The works featured in the FutureFashion Event are divided into four categories:
Communicative, Adaptive, Fun, Expressive

Communicative

Communicative clothing allows the wearer to feel closer to distant loved ones, share experiences and send thoughts around the globe.

The Hug Shirt

by CuteCircuit, USA, UK, Italy

F+R Hugs (Hug Shirt): is a Bluetooth accessory for mobile phones in the shape of a t-shirt that allows people to exchange the physical sensation of a hug over distance. Embedded in the shirt there are sensors that feel the strength of the touch, the skin warmth and the heartbeat rate of the sender and actuators that recreate the sensation of touch, warmth and emotion of the hug to the shirt of the loved one. CuteCircuit website

whisper(s)

by Thecla Schiphorst, Simon Fraser University, Canada

Exhale is a whisper[s] research group project based on designing and fabricating “a-wearable” body networks for public spaces. The rhythm of networked group breath is used as an interface for interaction. The networked breath of the participants within the system actuates the responses of small fans, vibrators and speakers that are embedded in the lining of sensually evocative skirts worn close to the body.

Scent Whisper

by Jenny Tillotson, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, UK

Scent Whisper” is a jewelry set that dispenses fragrances in response to a sensor. The two pieces are a spider and a bombardier beetle brooches. The devices involve microfluidics and wireless technology that link a remote sensor with a fragrance-dispensing unit to create two items of jewelry that constitute the “wireless web”. A message is “scent by a wireless web” from a spider to a bombardier beetle brooch that sprays a minute sample of fragrance. Jennny Tillotson’s website

Emotional Ties

by Di Mainstone and Sara Diamond, Banff Centre, Canada

The subtleties of the unsaid word are inspiration for Emotional Ties. Male and female body language (preening) is monitored through strategically placed touch sensors inserted into the garments. Once certain body postures are detected, an audiovisual display is triggered on the other’s garment. For example, if the male adjusts his tie or a female smoothes the fabric around her waist, an LED animation and melody play on the other’s garment.

ADAPTIVE

Clothing that can sense its environment, and adapt itself to an ever changing world, making life comfortable, safer.

Lumi - Light Ubiquitous

by Natalia Allen, Natalia Allen LLC Design Perfect Futures, USA

We successfully fused particle size photo-luminescent pigments with fibers to create a soft textile textile for clothing that emits light without electricity. Organic energy is absorbed by the textile and emitted as light energy in dark conditions.The glow effect is a first of kind in clothing. The textile is sustainable, endures washes and glows for 11 hours on end. LUMI textiles are perfect for children, pets, and athletes which require visibility in darkness. Natalia Allen website

HeartBeat Hoodie

by Diana Eng, Black Box Nation, USA

Heartbeat Hoodie explores the idea of involuntarily documenting parts of life using a camera to take photographs at moments of interest or excitement. The camera, strategically placed above the eyes on the hoodie, takes photographs as the wearer’s heart rate increases. The camera is wired discreetly through the seeming of the garment to a basic stamp that communicates with a wireless heart rate monitor. At the end of the day, you can reflect on moments that caused interest and excitement by viewing the photographs.

Biomimetic Clothing

by Diana Eng, Black Box Nation, USA

Biomemetic Clothing is a collection of outfits that convert from one look to another based on principles from TRIZ (the Russian theory of inventive problem solving), biomimetics, and deployable structures. The collection, at first glance, seems to be a series of monotone grays, but each outfit converts to reveal richly colored, digitally printed fabrics and different silhouettes.

