subTela

Check out the new Studio subTela website at:
http://subtela.hexagram.ca

Wearable air guitars and tambourines are just a couple of the instruments you can “play” by wearing these shirts. While these garments have a very simple sensing technique from what I can tell, (looks like some bend sensors in the elbows) they create a nice interaction with the wearer. There doesn’t look to be any of the “Is this working right or not?” kind of questionability that so often happens with interactive work.
see more here. They have a number of videos on their site too!

Barbara will be giving a presentation and workshop as part of the symposium, IT + T: Rethinking Textiles and Design to be held December 12 - 14, 2006 at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore, India. In addition, the fabulous Rachel Wingfield will also be an invited speaker.

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Studio subTela presents Lucere, a weaving based on a photograph by storm chaser, Mike Hollingshead. A sensor detects the proximity of the viewer and presents flashing patterns in the LED array. The work is currently on display in the About Jacquard exhibition at the CTCM. The closing date of exhibition has been extended to December, 2006.
Read brief review in Voir

We’re sending two new garments and a wall hanging to be featured in the “Biennale International Design 2006” in Saint-Étienne, France. Have a look at the new designs above and here. These feature a new and much more robust weaving technique for incorporating discreet electronics into wearable garments.

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Dates and locations:
Nov 22 - Dec 3: The Saint Etienne 2006 Design Biennale
Dec 8 - 27, 2006: Palais de la Bourse, Marseille (map)
Jan 24 - March 3, 2007: Canadian Embassy Art Gallery, Washington D.C., USA (map)

We are receiving a lot of referrals to the Lumalive textile garments by Philips. We have not had the opportunity to see one in person and are curious about the level of flexibilty. With our LED projects, the fabric itself is the circuit board and completely flexible as it is woven into the structure during the construction of the fabric and not applied later. If anyone knows more about Lumalive technology, we’d like to hear about it…

Link to Lumalive

A nice work that utilizes time through color shift. Not sure what the technology is to have the color change, but it looks nice and is likely pretty low tech. (most likely Thermochromic inks?) See more here.

Physicists from Austria and the U.S. have built ultra-thin pressure sensors which can be woven into sensitive textiles. In “Haute couture from the experimental physics lab,” they say that their new thin-film transistors (TFTs) can switch back and forth in reaction to pressure. To achieve this effect, they coupled TFTs with ferroelectrets, which are thin films of polymer foams. After demonstrating pressure sensors for replacement skin or ultra-thin microphones, they are now ready for interactive clothing. For example, these sensitive textiles could be used in hospitals to know if patients have left their beds. But haute couture is still far away…

from: Roland Piquepaille’s Technology Trends

Here’s an interesting collection of sudo-appliances that take utilize energy in their design. I think most of them are a really nice way to consider interaction outside of the standard display technologies that we’re used to. Nevermind that they convey vital information to the user in addition to the real functionality of some of them.

static!