CMU School of Drama


Saturday, November 02, 2013

These Mind-Blowing Animated Garments Go On Sale Next Month

⚙ Co.Labs ⚙ code + community: Many of the brave new companies trying to integrate fashion and technology have largely missed the mark. By trying to re-create functions computers already did efficiently, they forgot about the basic purpose of clothing: to express personality and start conversation.

10 comments:

Doci Mou said...

Wearable interfaces are fantastic untapped innovation. They're like a digital canvas to be drawn on, worn, and wiped. The surface and texture can admittedly be worked on, but the customization and flexibility of the technology is incredible. Clothing is already something that we all can relate to and use in our day-to-day lives, and though I doubt anyone would purchase an outfit like this to wear on a regular basis, they certainly could. In more specific applications though, this interactive wear could be used for anything from theatrical costume use to social media-based wearable advertising and communications. Though I suppose you wouldn't want your text messages to be showing up on your shirt.

I think it's an infant industry waiting for people to develop it, but I'm certainly satisfied with the attention it's receiving. Maybe this way there will be a practical solution to all the theoretical uses and awesomeness mentioned in the article.

Lindsay Coda said...

I think this is a great design idea, but I don't see the practicality of it. How does the fabric get the power to show off colors or texts? Is there a battery or something? I also don't think this will sell well to everyday buyers. How are they going to wash this? I am also curious to see what the longterm effects of electromagnetic thread is on the human skin. Can we get burns or something else from this fabric? The article went into great detail about how this idea got started, and I really enjoyed reading this, but it failed to answer these important questions.

Hunter said...

This takes me back to the Carrie Underwood awards show performance where she had things projected onto her dress. This is more what I think of when I think of integrating technology into clothing but it still seems pretty impractical. Like Lindsay brought up where would you wear the power for this and how long would it last? I do think, however, that it is very cool and I cold see some wealthier individuals wearing something like this to special events.

Jason Lewis said...

This is so exciting!! I feel many people will reject this idea of clothing, but it's so fascinating! You can figure out what animated thing you want on you to go with what you're wearing along with it, how you're feeling, and so much more. It's great to see the fashion world branching out like this. It brings innovation that can be used in so many other places. Relevant to us as theatre people, this can be used as a great concept for costumes and can really help a piece if that is what the concept of the piece is. Also, with media becoming a bigger part of theatre, we can institute media design within costume design and see where that takes you. Also, with this technology integrated into fabrics, we can go outside of the world of clothing and use this technology into let's say curtains or other things like that. There are so many possibilities that can be explored with this and I find it so fantastic!

Becki Liu said...

That was really fun! There are quite a few things coming out that is similar to that. They have the interactive T-shirts that react to sound and then there are the belts that have the LED words that run across them. I think the integration between fashion and technology is really cool. I'm actually really interested in integrating clothing with sound and how the two can create each other. I don't exactly know how sound can be used to create clothing other than inspire but I think it would be interesting to find a way the two connect.

The video was really well mad too! (Just putting that out there!)

Sydney Remson said...

This sort of reminds me of the movie WALL-E. The part about the pink or black collection where fans could tweet #makeitblack or #makeitpink to change the color of the outfits of the celebrities is like in WALL-E where the people change their outfits from red to blue according to what the computer tells them is fashionable and the clothing is just able to change color on its own. Things like this make me think that our society is becoming more and more like how people pictured the 21st century to be in things like the Jetsons. On a day to day basis, I don't think most people think that our society is so futuristic, but when I see that things like this are not only possible, but going to be easily accessible in the immediate future, its pretty crazy.

Mariah G said...

Talk about incorporating media into new art forms. This is really... interesting. It's so cool looking and it's such a cool idea, but I agree that I really don't see the practicality of having a dress with digital patterns on it. If the goal is to start conversation (like the video description said) then this dress would definitely be a conversation starter at a cocktail party. But what happens if a drink get's spilled on it? what happens if it tears? Where does the power come from? Does it need to be charged? If it does, do we really need more ways to use energy by charging our CLOTHING? Probably not. I think this is a cool idea and that this is probably going to be developed to a point where people won't necessarily be so mesmerized or confused or skeptical of it, but it's definitely not there yet.

april said...

Ok, this is one of those things that I really am just not getting. I agree that it is very cool that it is possible to do something like this with todays innovative technology. But at the same time, just because something is possible, does not at all mean that it should be done. I mean I could see in the entertainment industry during something like last years Super Bowl performance where a dress like this would be interesting and perhaps even add to everything that was going on, but as far as this being a dress just for the sake of fashion, not for any very specific artistic reason, it is really not warranted. I strongly believe that our society, and often even the artistic community, relies to heavily on technology.

jcmertz said...

Okay. These are cool. I may have to get myself one of their T-Shirts. I love technology and it's interactions with everyday life. I gave always been fascinated with the idea of cyborgs, and with new technology like this we are getting closer to that point, but in a stylish, non scary way.

Jenni said...

This collection is brilliant. Often I'm complaint about the mix of technology and fashion because it tends to be a fashion flub But this design is sleek and stunning. well this is not particularly practical for daily use it would be a great opinion for the stage instead of projection mapping on a characters it would also be a truly standout piece in film. It only requires a world in which this type of media incorporation would be acceptable.

I actually don't think this is anything like the dress Carrie underwood wore. In that outfit the media seemed out of place, tacky and gimmicky. these dresses are quite different. The integration between the clothing and the technology is closely connected and the dresses are going for the shock factor. The lights can be used in an understated way to accentuate the beauty of the dress.