Electric Cinderella

by Simona Brusa Pasque’, USA

Electric Cinderella: drawing from the myth of Cinderella an elegant transparent shoe with a new power inside: a stun gun. The weapon is shielded and when the wearer taps on the matching necklace an electric spark is displayed in the transparent tip. The weapon is designed for a one time use, in case of emergency, by breaking the tip of the shoe. Electric Cinderella reflects on the idea of “weapon” and on its power in changing our behavior. Simona Brusa Pasque’s website

Irene (Future Lifestyle for SAAB)

by CuteCircuit, USA, UK, Italy

Irene is a two piece urban outfit composed of a blouse and pants. The pants are embroidered with jewel-like metallic environmental sensors while the blouse features an information display on the forearm and is connected wirelessly to any PDA unit, and to an embedded iPOD. The user can verify her schedule and other information while on the move. On the blouse is a cluster of film-thin flexible Solar cells that provides the necessary power to operate the system. CuteCircuit website

(re)connect

by Kate Hartman, Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU, USA

(re)connect is a garment that allows the wearer to receive feedback from their own gesture and touch. It is constructed of fleece, conductive fabric, conductive thread, boning, and vibrating motors. Engaging in simple, instinctive poses provides the opportunity to close off the outside world and turn inward. Physical connections made between the hands and other points on the body close electric circuits, causing mild vibrations in different regions of the upper body.

Space Dress

by Teresa Almeida, Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU, USA

Space Dress is a dress that inflates, expands in size, according to its user decision and in specific situations. It is designed to cope with stress, anxiety and claustrophobic situations - or simply for comfort. It was originally designed for rush hour in the MTA, New York City’s subway system. It’s made out of rip-stop nylon and electronics. It negotiates social bounds, communicates beyond protection/defense and makes visible individuals/members of a community.

Smart Second Skin

by Jenny Tillotson, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, UK

SmartSecondSkin Dress is a garment that offers direct life enhancing and analgesic assistance through different mechanismsí whilst soothing, relaxing, stimulating or invigorating the wearer. The dress illustrates a new way to deliver fragrances for health, wellbeing and stress-reduction. It mimics the human body, in particular the circulation system, senses and scent glands. The fragrances are therefore diffused depending on the different moods and emotions of the user. Jennny Tillotson’s website

Company Keeper

by Di Mainstone and Sara Diamond, Banff Centre, Canada

The Company Keeper occupant enjoys the perpetual company of a wise, humorous and absurd friend, capable of neutralizing the occupant’s nervous disposition. The wearer’s mood is calculated with embedded touch sensors and an accelerometer in a hanging tassel and the level of sound in the environment, measured with a microphone. When moods such as awkwardness, and claustrophobia are detected, an antidote soundscape is played through headphones in the hood.

Numetrex Heart Sensing Sports Bra

by Textronics Inc, Meg Burich, USA

The highly advanced NuMetrex bra features electronic sensing technology actually integrated right into the fabric, which picks up the heart’s electrical pulse and radios it to a watch via a tiny transmitter in the bra. The bra will offer a new level of comfort to women wishing to monitor their heart rate while they exercise. The NuMetrex sports bra promises to revolutionize athletic apparel, providing the traditional comfort and support of a sports bra with the added technological benefits of built-in accurate heart rate monitoring. Textronics website

Fabrican

by Manel Torres, Imperial College London, UK

Life is canned. Well not quite, but… Fabrican aims to make life more convenient, healthier and fun with its unique spray-on fabric. Our technology can be used across many industries, positively impacting the lives of millions of people – and the environment. From spray-on clothes, to spray-on medicine, to spray-on hygiene wipes, to spray-on pollutant removal (plus many more!), Fabrican is developing products with real benefits. Fabrican website

FUN

Clothing that makes everyday activities and tasks more entertaining, enjoyable, meaningful, and fun!

Buddy

by Simona Brusa Pasque’, Jessica Chon, Margherita Simonetti, Scuola Politecnica di Design Milano, Italy

Buddy is a stylish BlogBag that broadens the idea of the bag as a container extending it to virtual content, to the images and sounds that are part of our travels. Through its embedded portable device, Zap, the user can collect and store photos and sounds about his trip. Buddy adds its own perspective by shooting fisheye photos from its 3rd eye on the user’s back. The collected memories are automatically posted to a blog whenever the user meets a wireless hotspot. Simona Brusa Pasque’s website

hugJackets

by Despina Papadopoulos, 5050 Ltd, USA

An intricate quilted pattern made of conductive fabric is sewn on the front of each jacket. When two people wearing a hugJacket embrace they actually power each other up through that pattern. The symbolic energy transfer becomes fully actualized and the embrace is instantly translated into an explosion of light and sound. The hugJackets technology itself is astonishingly simple – it is the intricate patterning and placement of the conductive fabric that allows for the surprising connection and effect to take place. 5050 ltd website

