twenty1f: fashion for the 21st century

For hearing-aid users, digital cellphones have not been a big advance; they create electronic interactions that often lead to irritating buzzing and feedback, according to The New York Times.

“The ELI hearing aid from Starkey Laboratories uses the Bluetooth wireless technology now included with many cellphones to avoid interference by, in effect, moving the telephone into the hearing aid.

… There is one catch. Only about 30 percent of hearing aids currently in use are behind-the-ear models. For users of in-ear models, Starkey has a variation of the ELI that is worn on a necklace. Like the main model, it communicates with the phone by Bluetooth, but it links to the hearing aid with old-fashioned analog wireless technology. Jerry Ruzicka, Starkey’s president and chief executive, said the connection was still clearer than using a digital cellphone directly.”

Via textually.

TAGS: bluetooth, hearing, phone

posted by : regine on 29 Sep 2005

Konarka Technologies and Textronics announced a joint development program to create prototype garments and fashion accessories with portable, wearable power-generation capabilities. The technology will utilize Konarka’s light-activated Power Plastic(TM) and Textronics’ electronic textile systems to provide renewable, wearable energy sources for personal electronic devices.

Today’s techno-savvy consumers are carrying more and more mobile communication, computing and entertainment devices, such as phones, digital music players, cameras and PDAs. Each of these devices relies on batteries, but their functionality is limited by the available power and the inconvenience of recharging or replacing batteries. By combining Konarka’s Power Plastic and Textronics’ electronic textile systems into wearable electronics, the companies will overcome the shortcomings of conventional power technologies by enabling consumers to have energy generation ability with them at all times.

According to Daniel Patrick McGahn, Konarka’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Konarka’s commercialization strategy centers on partnering around product applications to extend and enhance the functionality of those products. The demonstration products Konarka is developing with Textronics are an implementation of those plans.

“Our expertise with electronic textile materials, components and systems is a natural complement to Konarka’s Power Plastic development,” said Textronics Chief Executive Officer Stacey Burr. “Textronics’ technologies will allow for the end product to have a soft textile-like feel while Konarka’s materials will provide the renewable power.”

The resulting systems will be flexible and integrated in a way that will retain many of the qualities of conventional textiles, providing an overall consumer experience that is more like wearing a jacket or carrying a messenger bag than charging a device. Konarka’s added abilities to provide colored and patterned Power Plastic technology will allow for innovative aesthetic solutions.

“This joint effort will show designer-label manufacturers how we can bring new benefits to consumers through their everyday clothing and fashion accessories, including increased levels of convenience, freedom of use and performance while minimally affecting the garments’ overall weight, size or appearance,” said McGahn.

Press release.

TAGS: power, prototype

posted by : regine on 29 Sep 2005

A solar-powered handbag designed by a student from Brunel University promises to make finding keys and other items at the bottom of a bag easier.

The handbag, dubbed Sun Trap, uses a solar cell attached to the outside of the bag to trap energy from sunlight.

The energy is stored in an internal battery which lights up the lining.

The lining is made from an electroluminescent material similar to that found in mobile phones and is lit up by the bag’s zip which acts as a switch.

The bag goes dark when the zip is closed or after 15 seconds if it is accidentally left open.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4268644.stm

TAGS: none

posted by : karen on 27 Sep 2005

Manufacturers are working with textile producers and, in at least one case, with a university to bring into the mainstream high-tech fibers suppress body odor or reduce the sticky feeling from sweat.

Nike Inc.’s Sphere React brand, introduced in June, features a new material that enhances permeability and reduces the sense of the material adhering to the skin. The polyester fiber, developed with Teijin Fibers Ltd., expands when it absorbs moisture and contracts when it dries. The material’s texture becomes uneven and its weave becomes wider when it absorbs sweat. The Sphere React brand includes wear for golf, tennis, soccer and other sports.

Mizuno Corp. in March introduced T-shirts using fibers produced by two companies. The one developed by Kuraray Co. is cool to wear thanks to its high thermal conductivity. The other, developed by Mitsubishi Rayon Textile Co., expands when damp and contracts as it dries. At about 4,000 yen, the T-shirts are expensive, but they are popular with people in their 30s and 40s who go to gyms, Mizuno said.

