Returning to the hub of Interaction Design in Northern Italy, Ryan and Francesca taught a one-day workshop on Intellectual Property for the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea at their Milan Campus. The workshop focused specifically on how IP issues affect designers, and particularly the inventive breed of interaction designers.

The workshop lasted all day and ended with the aperitivo in the swank studio. Nice to see traditions living on!

It was great to meet with this year’s graduating class and see that enthusiasm is still a central part of the experience there. See you all again at the end of year show!

Interaction-Ivrea rules!!

We wish you a happy and wonderful 2006! May it be creative, peaceful and cute!!! Stay tuned for more news in late January!!!

The CuteCircuit team.

Solve the Hug Shirt mystery on NTV Nippon Television Network program Masaka no Mystery!

The show is a Mystery Quizshow where contestants are invited to solve the whatever mystery is featured, in this case the Hug Shirt!

Watch the Masaka no Mystery video here! (20 Mb Quicktime)
Enjoy the segment, in Japanese without subtitles! Is really exciting and kawaii!

Thames and Hudson Publishers have just released a landmark new book “Fashioning The Future” by Suzanne Lee.

The book takes a close look at the massive changes that are beginning to take place in the clothing and fashion world due to emergent technologies and smart materials. It gives a thorough overview of the state-of-the-art and a look into the future of clothing and fashion, including wearable technology.

The book covers a number of CuteCircuit projects including the Kinetic Dress, and the Mystique Dress with descriptions and photos. The first edition sold out in the first weeks of publication, and is already in reprinting!

Order your copy directly form the publisher here.
Or you can also order a copy from Amazon UK here!

In addition to CuteCircuit projects, the book also covers projects from designers and companies like Sony, MIT, Phillips, Ideo, NASA, Hussein Chalayan, and Issey Miyake.

CuteCircuit wearables collection “Hug Me and Transfor-Me” that includes the Hug Shirt, Skirteleon and KineticDress, was presented at SIGGraph CyberFashion Show event on August 3rd in Los Angeles. The event sparked a series of newspaper articles referencing CuteCircuit projects, from LA Weekly, Wired and NPR among others!

Huggy Shirts
Technology you can wear
Fancy meets function on runway
the Experience Economist

Here is a video from the CyberFashion Show , a 20 Mb Quicktime file.

For a full review of media and press coverage, please see the Press Page where you can view videos, websites and articles written about CuteCircuit and the projects.

An article about Skirteleon, Listening Bells, and CuteCircuit was published in the German newspaper Freie Presse. The article was published on Friday, June 24th. The article is titled “Das Chamaleon aus dem Kleiderschrank”, that we hope means something very nice!

CuteCircuit’s Ryan and Francesca were interviewed yesterday morning by the BBC Television News in Rome! The interview was about the Italian economy in Euro times, and the challenges of technological innovation seen from the point of view of a young start-up. The interview was broadcasted yesterday in the UK and other countries. Soon there will be a link to BBC Television for watching the broadcast, stay tuned!

The Hug Shirt is featured in the “Most Wanted - Keep in Touch” article by Lauren Crothers. Read it on page 8 in the South China Morning Post’s POSTMAGAZINE. Check the Press page in the next days to download a PDF of the article!

For all the friends, designers, and curious people in Rome. We will relaunch CuteCircuit website on thursday May 5th, come to join us in Via Palestro 64 (near Termini station) for a tea party starting at 5.05 pm! If you are not in Rome connect to our website at 5.05 and you will see the new website launch live!

Read Francesca’s interview about the F+R Hugs project written by journalist Oliver Stallwood for London’s The Metro!