Hearwear

by Younghui Kim, Milena Berry, Absurdee LLC, Missing Pixel LLC, USA

HearWear is a handbag reacting to environmental noise. As an everyday accessory, it becomes your lifestyle with its comfort and convenience. On top of that, it enables you to express your experience of the noise levels in the area you pass through. The electronics are seamlessly integrated in the wearable design - the sound-detecting sensor is subtle and unnoticeable, and the LEDs and electroilluminating wire are embroidered in the translucent textile. Missing Pixel website and Absurdee website

SportHolster and HipHolster

by UrbanTool, Sabrina Tanner, Austria

The ideal accessory to have the most important personal things such as a mobile phone, keys, etc. ready to hand. Special textiles make the sportHolster an unique accessory. Reflective material makes you visible in the dark. With the hipHolster whether urban or off road - each pocket is suitable for different things; store your iPod, mobile phone, pen, passport, keys, wallet or camera. Additional leg-belt for sport activities. UrbanTool website

Clicksneaks

by Despina Papadopoulos, 5050 Ltd, USA

For the ClickSneaks the sound of the inspirational high heels has been recorded, only to be activated on each step the revamped sneakers take. Surface mount technology makes it possible to fit the necessary components in the sneakers: the original “click” sound is recorded on a voice chip, while a speaker, amplifier and an accelerometer acting as a “switch”, transform these seemingly normal sneakers into a flighty performance. 5050 ltd website

FlightDream

by Simona Brusa Pasque’, Phillis Mancino, Dianna Miller, Interaction Design Institute Ivrea, Italy

Flightdream is an interactive evening cape, a glamorous piece of enhanced clothing designed to give the sensation of flight to the wearer and to displace onlookers altering the perception of the space around her. When the wearer moves and air softly inflates the cape the movements are gently accompanied by the subtle sound of a breeze, allowing in the wearer a daydreaming sensation of flight. Simona Brusa Pasque’s website

Fuse Necklace and Bracelet

by Emily Albinski, Black Box Nation, USA

This necklace and bracelet features 2-amp 125-volt slow blow fuses. It is also a play on the parallels between engineering and artistry. It is inspired by the idea that there is a beauty to objects that are carefully considered and executed for the purpose of functionality.

GrooveRider

by UrbanTool, Sabrina Tanner, Austria

The URBAN TOOL grooveRider is a shirt to integrate your iPod in a secure pocket and to operate the iPod directly through a smart fabric interface on the shirt. You can start and stop your iPod, adjust the volume and choose tracks through the golden control panel. The shirt is connected to the iPod including special integration possibilities for headphones. UrbanTool website

Sensitive Shoes

by Jenny Tillotson, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, UK

As you walk pressure points are stimulated by pressing on a soft sensitive area that corresponds with various reflexology points causing a gentle glow from the underside of the sole. The ball of the foot touches on the solar plexus point - the centre of emotional energy. The shoes offer an emotional ‘bath of light’ experience so that the act of walking is “healing”. A reflexology chart was used as a source of reference for the shoes. Jennny Tillotson’s website

Boombag

by Syuzi Pakhchyan, Sparklab, USA

The boomBag is a customizable hip bag designed to house an mp3 player and a set of speakers. Inspired by street culture, the boomBag takes the “boom box” and embeds it on the personal space of the body. Designed as a system, it is a kit of instructions and electronic parts, that can be constructed by anyone who harnesses basic sewing and soldering skills. Sparklab website

EXPRESSIVE

Clothes for personal expression, from deep experiences to subtle things that cannot be expressed in words.

