley's LilyPad developers kit provides a terrific platform for designers to prototype wearable projects. In a LilyPad Arduino workshop hosted in Austria, Buechley explores the aesthetics of wire insulation by wrapping conductive wire with beading and uses the collar to hide the larger electronic components.

What's important about this is that there are affordances already built into garments that are both functional and aesthetic. Buechley's exploring ways to seamlessly incorporate the electronic components and wires directly into the aesthetics of the fashion without compromising on function.

More explorations on the LilyPad Arduino flickr set.

Fractal: Living Jewelry by Philips

Philips Design has created yet another absolutely gorgeous wearable project for their Design Probes series called Fractal: Living Jewelry. Here's how they describe it:

"Fractal is a stunning, figure-hugging outfit consisting entirely of huge imitation jewels augmented by pulsing LEDs. By incorporating sensors that measure movement, excitement levels and proximity of others - and using this input to alter the intensity of its integrated lighting - Fractal essentially becomes an extension of the body. It also serves as a platform for exploring emotional sensing. Unlike a cut and sewn garment, Fractal is made using product materials and processes. This opens up the possibility of ‘Hybrid’ forms and new functionalities in the search for solutions in the spaces of traditional apparel functionality - thermal protection, structure and support, water resistance, providing modesty, flesh control, and the ever-changing style calendars."

The geometric aesthetics makes me think of Mashallah Design and Linda Kostowski's digitally printed fashion, which I posted a couple months ago. The garments use an unfolding polygon method to generate the textile patterns.

Additional design probes from Philips include the beautiful Bubelle Blush dress and probes that explore the skin as the electronic platform.

Flexible transistors for garment circuits

(image source via Ingrid Graz)

Physicists from Austria and the U.S. have built ultra-thin pressure sensors that are very sensitive and low in cost. They can be woven into sensitive textiles that have a range of potential applications for wearable technology. The technology uses pressure sensitive foils called ferroelectrets, which generate an electrical signal in reaction to pressure. As a result, the new thin-film transistors (TFTs) can switch back and forth in reaction to pressure and they are flexible enough to be integrated into clothing.

For more detailed info on how it works, the research has been published at Applied Physics Letters titled "Flexible ferroelectret field-effect transistor for large-area sensor skins and microphones" found here. 

More info via FWF and Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends.