11. Implications and applications¶

Week 11. Definition of my final project. FINALLYYYYYY!! At this point of the intense and lovely past of the master, I think that I have learnt very useful knowledge about properties, materials, processes for what I want to work in my final project.

I have always been interested in materials and in sports and one of the reasons why I got involved in the Fabricademy program is because I would like to work or develop a wearable with Biomaterials and applicable in the Sports field. For this reason I prepared the below Ultra personalized Product Service System to get inspired, to understand very well the subject and to and take advantage of one possible problems that I could solve in this field

Problem¶

The fashion industry is the second largest polluter of the environment.

The fast fashion segment aims at a fast production and disposal of clothing, slow fashion seeks timeless and durable garments.

The environment is being affected and people's consumerist mentality does not change easily.

Solution Concept¶

Sportswear normally refers to garments that are for "short term use" but they are for "heavy use". On the other side "wearable tech is not so cheap, embedding electronics at the moment is not widely spread. Yet, since it is technology, and technology becomes obsolete very fast, we should not design for long term, or we should design for "upgrading ability" - Modularity

The reason why I want to work in this project is because I want to propose an alternative solution to the traditional garments, which are more sustainable and could replace the current pollutant practices for a more ecofriendly solution.

These bioPlastics or BioTextiles would have the same functionality but are designed to have a compostable or biodegradable take over after its service life.

BioPlastics¶

Recently, significant progress has been made on the development of low environmental impact plastic materials, as alternatives to conventional plastics – Degradable and compostable.

Research has focused on the engineering of renewable resources of animal or vegetable origin to produce green bioplastic materials with good properties with the aim to replace some polymers.

The preparation of bioplastics is desired to comply with zero waste and circular economy principles and are expected to impact the future of food packaging significantly.

Why Sports? Because according to a survey done in 2020 (ref) there is a boom that sport is having in the population, since nearly 6 out of 10 part of the population has practiced sport in the last year, either regularly or occasionally.

This proposal would not tend to compete with traditional material of clothes, but is an alternative solution o an ecofriendly disposable garment

Personalization¶

• Degradable garments – single use design

• Different materials - BioPLastics

• Different Colors: BioDyes, glowing materials, reflective materials

• Different manufacturing methods: molds, Extrusion, Films

• Different sizes, Male and female designs

• Pleasant smells

• Modular pieces – long sleeves or hoodie in case or rain

• Challenge, manufacturing of clothes : sealing the parts, sewing, single piece?

Customers / Stakeholders¶

Athletes
Sport Centers
Clothing Manufacturers
Perfume Manufacturers

Technology¶

Bioplastics
Alternative Manufacturing Methods

Video Review Implications and Applications 2022-23

Thank you Anastasia, Oscar, Ana and Petra for your great inspiration! :)

Slide show¶

Jury's Feedback¶

The argument in the problematic that approaches your project mentioning the toxic fibers and the negative impact on the body skin and environment is very clear. After this I recommend changing the sentence "opportunity to create a second skin" in your speech. Because the biomaterial you are creating must be the conclusion of your research or the reflection of an hypothesis. For example you can open the discussion of a new opportunity by asking a marking question > How to develop a biobased material to protect the skin while practicing outdoor sport activities, interconnected through the interaction of the human natural fluids (this is an example). And defining a frame of limitations or the properties of the material depending on the specific interaction with the skin and the body like: antimicrobial, humidity regulator, transpirable, degradation timing, and other technical aspects of the material to achieve. ( which I don't know)

Then comes the exploration of chemistry, studies of sensations, emotions, feelings, body movement mentioned. How the material feels on the body. How is the degradation of the material controlled? How is the usability explanation of the product? Is gelatin achieving the project needs? As they said how about exploring other techniques such as spray can and adding fibers in gelatine, what are the variations of the concept, and finally how the project connects with the awareness of sustainability through a new material innovation.

References¶

Last update: 2023-05-08