PROCESS

Design Concept
Design Research
Speculative Design
Material Design
Knitted Textile Design
Interaction Design
Storytelling

OUTCOME

Interactive Knitted Textile Garments

DATE

Jan 2016 - Jun 2016

PARTNERS

Lorenzo Brancadoro, Photographer
Thomas Orbon, Videographer

EXHIBITED AT:

GK Gallery, Manchester, 2017
Business Design Centre, London, 2016
New Designers, London, 2016
Vertical Gallery, Manchester, 2016

OVERVIEW

How will we interact with materials in a future digital world? Envisioning a future hypothesis of how we will wear and interact with the materials around us in years to come. The collection of three interactive wearable textiles fuse the mediums of sculpture, fashion and performance design to create a catalytic extension of the body.

These magnetic body sculptures transform the unseen sense of touch into a magnified motion; enhancing the tactile sense. The modular construction of the knitted textiles allows the sculptures to create their own organic formations and silhouettes around the body as the wearer moves and interacts with them.

INSIGHT

Current technological interfaces for “smart speakers” in the home are now primarily controlled by voice. Although these have obvious benefits for accessibility; constant demands being shouted at a device can induce noise pollution in the home. In addition, such speakers create a sense of detachment between users and the textural complexities of the music they’re listening to. As an avid music listener, how can we more actively engage with the music we’re listening to?

Motion Player seeks to actively engage people in the music they’re listening to, providing an experiential way to experience sound. Through breaking down the different elements of musical compositions, the device enables control of sound, bass, treble and much more through hand-gestures which are performed in a manner reminiscent of a conductor.

OPPORTUNITY

Prototyping used C++ to combine Leap Motion, Unity and Arduino. The working prototype demonstrated above only illustrates the control of volume and track. As the working time for this project was two days and with the limited sensors available - the prototype demonstrated in the video is merely an indication to the interaction that would be encountered if further prototyping and user testing were carried out.

The feathers of the physical interface flow as an extension of your movement providing visual feedback from your action. The interface of each controller is reminiscent of a traditional turn table – reimagined for the home environment in a tactile design.

PROCESS

“We decided to design a custom £10 kit robot that each student is asked to assemble on the first day of the module: With it, we teach them how to build simple behaviours and interactions through a very hands-on series of workshops using our own physical/digital interface based on Unity + Arduino.”

INTERACTIVE KNITTED GARMENTS

The textiles use a variety of pleating and ribbing knitting techniques to produce the final 3D knit formation. Each modular piece can be magnetically connected together. This enables complete customisation of each garment.