On the scenic coast of Skåne in Sweden overlooking the Baltic Sea a Swedish Couple became Husband and Wife wearing the first ever Interactive Wedding outfits!

Kiss Me!

The The ‘Kiss Me!’ gown and suit, designed by CuteCircuit specifically for the occasion, are made of pure Indian Silk in vibrant colors of emerald green and sapphire blue. The design of the garments was derived from the unique personality of the couple, environmentally friendly and smart, and included features such as being reversible and reconfigurable. And at the dramatic conclusion of the ceremony, when the happy couple kissed, two messages containing before unspoken love words were passed from one to the other (one from him to her, and one from her to him). The messages are shown only to the couple through a miniscule display integrated inside the trim of the clothes for absolute romantic-secrecy.

Based on the technology from the Secret Message Glove the clothes contain no hard wires, only soft comfortable smart fabrics. Additionally all the ‘intelligent parts’ run at low-power, reducing their size and energy consumption and all the components are lead and mercury free so that the happy couple can live longer and in a cleaner world.

Also in the interest of sustainability- because wedding clothes are often used only once and later sit gathering closet-dust, the clothes are transformable and can be worn many times again. The train of the gown is removable, so that it can be transformed into a regular skirt for other less formal occasions, and the skirt can be worn inside out for a change of color. The man’s jacket however does not have removable parts, but will be useful to command respect when worn in various future meetings aboard pirate ships.

You can also see pictures of the ceremony- Link

A humungous thank you goes to Livia and Magnus for the loan of their Kiss Me! outifts for this year’s SIGgraph Fashion Show. See Kiss Me! in action ;) at SIGGRAPH Fashion show in Boston next Monday the 31st of July!

CuteCircuit taught an intense hands-on introduction to Smart Textiles and Physical Computing at the Interface Research group at the University of Ulster in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The workshop took place over the course of several days in the studios of Interface and focused specifically on integration techniques between the Smart Textiles and technology. The course demonstrated the latest design developments and soft circuits for making ’smart clothing’ truly wearable.

Over the course of the workshop, participants had the opportunity to build and experiment at every step of the development process, from assembling smart materials to programming the microchip, to soldering and stitching and finally testing the finished prototype - “The Secret Message Glove”!

The Secret Message Glove

“What is the secret message glove?” you ask? I’m glad you asked!! It is a very useful item for spies, secret agents and private eyes and it is used for passing secret messages at the touch of a finger! In a smoky crowded bar in Casablanca, you urgently need to pass a secret message to your compatriot friend. There are too many ears, and too many eyes - but shaking hands looks normal! So, you shake hands, the data is delivered from glove to glove, and you quietly disappear back into the mysterious Moroccan night, eluding the double agents.

That was the Hollywood scenario, but in reality: The Secret Message Glove is a fun and simple-to-construct project we invented specifically for the workshop that combines Smart Textiles and Physical Computing in a wearable application.

In the workshop the participants constructed their gloves to their own design by using recycled fabrics, and integrating Smart Materials. The technology was assembled and integrated, and finally the microprocessor was programmed to pass the right ’secret message’ of choice. By the end of the intense workshop many funny secret messages had been invented: from suggestions of what to have for dinner to useful tips on programming microprocessors!

For a visual overview of the workshop please view the image gallery page!