Phenix Ltd. uses thread that eliminates odors in sportswear aimed primarily at mountaineers and skiers. An acidic constituent in the material neutralizes the ammonia smell of sweat. The products went on sale in May, but the company said that it has already reached its first fiscal year sales target of 150 million yen.

Fast Retailing Co. introduced sportswear developed with Keio University at its Uniqlo casual clothing chain in June. The developers used analyses of muscle movement when a person exercises. Sales of the products are about 20 percent higher than the company’s target, due in part to their competitive price range of 1,000 to 3,000 yen.

“Consumers are increasingly demanding comfort,” a company spokesperson said. “Even if a product is cheap, it won’t sell unless it is of high quality.”(IHT/Asahi: September 23,2005)

TAGS: fiber, material, polyester, sportswear, sweat

posted by : regine on 26 Sep 2005

15 artists will spend seven days at Location One working intensely and in restricted conditions to produce wearable creations with only the tools and materials provided to them. A cross between art and fashion, the project temporarily removes the gallery from the appointed function of “showing” and moves it to the world of artistic production, raising questions about the circumstances, both physical and mental, of the creative process.

Open Stitch removes artists from the comfort of their own environments, imposes constraints, and compels them to work among others. The action will be documented via live-streamed video. Following the production stage, the gallery space will be left in its raw, post-production state, and an installation of the work produced will be on display. A video montage of the production process will be projected as part of the installation.

Open Stitch was conceived and organized by Sebastien Sanz de Santamaria in collaboration with Jessie Cohan. Participating artists include Ayah Bdeir, Jessie Cohan, Barry Doss, Stephanie Anne Goldberg, George Hudacko, Selma Karaca, Ryan Kennedy, Miranti Kisdarjono, Katherine Moriwaki, David Quinn, Chris Sanders, Davina Semo, and Wikiwikicorp, a collective that includes Jean Barberis, Aya Kakeda and Sebastien Sanz de Santamaria.

September 7-13 Workshop
7 days, 56+ hours, 15 artists/designers working intensely and in restricted conditions to produce wearable creations with only the tools and materials provided to them. The project removes artists from the comfort of their own environments, imposes constraints, and compels them to work among others. The action will be documented via live-streamed video.
Open to the public every day from 12 to 6pm

September 14-30 Installation
The gallery space will be left in its raw, post-production state, and an installation of the work created will be on display. A video montage of the production process will also be projected.
Open Tuesday-Saturday, 12 to 6pm

September 21 & 28 at 7pm Open House Wednesdays
Two talks about Cultural Constraints and Social Identities relating to clothing and fashion. Speakers to be announced.

Saturday October 1st Runway show - Performance - Party
Opening with a short performance by the Glen Rumsey Dance Project, the evening features a staged showing of the garments produced by the participating artists, plus music, DJ and cocktails. 7pm - tickets $7 (including 1drink) - Runway show begins at 8pm

TAGS: none

posted by : bev on 24 Sep 2005

Hybrid Culture in the Design and Development of Soft Technology
14 - 16 September 2005, University of Wales, Newport, WALES, UK
http://artschool.newport.ac.uk/smartclothes/wearablefutures.html

TAGS: none

posted by : bev on 24 Sep 2005

This fall, with the help of a grant from Black Rock Arts, an event that I’ve been producing
for several years will move to the public space. Swap-O-Rama-Rama is a day long series
of re-use and DIY workshops and a giant clothing swap. I would like to invite artists and
clothing designers who are working with recycled materials to join the event by sharing a
skill with a like minded audince by teaching a DIY how-to workshops at the event. Those
with existing recycled wearables are also welcome to display them on the swap runway.
Please take a moment to read more about it below and feel free to share your thoughts
with me.

Very Best,
Wendy Tremayne
http://gaiatreehouse.com

****

On October 9th at Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center in NYC’s lower east side, Swap-O-
Rama-Rama offers a day long series of workshops and a giant clothing swap where
surplus clothing will be used to create “new” recycled goods, at little cost, without
consuming raw materials. In do-it-yourself spirit, through workshops and the
collectivizing of ideas, the event asks each individual to break down the barrier between
consumer and creator.

