Derive Apparel is a wearable project that uses Arduino based programming to enhance the user’s spatial awareness through the movement of programmed 3D printed fabric and wire. The Derive Jacket was founded on the concept of enabling the individual to drift the urban landscape upon freewill. Dérive is “a mode of experimental behavior linked to the conditions of urban society: a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances.” We believe the psycho-geographical impact of Derive is a great thing for individual exploration and freewill. This wearable tackles the problem of being able to navigate through the city without a phone on hand allowing users to “feel” more spontaneously while exploring their city, instead of looking down at a screen. The programmable material we are using is Nitinol Wire, also known as Muscle Wire. It expands and contracts within the jacket to subtly signal forward, right and left. The project would use geolocation to inform the body within the suit. As the individual walks through the city, the fabric would expand and contract left or right panels of the jacket. The user would feel pressure on either side of the stomach, guiding them towards their location. In order to tell the jacket where to take us, we programmed a GPS satellite chip and an Flora Arduino in order to communicate with a text from a cell phone. One could simply text “home” to an android phone number and the suit would begin guiding the body home. We envision the future of this project to truly become a App-arel; a wearable that can be modified, hacked and tailored for any type of user, much like a smartphone. We would hope to see the amplification of freewill; the individual no longer glued to a cell phone screen or stranded upon a loss of internet connection. Individuals who embrace this technology would be able to use their wearables to improvise and allow the mind and body to drift creatively in the urban fabric.
