Sample User

Where, is your device, when not in use ? ” Wear ” them ! As accessories, to fashion..up your tech savvy electronics.  What if, there where buckles, that would “house” any number of “communication” accessories, as wearable tech ? My patented version is a “pager/buckle” that will “house/dock” other devices…to accessorize your….style ???

And while, these, devices, are in use/hand, buckle “pager” casing, will have LCD screen to “stream” …Ads, Video’s.. various Buckle decals…in motion, to “beats” of  any music downloads to iPhones; while  iPhone is in hand. Hip, cool,youthful, stylish electronics to wear ? iBuckle !

http://www.ideasupport.net/view/eajqu7j15159kv5q/

Third year fashion design students at Shih Chien University, Taiwan,

Kickstarter and Indiegogo, both crowdfunding platforms for creative projects, have been used to fund several wearable tech projects. Below is a selection of projects that use the body’s natural brainwaves or heartbeat as input for a sensor. These inputs are then analysed and interpreted as an output, creating a feedback loop. Various technologies are used in each project to determine exactly what the user is thinking or feeling.

MUSE: The Brain-Sensing Headband

This first project is a sensing headband. Four sensors are strategically positioned on the headband, connecting to the wearer’s forehead. This enables the wearer to control applications and games, reduce stress, improve memory and concentration, and eventually to control devices directly with his/her own mind.

By converting the wearer’s brainwaves into instructions, the wearer is able to interact with content on an iOS or Android device. This intuitively designed headband places control in the mind of the user.

The following two projects allow for very specific feedback through the device. Each device reacts with the wearer/user and allows the viewer to see a very specific reaction as to how the wearer/user’s feelings or their physical reaction to a situation.

EMOKI: Animal Ears You Control With Your Mind!

These fake animal ears move in reaction to the wearer’s  emotions. They can also be a conversation starter. Using Necomimi technology, the headset, which is specifically designed for this purpose, analyses the wearer’s/user’s brainwaves and move in reaction to these. The specific data is then interpreted

There are  a variety of different ‘ears’ to choose from,  depending on your personal style.

These projects allow for a feedback system between the user, the device and the viewer or environment and are extremely interesting. So if you have an incredible project which you need funding for in order to realise it, you know where to go!

T.c and conductive painting past

This fall the Learning Technologies Center at the Science Museum of Minnesota is collaborating with the Textile Center to offer High Fashion Low Voltage. The class introduces the Lilypad , developed by Leah Buechley, to the low tech textile community. Seven women signed up after seeing the class listing in the Textile Center fall catalog. The students come from a range of textile arts backgrounds including sewing, tapestry, weaving and professional clothing design. No electronics experience or programing was required to take the class. Programing expertise is provided by Clement Shimizu, PhD in computer science, who is in working with artists.

Scarlet Electric is a collaboration between two media artists Rachelle Beaudoin and Jeanne Jo. Both recent grads from the Rhode Island School of Design’s Digital+Media department , they have combined forces to create work that translates ephemeral Internet Culture into physical tangible objects, typically manifesting as wearable technology art pieces. One of my favorite pieces is the BFFM (pictured above). BFFM is a wearable FM radio transmitter/receiver system that allows friends to send and receive audio files. One necklace acts as a FM radio transmitter while the other four are radio receivers equip with built in speakers. Within a few blocks radius, files between the users can be shared.

I love the concept of being able to seek and find friends within your vicinity and be able tune into your friends’ or networks’ playlists. This type of ephemeral music sharing via a mesh network does have a lot of potential.

Other projects of note are the Ear Buddies and “Top Friends” Sweater. Ear Buddies is a fun critique of individual insulation brought about via IPod culture. Instead of isolating yourself from others and your environment, Ear Buddies instead create closeness and physically link the listeners to each other. Traveling en mass, the group must navigate together and act as a single unit rather than collection of individuals.

The “Top Friends” Sweater is a garment with multiple sleeves intended to be worn by your closest friends. The project itself is a commentary on social networking sites that allow you to select and feature your “Top Friends”. Why is this Important? It’s refreshing to see projects that visualize and critique in a tangible form the effects of the internet on our culture.

Fractal: Living Jewelry is the latest project to emerge from the from Philips Design Probes, a ‘far-future’ research initiative that tracks emerging cultural and technological trends. The responsive wearable prototype consists of large gem-like structures embedded with sensors and LEDs. The sensors measure movement, excitement levels and proximity of others and, in response, alter the intensity of the LED lighting.

More than clothing or adornment, the piece almost looks like a second “smart” skin that transforms the human silhouette with its geometric shapes. Why is this important? What is unique and interesting about the Fractal project is that it questions and, perhaps extends, the role that clothing and adornment plays in culture and society. It also opens up the possibility of creating new expressions (what they call “Hybrid” forms) by using new techniques in garment construction and assembly. According to the site: 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.

For those of you lucky enough to be in or near London, the Design Museum is holding the first comprehensive presentation of Chalyan’s AMAZING work in the UK. The exhibit runs from Friday Jan 23 till April 24. Spanning fifteen years of experimental projects, the exhibit will include:

‘Afterwords’ which explores the notion of ‘wearable, portable architecture’ in which furniture literally transforms itself into garments;

‘Airborne’ bringing the latest LED technology to fashion design with a spectacular dress consisting of Swarovski crystals and over 15,000 flickering LED lights; and

‘Before Minus Now’ a dress made of materials used in aircraft construction which changes shape by remote control and ‘Readings’ a dress comprising of over 200 moving lasers presenting an extraordinary spectacle of light. If anyone is interested in reviewing the exhibit for Fashioning Tech and sharing your thoughts with the community, please send me an email.

ITP student Caroline Brown along with Kate Hartman demonstrate how easy it is to embed simple circuits into paper pulp. The project was completed for 4-in-4 where participants were required to create a new project every day for four days.

The process for making the paper circuit prototype seems fairly straight forward. They began by blending recycled shredded paper and water. Then two pieces of conductive thread and a handful of LEDs were pressed between two screens and left to dry.

The dried paper with the embedded LED circuit turned out quite nicely. BTW, here is a great tutorial on how to make your own recycled paper. Why is this important? It is interesting to see the relatively new experiments with paper and electronics. From Leah Buechley’s Paper Computing to XSLabs Pulp-based computing, paper is quickly becoming the new frontier for investigations in craft and technology As I watch the experiments unfold, I can imagine a world of possibilities for integrating simple electronics into children’s story books.