Layered Approaches - Woven eTextile Explorations Through Applied Textile Thinking

Woven structures form the most common type of textile in our everyday life. Their potential for eTextile development, ranging from component integration to entirely woven user interfaces, has invited researchers from various fields to explore how weaving can expand the interactive capabilities of textile surfaces around us. However, eTextile literature typically considers weaving as a method of constructing, and rarely acknowledges the reflective nature of weaving, and the insights related to thinking associated with textile design practices, that is, textile thinking, are often sparingly described. The overarching research question in this thesis is how can weaving be used to explore new concepts and design opportunities for eTextiles, and it is examined through five academic publications. The exploration of textile thinking was carried out through a practice-based design research approach on technical woven eTextile development. The primary methods for data collection were the woven textile design practices and semi-structured interviews, complemented by reviewing grey and academic literature related to woven eTextiles. The first study investigated how the orthogonal yarn architecture of woven structures enables the integration of electrical circuitry. The second study examined how electrically functional structures and sensorial properties of a textile surface can be designed in parallel to form a user interface for an interactive textile object through a case of an interactive hand puppet. The third study included an exploratory weaving process to map the possibilities of multi-layer weaves for woven eTextile development through accumulative design experimentation. The fourth study reviewed eTextile literature through the lens of woven textile design to understand how weaving has been used in eTextile research across different disciplines. The review identified woven structures whose potential for eTextile development has remained uncharted. The fifth study examined the role of weaving within an interdisciplinary eTextile material development process by focusing on the experiences of the researchers working on a project developing yarn-like actuators for shape-changing interactive textiles. The practice-based approach grounded on textile thinking was found to be well-suited for mapping the design space of woven eTextiles to discover new research opportunities. The approach enables accessing methods based on textile design and construction skills and conducting the investigation through the possibilities of weaving. As a core contribution, this thesis proposes a model for approaching woven eTextiles as electrically functional material systems, in which woven textiles' structural hierarchy collides with circuit design principles

E-textiles for Self-Expression: Participatory Making with Blind and Visually Impaired People

This research explores how blind and visually impaired (VI) people can engage with e-textiles in creative and tactile ways, by making interactive e-textile art pieces to tell their own stories. Touch, gestures used to interact with textiles and e-textiles, and association of meaning with objects are central concerns of the work, in the context of how different materials can evoke and be used in self-expression. The research focuses on how VI participants can design and make their own e-textile objects, bringing in ideas of empowerment and agency, and drawing attention to what characterises an effective ‘participatory making’ environment. Three studies are reported. The first study observed practices at two schools for blind and VI children/young people to establish how ‘objects of reference’ are used within the classroom environment, and what other sensory stimulation is important. The second study involved two series of hands-on e- textile making workshops, at a charity for VI people, and at a contemporary art gallery, to explore how visually impaired participants can design and make personal e-textile objects. The third, a laboratory study, investigated what associations and gestures visually impaired participants used with e-textile sensors that had different textures and functioned in different ways. The research explored the potential of participatory making of e-textiles in terms of touch, personal association, accessibility, and creativity. The research identifies some effective practices for participatory making of e-textiles with visually impaired people, including a modular approach to circuit-making. It highlights the importance of ownership of the process for the participants. It demonstrates that, although there is ‘no common language of gesture’ for touch-based interaction with e-textiles, conventions can be established through example or consistent use. It outlines the ‘lessons learned’ in working with blind and visually impaired people, which can inform other researchers, designers, or artists interested in participatory making

Imagining & Sensing: Understanding and Extending the Vocalist-Voice Relationship Through Biosignal Feedback

The voice is body and instrument. Third-person interpretation of the voice by listeners, vocal teachers, and digital agents is centred largely around audio feedback. For a vocalist, physical feedback from within the body provides an additional interaction. The vocalist’s understanding of their multi-sensory experiences is through tacit knowledge of the body. This knowledge is difficult to articulate, yet awareness and control of the body are innate. In the ever-increasing emergence of technology which quantifies or interprets physiological processes, we must remain conscious also of embodiment and human perception of these processes. Focusing on the vocalist-voice relationship, this thesis expands knowledge of human interaction and how technology influences our perception of our bodies. To unite these different perspectives in the vocal context, I draw on mixed methods from cog- nitive science, psychology, music information retrieval, and interactive system design. Objective methods such as vocal audio analysis provide a third-person observation. Subjective practices such as micro-phenomenology capture the experiential, first-person perspectives of the vocalists them- selves. Quantitative-qualitative blend provides details not only on novel interaction, but also an understanding of how technology influences existing understanding of the body. I worked with vocalists to understand how they use their voice through abstract representations, use mental imagery to adapt to altered auditory feedback, and teach fundamental practice to others. Vocalists use multi-modal imagery, for instance understanding physical sensations through auditory sensations. The understanding of the voice exists in a pre-linguistic representation which draws on embodied knowledge and lived experience from outside contexts. I developed a novel vocal interaction method which uses measurement of laryngeal muscular activations through surface electromyography. Biofeedback was presented to vocalists through soni- fication. Acting as an indicator of vocal activity for both conscious and unconscious gestures, this feedback allowed vocalists to explore their movement through sound. This formed new perceptions but also questioned existing understanding of the body. The thesis also uncovers ways in which vocalists are in control and controlled by, work with and against their bodies, and feel as a single entity at times and totally separate entities at others. I conclude this thesis by demonstrating a nuanced account of human interaction and perception of the body through vocal practice, as an example of how technological intervention enables exploration and influence over embodied understanding. This further highlights the need for understanding of the human experience in embodied interaction, rather than solely on digital interpretation, when introducing technology into these relationships

Hand Puppet as Means for eTextile Synthesis

To situate the skills of the textile designer within the HCI-process, we present a case of a hand puppet with a purpose-woven smart textile pattern. The qualities found in traditional textile design are tacitly synthesized into the eTextile-design process. We see this mentality as having a natural dialogue with HCI-practice. The hand puppet consists of two layers: an inner sensor glove, designed to detect the movements of the user’s fingers, and a woven outer layer that has a touch sensitive user interface integrated into its woven structure. The two interfaces can be operated simultaneously by two separate users; an adult and a child. Our interest is to understand better how the traditional textile design variables can be utilized in the user interface and -experience design. We aim towards the synthesis of woven eTextile design, consisting of user interface design, pattern design, sensor structure design and textile layout design.Peer reviewe