Swap-O-Rama-Rama invites examination of the role that the fashion industry plays in our
lives and suggests that it has taken the most valuable thing away from the consumer, their
creativity. The average person today is ill-equipped for sewing, and distant from the
creative process due to lack exposure and experience. Through hands-on experience,
Swap-O-Rama-Rama invites the discovery that the making of things is not an activity to
be avoided in order to attain leisure, but rather a playful and leisurely endeavor unto itself.
The fashion industry also creates distinct social boundaries by turning consumers into
billboards which brand people and divide them into socio-economic categories. Labels
broadcast the spending power of the individual and seperates people into categories that
reflect the size of their wallet rather than the expanse of their creativity. At Swap-O-
Rama-Rama guests are encouraged to cover up existing branding with new self-
celebratory labels that read “Recycled,” “Modified By Me” and the like.

Swap-O-Rama-Rama begins with surplus and invites the public to contribute their
unwanted clothing to a collective mass that is free to all who attend the event. Participants
are then encouraged to modify their finds, on site, by visiting sewing stations run by
knowledgeable seamstresses and costume designers who are there to provide free how-to
lessons and assistance with alterations. Or guests may attend one of many DIY workshops
taught by artists of all calibers: http://gaiatreehouse.com/swapworkperf.htm . An MC
encourage showing new/modified duds on the swap runway. At the end of one year of
seasonal swaps, a line of clothing featuring the creations of Swap-O-Rama-Rama’s
participants will be gathered for a public fashion show in which “designers” show their
styles and share how-to tips with a like minded audience.

More Information: http://gaiatreehouse.com/swap.htm

TAGS: none

posted by : bev on 24 Sep 2005

BOOK NOW FOR EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT

This three day international symposium comes to Nottingham in December to
bring into focus artistic practices of live performance using digital
technology in the form of lens based, networked or locative media.
Coordinated by Digital Cultures based at Nottingham Trent University, and
Radiator, based at Broadway Cinema, the symposium forms part of Radiator
05 - the UK’s leading biannual Festival of New Technology Art.

The Symposium will bring together leading practitioners, developers,
scientists and theorists from the disciplines that make up new media
performance including live art, locative and pervasive media, telematics,
performance and dance, wearable, sensor based and cybernetic technologies.
Confirmed participants so far:

Alastair Bannerman (UK), Andrew Morrison (Norway), Aylin Kalem (Turkey),
Blast Theory (UK), Carol Brown Dances (UK), Company in Space (Australia),
Emanuele Quinz (France), Ghislaine Boddington (UK), Gob Squad (Germany),
Gregory Sporton (UK), Henry Daniel (Canada), Igloo (UK), Igor Stromajer
(Slovenia), Ivani Santana (Brazil), Jayachandran Palazhy (India), John
Mitchell (USA), Karen Guthrie/Nina Pope (UK), Keith Armstrong (Australia),
Koala Yip (Hong Kong), Kondition Pluriel (Canada), Lali Krotoszynski
(Brasil), Liu Chun (China), Margarita Bali (Argentina), Marlon Barrios
Solano (USA), Michelle Teran (Canada), Mine Kaylan (UK), Nuria Font (Spain),
Paulo C. Chagas (Brazil), Paul Verity Smith (UK), Philippe Baudelot
(France), Ran Hyman (Canada), Rimini Protokoll (Germany), Sally Jane Norman
(UK), Scott deLahunta (The Netherlands), Sher Doruff (The Netherlands),
Simon Biggs/Sue Hawksley (UK), Simon Pope (UK), Sita Popat (UK), Stamatia
Portanova (UK), Steven Benford / Mixed Reality Lab (UK), Thecla Schiphorst
(Canada), Troika Ranch (USA), Yacov Sharir (USA), Yukihiko Yoshida (Japan)

The symposium is a collaboration between the Digital Cultures Lab of
Nottingham Trent University and the Radiator Festival for New Technology
Art. Run by Trampoline, the Radiator Festival takes place every second year
in Nottingham. While involving partners from throughout the East Midlands,
the festival umbrellas Trampoline’s second home, Berlin. As a local hub for
digital arts activities, Radiator aims to promote digital arts in the region
while instigating exchange by inviting UK-wide and international artists to
Nottingham. This year the festival expands its own boundaries to include the
city streets as well as a range of new partner venues. Radiator 05 (1 - 4
Dec 2005) presents installations, screenings, workshops, talks,
performances, music and satellite events live and online at Broadway, Angel
Row Gallery, Future Factory, Victoria Studios, Waverley 1851, Malt Cross,
Surface Gallery, Sandfield Centre and Preset. For more information go to
www.radiator-festival.org

