Fashionable Technologies @ IC 2014

Semi-official tumblr of the Fashionable Technology course at Interface Cultures.

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Fashion and technology @ NYFW 2013

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Sabine's program at Parsons.

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Open brain-computer interface

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'The Next Black' is a documentary film that explores the future of clothing.

A very well made documentary, financed by AEG.

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Oliver's project review #3: Digital Mermaid Bra

Digital Mermaid Bra (2013) Studio XO, UK

Appeal

I've seen Azealia Banks perform at Melt! festival last year and was very impressed with her act. Since I started researching projects for this course I've come across multiple works of Studio XO. They are real players in this field. The idea of clothing that augments a musical performance is intriguing to me because I am myself working on an audio-visual concept for an electronic live act.

Context

Studio XO has worked with artists such as Lady Gaga, The Black Eyed Peas and Azealia Banks to create performance outfits that sync to lights and music.

"The fashion industry is confused about what technology means to them, but the music industry isn't -- people like The Black Eyed Peas, will.i.am, Azealia. That gives us access to the fans and the moment you get access to the fans, it's big numbers."

Nancy Tilbury, XO's creative director.

So Studio XO is using this kind of work to make wearable technology more accessible to the public. It makes sense, because they are also working on prêt-à-porter fashionable tech with their label XO-B.

Technical Feasibility

I am especially interested in the way the sync-mechanism works. Using crystals for light effects is kind of a low-tech approach but it has a big visual impact.

Links

http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/02/play/performance-wear

http://www.studio-xo.com/

http://www.xo-b.com/

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Oliver's project review #2: Electronic Tablecloth

Electronic Tablecloth (1999) MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, USA

Appeal

I am not fully sold by the proposed use of the object but I like the idea of an interactive tablecloth itself. It has been 15 years since it was presented - by now every restaurant should have this type of tableclothes to call for waiters, order food or entertain guests with mini games and such. A fun idea would be to merge it with Lauren McCarthy's Conversacube.

Context

Actively promoting a unique, antidisciplinary culture, the MIT Media Lab goes beyond known boundaries and disciplines, encouraging the most unconventional mixing and matching of seemingly disparate research areas. It creates disruptive technologies that happen at the edges, pioneering such areas as wearable computing, tangible interfaces, and affective computing.

Given the above definition of the work of the MIT media lab, the table cloth serves more as a proof of concept than a fully featured product or artistic piece. In 1999, the MIT started to work on an international standard for identifying products with RFID.

Technical Feasibility

By now, the used technology is cheap and readily available. It is far more challenging to develop a use case for the technology.

Links

http://gtubicomp.pbworks.com/f/post-isj393-part3.pdf

http://lauren-mccarthy.com/conversacube/

http://www.media.mit.edu/about

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Oliver's project review #1: Metamorphosis

취중진담 Metamorphosis (Younghui Kim + Sanghwa Hong, Kyungmee Kim, Kwanu Park)  ” drinking -responsive wearable ”

Appeal

It is hard to hide the effects of one's alcohol consumption from other people (that's why Austrians normally don't even try – I don't know about South Koreans) but wearing this dress and utilizing the almost comical effect of glowing puffy sleeves gives being under the influence just the right self-ironic touch. I also see benefits in road safety.

Context

Social drinking has another importance in South Korea because of the high level of formality prevalent in social discourse that is only broken down by alcohol consumption. The glowing of the sleeves signifies the ability and willingness of the wearer to talk openly.

Technical Feasibility

Alcohol gas sensors are an inexpensive and available technology but positioning them in the vicinity of the wearer's mouth is a challenging task. The video and pictures don't show how the artists solved the problem. Another, more stealthy way would be the use of technology that senses blood alcohol level on the skin.

There is no word about the mechanism for the contraction and expansion of the sleeves. I suppose it could have been done using memory alloy.

Links

http://absurdee.com/hearwear-gallery/%EC%B7%A8%EC%A4%91%EC%A7%84%EB%8B%B4-metamorphosis/

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1530-0277.1992.tb00668.x/abstract

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I've been following Richie Hawtin since some time, he is a true innovator in techno music. He's championing a product, that is basically a portable subwoofer. Low frequencies are transmitted via vibrations from a backpack. I'm not quite sure what to think of it, but my neighbors would definitely like me to have one.

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Apparently this technology is due next year. I like it because it doesn't add useless functionality on top of an already functional product. It's just a shoe that binds itself and I think it's great because I'm lazy and too old for velcro shoes.

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I didn't realize that I was already very familiar with a wearable technology since my childhood. It is the communicator device used in the TV series "Star Trek: The Next Generation". It's actually a pretty smart thing. There is only one button to open a communication channel to the right recipient. The channel is closed automatically. The one downside is that it doesn't have any visual feedback, so you'll never know for sure if your voice is being recorded/transmitted or not. The above ad is, of course, for a toy replica.