3 research outputs found
Towards a Postphenomenological Approach to Wearable Technology through Design Journeys
The field of wearable technology has extensively described the opportunities, challenges as well as the concerns around
integrating digital technologies into fashion. However, it has so far not provided a sufficiently clear and embodied
understanding of technology. Technology therefore is often still limited to something that adds functionality to textiles or
clothing. Additionally, technology is seen as a way to enhance the visual expression and thereby the representational character of clothing. Both approaches seem to hinder the intersection of digital technologies and textiles on a material and embodied level. While the role of wearable technologies in the everyday could benefit from it. In this paper, we therefore argue for reframing the understanding of technology to better facilitate the integration of digital technologies (i.e. electronics
and software) into everyday fashion. A reflective analysis of the process of designing wearable technologies, based on the design practice of the first author, reveals that technology is considered a material and that its material qualities are not thought of as either functional or aesthetic. These insights, arising from practice, have led us to turn to postphenomenology (a strand of philosophy of technology) to come to further conceptualization. Postphenomenology looks at the ways in which technologies mediate or “coshape” the relationship between human beings and the world. By seeing technologies as the media that connect humans to the world, they acquire a material and contextual dimension. The idea that artifacts mediate materially thus offers a very useful starting point for understanding and designing wearable technologies. The contribution
of this article is twofold, namely, first, to provide a material understanding of the technology on the basis of design practice. And secondly, to bridge design practice with theory by suggesting to bring postphenomenology into fashion to better facilitate the design of wearable technologies for the everyday
Inflatable actuators based on machine embroidery
The growing interest in wearable technologies has prompted the development of new techniques for integrating electronics into garments, and more specifically to overcome the challenges interfacing hard and soft components. In comparison to sensors and leads, the textile-based or integrated solutions for actuation remain underexplored. Approaching materials as extensions of actuators, we investigate machine embroidery as means to integrate silicone-based inflatables into garments. Following a research through design methodology, we created inflatables whose design and behavior are determined by machine embroidered substrates. Our iterative process resulted in 24 samples, divided in five series, exploring distinct challenges: 1) sewing attributes to create properties of inflatables; 2) fit & support; 3) improving integration
& resolution of complex shapes; 4) enlarging area of actuation; and 5) textile integration. We discuss the
impact of different parameters to the fabrication and the interaction possibilities of soft actuators. We show how machine embroidery allows shifting the complexity of the designs away from the casting process, simplifying fabrication, while enabling the creation of a wide range of shapes and behaviors through layering of textile structures. Our work extends the possibilities of integrating different technologies into garments through a single manufacturing process. We contribute with the detailed description of our design process and reflections on designing inflatables by means of machine embroidery
Day-to-Day Speculation: Designing and Wearing Dynamic Fabric
<p>In this paper we describe <i>Greenscreen
Dress</i>, a material speculation inquiry that investigates the wearing
experience of dynamic fabric in everyday life. In this study the researcher has
worn a "greenscreen garment" every day for seven months. Coupled with
a chroma-key smartphone application, she has photographed the garment and
digitally composited upon it multiple digital colours, patterns and videos. The
fashion expressions were uploaded to Instagram and so situated within a digital
social ecosystem. We argue that combining the wearing of dynamic
fabric with design activities, the inquiry of what it might mean to wear
dynamic fabric moves speculation into day-to day living by drawing from the
interactions of the researcher’s everyday life. As innovations in smart
textiles and wearable technologies become more accessible, knowledge gained
from this research critically inquires into the everydayness of this breed of
technological system. The research draws insights from design, fashion, and
material performances in the daily life of the researcher. The project
contributes critical insights into fashion and technology for clothing
designers and in to new methodological terrains for research through design. </p