Symposium details:

Friday 2 - Saturday 3 December 2005 10am-6:30pm
Sunday 4 December 2005 10am-3pm
Powerhouse
Victoria Studio
Shakespeare Street
Nottingham
NG1 4FQ

Full weekend: £100 (concs. £ 70)
Early Birds: £80 (concs. £ 55)
Single Day: £35 (concs. £ 20)
Early Bird registration (before October 15th)

www.radiator-festival.org

Radiator is supported by Arts Council England, EM Media, UK Filmcouncil
Lottery Funded, Broadway.
The Symposium is supported by Bonington Gallery, Creative Collaborations,
Essex Dance, Future Factory, Nottingham Trent University and UCE Birmingham.

TAGS: none

posted by : bev on 24 Sep 2005

From IFM:

“An interior designer’s dream to replacing hard and texture-less light switches. People love its playfulness, bright colors and patterns, and the fact that it so interactive — beyond the usual flick of a switch.” Matilda McQuaid, Exhibitions Curator and Head of Textiles, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, and curator of the Extreme Textiles: Designing for High Performance.

The WAVE Collection is IFM’s first collection of POM POM Dimmers. Our contemporary and luxurious POM POM Dimmers are handmade at IFM’s electronic textile studio in Seattle, WA. The WAVE Collection combines IFM’s electronic textile POM POM with one of four colorful, embroidered fabric covers. Like any fine textile, subltle variations are what make each POM POM Dimmer unique and beautiful.

IFM’s patent pending electronic textile POM POM magically senses your touch. Gently touch the soft, fuzzy POM POM to dim and adjust the light levels in any room. Our POM POM is made with our own proprietary electronic textiles. All you feel is the soft fuzzy textile, no hidden buttons or switches. IFM’s POM POM is antimicrobial and stain resistant.

IFM is proud to announce that the POMPOM Dimmer is listed to applicable UL standards and requirements by Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.

Now Available On-line for $129.00!
Also available at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Shop, NY, NY!

TAGS: none

posted by : bev on 24 Sep 2005

The implantable shoulder embroidery is a must have for shoulder damaged lace lovers.

The Nottingham Augmentation Device is manufactured by Ellis Development a company based in Nottingham (UK) that specializes in surgical implants, in cooperation with both Nottingham University and City Hospital.

The shoulder embroidery is on show at the Extreme Textiles exhibit at Cooper Hewitt Museum but is not visible in their web preview .

The implant looks like a beautiful intricate snowflake, a picture of it was on a fashion magazine I saw last week, you cannot see it on their website, but if you can go through the gross images of surgeon hands inside someone else’s shoulder you can get an idea of their additional patterns and see how the textile technology is applied for fixing also spine discs and other articulations.

These implants are manufactured with embroidery machines running suture thread. Would be cool to stitch-in little microprocessors and sensors that tell how the joint restoration is proceeding.

TAGS: embroidery, surgical textiles

posted by : francesca-cutecircuit on 24 Sep 2005

Fujitsu has developed a new electronic paper technology that can hold vibrant color images without electricity. The thin, flexible paper is more vivid than an LCD, requires only small amounts of electricity to update, and could be commercialized as soon as 2007, Fujitsu says. Fujitsu claims the technology is the world’s first film-substrate-based bendable color electronic paper with an image memory.

http://www.deviceforge.com/news/NS9287835337.html

TAGS: curved surface, electric paper, powerless e-paper

posted by : karen on 17 Sep 2005

Why do people buy short shirts or baggy trousers that show their shoulder or underwear? Garments are not only functional items. They can be both functional and emotional. People want to be satisfied emotionally and express their own style, as well as being warm and protected.

‘Goth’ is an aesthetic cultural group with a strong visual identity. For them, garments are not just for protecting their bodies, they are for expression, personality, and emotion as well. Another form of expression, for them, is the use of tattoos.

To bring these two means of expression together, Sohui Won has designed a wearable system for showing tattoos on their body. This takes the form of altering clothing with interactive electronic enhancements. For example: when someone comes close to them, the wearable system pulls down and/or opens a part of the clothing to show the tattoos on the body.
Video at the bottom of the project’s page.

TAGS: tattoo

posted by : regine on 12 Sep 2005