In this week we look at innovation at the intersection between textiles and wearables with other sectors.
Societal trends like a renewed interest in crafts, the need for a sustainable mass production system and the emergence of personalization are reshaping the way the fashion system works. This week illustrates the challenges and the space of opportunities emerging where (wearable) tech meets (fashion) design.
Proposed Project is E- Vow which is a "Palla" (6 ft long piece of cloth) which will have embedded heart beat sensor for connecting Bride's heartbeat with Groom's and vice versa to give a private moment of union with haptic grip on the ends as well as color changing neopixels for pleasing visual on every verse for the audience
"Personalisation is a important factor these days when one product needs to make a change culturally or psychologically
Nishtha Kaushik
Project Brief
Keeping in mine my E-Vow project, I interviewed few couples (5 to be specific), I asked "How would you feel if you could have a private connection during Vows with your spouse, they asked "liked what kind of connection"and i replied "where you feel the pulse or heart beat of each other", this made most of my interviewees emotional and they wanted to see this happen. Im glad for this kind of support and really hope I am able to make this happen. This project will be made In House and will be sold to retailers or newly wed couples through yearly exhibitions we have in our city. The cost can vary from 15k-50k for this depending on lot of other thing which I will discover while making, there can be different versions to it too.
1. Where: This project will be prototyped and produced in a Fab lab.
2. Who: This project is specific to wedding events but can be redesigned into different functions and for different occasions. This will have a customising element in terms of the purpose of this cloth.
The most closest and relevant work is of Liza Stark's project "Data vow".
Data Vows from Liza Stark on Vimeo.
"Data Vows is a series of biometric sensing garments for near future commitment ceremonies. It imagines a world where these rituals are no longer sworn by words, but by unlocked by displaying and exchanging our most sacred physical information: our heartbeat. In order to be wed, partners must trade heartbeat data to cement their devotion. When one partner is in close enough proximity, a custom crafted corset senses and a handmade kerchief illuminate and respond to the rhythm of their combined heartbeats. This initial series is an exploration into wearable technology and e-textiles as ritual objects and design probes to critique embedded power structures within societal systems. Speculative design methods formed the framework, with traditions, textiles, modes of communication, and personal data as the components. -Liza StarkProject Analysis
The project is a product based project where I want to, Firstly, Redesign the Palla's used in Indian weddings, its a simple cloth and carries a very big meaning to it when used during taking vows. My purpose is to design it as a Art piece signifying "Bond of souls with god".
Secondly, purpose behind this product is to introduce technology gently and in a subtle manner in our traditions. Technology can never take over traditions, rituals because thats authentic to each culture and Indian being attached to their traditions are not open to technology interfering but if it can prove to be an article of additional elegance then people can be receptive towards it.
Below is my analysis of my project. Any inputs from readers are most welcome .
Inspiration
1. Lakhs and millions are spent on marraiges in India, people across the world come to Indian weddings to see how people bring everyone they know together and celebrate for 2-3 days. Its the biggest market as well.
2. Image below explains what all could be part of this project, it tries to bring LEd, pulse sensor, crystals to the project, but while making different iterations, it can change eventually.
3. About E-Vow:
In Indian weddings, groom and bride take rounds in a holy place around holy book (Sikh religion) or fire (hindu religion). Each phera (round) has a verse associated with it which describes the various stages of the marital love and the importance of a wedding. PALLA refers to a wedding scarf or shawl. The groom carries in the Palla for the sacred ceremony and waits for a moment in the ceremony when the bride’s father connects the Palla between the bride and groom. Palla is 6 feet in length often made of silk or any fabric either plain or with embelishments. The bride’s father walks over to the couple and places the groom’s palla (ceremonial scarf) around the shoulder of the groom and then hands the other end of the scarf to the bride (his daughter). The ends of the palla are held in the respective laps of the bride. The Palla Ceremony acts as a tether between the bride and groom, signifying their physical union, and the goal for a spiritual union of their souls with each other.
4. The above image explains the What-How-Why and When of the product. These questions are mostrelevant to streamline the ideas and processes for any project. This helped me keep my focus on the product as well packing, recyling factors for the same.
5. Below image hghlights the phases of my product, where it starts from senssitization-Ideation and development of the product.
I really liked the link to ana rticle below where there is a workshop by Delf university on strategic planning of Product design for marketing.
a) Transforming the present human-product interaction into a meaningful long lasting experience.
b) Building authentic connection with consumers to generate effective relationships which in turn generate great business value.
Credits: Fourfinity
6. Above image is the other proposed final project where Wearable would have been designed for the autmobile industry. Every one voted for the first one so I took that ahead.
The video below is a glimpse of using silicon in my voronoi design and embed Leds below it.