Skirteleon

by CuteCircuit, USA, UK, Italy

The Skirteleon context aware laminated textile changes color ondemand, upon user interaction, during the course of a predefined time period or when receiving a phone call from a friend. The Skirteleon primary color state is blue, but upon user interaction could present diverse colors and patterns. The Skirteleon, through touch or preprogramming, the fabric color changes from blue to animal characters or geometric patterns both red on a white background. CuteCircuit website

WhereTheHeartIs

by Mark Argo, Fabrica, Italy

Currently installed at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto as part of the “Communication Mods” show, “WhereTheHeartIs” asks the audience in Toronto to contribute iconic images of their city to a screen in the gallery. The images are then sent to a small screen which the artist wears over his heart. During the two-month exhibition, “WhereTheHeartIs” creates a direct link between the artist and his home city. The screen will continually display and receive images from Toronto. Mark Argo’s website

The Soft Electric

by Grace Kim, Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU, USA

The Soft Electric capelet was knit and felted by hand. It is embroidered with conductive thread and “beaded” with 11 surface mount LEDs. It’s design is influenced, but not driven by its underlying technology. It’s wearer can leave the closure unclasped to wear it as a simple capelet, or she can clasp it to turn on the LEDs for an added sparkle. Grace Kim’s website

RolePlay

by Syuzi Pakhchyan, Sparklab, USA

It is a detachable hood that uses light to reveal and conceal imagery. The drawstring of the hood functions as a switch. When tugged and pulled, the embedded string of LEDs hidden on the inside of the hood illuminate. When the light is activated, the image hidden inside the hood is revealed. Role Play uses the way we interact with our own garments as a vehicle for communication—a means for expression, a means for flirtation and even a means for camouflage. Sparklab website

Balance | Imbalance

by Sonali Sridhar, Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU, USA

Through experimentation I played with clean and simple elastics that kept a shirt in a tight scrunched state, exposing the midriff. On wearing your phone and keys the shirt is pulled down to cover the body. Every time the keys or phone are taken out to be used, the shirt skews in one direction or another leaving the wearer with a sense of imbalance. This was a purely mechanical solution to this notion of feeling awkward without your devices. Sonali Sridhar’s website

Yo Taxi!

by Terence Arjo, Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU, USA

To give New Yorkers the upper hand,I created Yo,taxi!,a design that is sure to stop a taxi in its tracks. Yo,Taxi! is a coat embedded with a persistence of vision display, shown through a single row of LEDs positioned in the cuff of the coat. When the wearer raises his or her hand and begins waving it in the natural taxi-hailing gesture,the LEDs illuminate. The POV strobes in time with the wearer’s action,displaying the word “TAXI” seemingly floating in mid-air. Terence Arjo’s website

MediaCollar

by Rainer Stolle, UK

The media collar turns media into material; it turns something virtual into something real. Ordinarily, screens are used to deliver content via TV, cinema, video and DVD, the Internet or mobile phone. This project proposes a different concept of using a screen material. After first attempting to integrate a screen into a garment, I then turned this around and looked into how technology can translate into an aesthetic that uses a screen material as a fashion accessory.

Wearable Light

by Syuzi Pakhchyan, Sparklab, USA

The Wearable Light bracelet is a leather cuff with LEDs embedded inside. The Velcro functions as a switch so the bracelet only illuminates when it is in active use. The entire circuitry of the wearable is sewn. This wearable was designed as a DIY project to introduce individuals to creating simple circuits that are modular, flexible and layered. It is constructed entirely using sewing techniques. The exterior and interior layer of the bracelet are meant to be personalized. Sparklab website

whiSpiral

by Elena Corchero and Stefan Agamanolis, Media Lab Europe, Ireland

The whiSpiral is a new kind of keepsake that explores how technology can enhance the way garments and accessories evoke memories of these relationships. Circuitry integrated directly in the textile allows your friends to record short audio messages at different points in a spiral-shaped shawl. These messages are whispered back each time you wrap the shawl around yourself, or by caressing different parts of the fabric. whiSpiral website

KineticDress

by CuteCircuit, USA, UK, Italy

The KineticDress is sewn of an elastic textile embedded with sensors that follows closely the body of the wearer. The sensors are able to capture the wearer’s movements and interaction with others and display this data through the electroluminescent embroidery that covers the external skirt section of the dress. Depending on the amount and speed of the wearer’s movement the electroluminescent embroidery changes pattern, displaying the wearer’s mood to the audience and creating a magic halo around her. CuteCircuit website