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9. Wearables

Research & Inspiration

This week I am including videos + project descriptions because they communicate the themes and tools better than images alone! I feel like as hard as I tried to be into wearables, I was much more interested in general interactive textiles. There are many ways to engage with a textile aside from wearing it. Also, Liza brought up topics to consider including privacy and consent to data collection/storage/interpretation; this was something I thought about.

Ebb | Laura Devendorf

Thermochromic ink, and nice inclusion of craft techniques and traditions. Devendorf's research paper "I don't want to wear a screen" accompanies the project, examining the aesthetics and motivations behind wearable technology.

Plant Machete | David Bowen

Not textile, but an interesting input - output relationship that I saw at Dutch Design Week 2025.

Folding Frequencies | EJTech

Beautiful documentation, commentary on the body without being a wearable. Other EJTech projects, like Chromosonic, are also intriguing to me.

Electronics for Textiles | Michelle Vossen

Michelle used to work at de Waag, and creates interactive textile technology, musical performaces, and more.

michelle

Image credits to Michelle Vossen.

weekly assignment

Check out the weekly assignment here or login to your NuEval progress and evaluation page.

get inspired!

Check out and research alumni pages to betetr understand how to document and get inspired

References & Vocabulary

resources

Actuators

In the context of wearables, e-textiles, and circuitry, an actuator is a component of circuit that moves or controls another part of a circuit. An actuator causes a state change: visual, temperature, audio, etc.

Some actuators commonly used in wearable tech include:

  1. LEDs, neoPixels, Fiber Optics
  2. Thermochromic pigments
  3. Soft speakers
  4. Shape-memory alloys
  5. Flip-dot magnets
  6. Vibration motors

MOSFET driver, Transistors, and Power Load

A transistor is an electrically controlled switch.

We made a MOSFET driver circuit on cardboard to be able to supply power to out actuators that have a higher power load than the laptop can provide. Making the MOSFET required us to learn how to solder.

mosfet

Microcontrollers & Programming

fabriXIAO pinout diagram

FabriXIAO pinout diagram above from Adrian Torres' FabAcademy website, where you can find all things FabriXIAO, from development, to datasheets, to programming instructions.

We are using the FabriXIAO breakout board with Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32-C3 microcontroller. We soldered the microcontroller to the breakout board.

solder

Get XIAO_ESP32S3 as a board option on Arduino IDE by following the steps outlined on this site https://wiki.seeedstudio.com/xiao_esp32s3_getting_started/#software-preparation

To test that your board is working, you can use a simple blink code from ArduinoIDE to test.

One thing we found is that to use PIN D4 on our breakout board, it had to be written as 5 on Arduino IDE.

// the setup function runs once when you press reset or power the board
void setup() {
  // initialize digital pin LED_BUILTIN as an output.
  pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
}

// the loop function runs over and over again forever
void loop() {
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);  // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)
  delay(1000);                      // wait for a second
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);   // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW
  delay(1000);                      // wait for a second
}

Swatches & Tests

Using the same Blink code, but connecting to a copper wire coil, a 9V battery, and a MOSFET transistor board will create the “flip-dot” effect. However, I did not have a bead to create a flip-dot, so I made the magnet stationary and observed the movement of the coil.

  1. Wrap an insulated/coated copper wire around a round object like a marker or glue stick 50-100 times. Leave wire tails at start and end of the coil long enough to clip onto with alligator clips.
  2. Burn and/or sand the ends of the wire to remove the insulating material.
  3. Place a magnet on a surface and secure it.
  4. Place the coil on top of the magnet.
  5. Connect the ends of the coil to power source and microcontroller; observe the behavior of the coil and the power source generates an electromagnetic field and the microcontroller cuts or allows the current to flow.
tools
  • insulated copper wire
  • sandpaper
  • magnets
  • MOSFET circuit
  • 9V battery
  • FabriXIAO
  • Arduino IDE on computer
  • 6 alligator clips
  • USB-C to available port cable (mine is USB-C to USB-C)

Embroidered Speaker using couching method:

Note: to play music or custom audio you need a mono amp as shared in this tutorial by Liza Stark

tools
  • insulated copper wire
  • sandpaper
  • fabric square (medium-thickness, pleather)
  • needle
  • thread
  • embroidery hoop
  • magnets
  • MOSFET circuit
  • 9V battery
  • FabriXIAO
  • Arduino IDE on computer
  • 6 alligator clips
  • USB-C to available port cable (mine is USB-C to USB-C)

speaker-setup

The Setup:

  1. USB-C cable connects FabriXIAO to the laptop and Arduino IDE.
  2. A 9-volt battery supplies power via the MOSFET circuit. Note here that the black alligator clip in the photo is not clamped to the silver leather; it will be clamped to the + terminal of the battery.
  3. Alligator clips connect the actuator lines of the MOSFET circuit to the speaker coil. The magnet(s) will be placed under the speaker swatch.

Tone Code for Arduino IDE

Click here for the Arduino Tone tutorial webpage.

#define BUZZER_PIN 5 // Example pin

void setup() {
  pinMode(BUZZER_PIN, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
  tone(BUZZER_PIN, 500, 400); // 1 kHz tone
  delay(1000);
}

Output option syntax:

  • tone(pin, frequency)
  • tone(pin, frequency, duration)

Touch Sensor to turn on/off Soft Speaker

By defining an input pin on the FabriXIAO, I added an input that controlled the soft speaker swatch I made.

I used one of the simple touch sensors I made during e-textiles week.

Here's the Arduino code provided by Jessica Stanley, with notes:

  1. at #define TOUCH_THRESHOLD, I wrote the value 45000 after monitoring the value of my touch sensor at rest.
  2. at if (touchValue > TOUCH_THRESHOLD), changing the > to a < should cause the speaker to turn off when the touch sensor is pressed, instead of turning on.
  3. For the speaker, the tone() and noTone() line is live, and the digitalWrite() lines are commented out. For doing something other than speaker it would be opposite!
// Define touch pin and threshold
#define TOUCH_PIN A3      // Connect your touch sensor to this pin
int outputPin = 5;     // Output: actually connect to pin 4
#define TOUCH_THRESHOLD 45000  // Adjust based on your setup: open the serial monitor and see what values it records

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  pinMode(outputPin, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
  int touchValue = touchRead(TOUCH_PIN);
  Serial.println(touchValue);

  if (touchValue > TOUCH_THRESHOLD) {
   // digitalWrite(outputPin, HIGH);  // Touch detected (heater/coil /etc)
    tone(outputPin,1000,1000); 
  } else {
   // digitalWrite(outputPin, LOW);   // No touch
    noTone(outputPin); //uncomment this for speaker
  }

  delay(500);
}

Reflections on this week

I'm sharing these thoughts here because I don't feel like I accomplished the assignment this week to my liking or expectations. I know I can't do it all perfectly, but I hoped to get further this week.

I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to any sort of wearable object by the end of this week, and overall felt disorganized during the process of creating my swatches. I struggle to imagine a wearable final product of these processes, and don’t feel particularly inspired by the aesthetics of the wearables I’ve seen or swatches I've created. The ‘look’ needs just as much consideration as the function, and I struggled to translate the materials we used for prototyping into finalized, fashion-focused materials.

As a beginner, I feel like I don’t have the vocabulary or knowledge to even articulate what inputs and outputs I want, or if the things I imagine making are possible. I also don’t like to waste materials, and considering the (in)sustainability of electronics don’t feel confident in just trying things out where I am soldering, cutting wires, and using boards. I am still very interested in the world of Arduino, microcontrollers, and interactive textiles; I know more time, learning, and guidance is required to get where I want to go with these tools!