The Soft Electric

This thesis explores current aesthetics of wearable technology. The current definition of wearable technology is, ambiguously, something wearable that has embedded technology. Products categorized under the heading of “wearable technology” fall into many different categories, including but not limited to: an extension for mobile gadgets, a medium to fuse humans with computers, and a means to shield humans from their environment. A piece of wearable technology, under the current broad definition could turn a human into a cyborg or simply inform its wearer where she can get the best wireless Internet signal. Whatever the technology may be, designers must take into consideration that in order for it to be truly “wearable”, the aesthetics of the technologically enhanced garment must be, for lack of a better word, fashionable. The aesthetics of a wearable should not be compromised by its underlying technology.

I became interested in wearable technology when I first heard of it in the context of ubiquitous computing. I first became acquainted with ubiquitous computing in college, where I took a course in Human Computer Interaction. During that course, I noticed a split in ideas about the future of technology design. Some believe that as everyday objects become information storage devices, their aesthetics will change. The design of the everyday object will change to suit the technology it holds. Others believe that everyday objects will maintain their current, familiar designs, even allowing for a regression to earlier designs. Will people be more willing to adapt to technology if they can clearly identify it, or if it is disguised in more familiar forms?

I align myself with the second camp, as I intend to make projects that still feel familiar to their user, despite the circuitry underneath. This drive, paired with my experience in sewing, knitting, and embroidery, led me to the area of wearable technology.

Though he never incorporated electronics into garments, Steve Mann was certainly a pioneer in wearable electronics and wearable computers, inventing portable devices that he hoped would enable him to become a cyborg (a human who has certain physiological processes aided or controlled by mechanical or electronic devices). Steve Mann first began experimenting with wearable computers in the 1970s in high school. By 1991, he brought his work to MIT, where he co-founded the Wearable Computing Project. For over 20 years, he has continually worn electronic devices (some are now implants) and a head-mounted display with a wireless camera so that he could transmit images of what he was seeing and also have images projected over his eyes. Mann demonstrated his reliance on these electronic devices on March 14, 2002, when he was detained by security at St. John’s International Airport. His electronic implants were forcibly removed, disorienting him to the point of needing a wheelchair.


Maggie Orth is another MIT graduate who greatly influenced wearable technology, however, her approach to the subject was diametrically opposite of Mann’s:

"Most wearable computers still take an awkward form that is dictated by the materials and processes traditionally used in electronic fabrication. The design principle of packing electronics in hard plastic boxes (no matter how small) is pervasive and alternatives are difficult to imagine. As a result, most wearable computing equipment is not truly wearable except in the sense that it fits into a pocket or straps onto the body. What is needed is a way to integrate technology directly into textiles and clothing."

Here, Orth announces the need for an evolution from portable electronics, (some argue that the Sony Walkman was the first example of wearable electronic technology, for example) to electronic clothing. Her research in electronic textiles produced beautiful color-changing electronic plaids, soft musical instruments embroidered with conductive thread, a MIDI controller embroidered onto a jean jacket, and the ingenious “firefly dress”, which utilized the natural conductivity of organza to light LEDs on the skirt of a dress.

Orth’s work was revolutionary. She made it a point to limit as many “hard” electrical components as possible, by replacing wire with conductive thread, solder with embroidered lines, and circuit boards with fabric substrates. The resulting garments were flexible, durable, and even washable, making wearable technology much more viable.

Orth went on to start International Fashion Machines with fellow MIT grad, Joey Berzowska. Shortly afterward, Berzowska left to form her own wearable company, XS (extra-soft) Labs. As the name suggests, Berzowska continued making wearables that relied on the “soft computing” methods of Orth. In addition, Berzowska also added a playfulness and emotionality to wearable tech that had previously been unseen. She experimented with touch memory, in which a garment would display how long it had been since its wearer had received an intimate touch by lighting a line of LEDs.


“Vilkas” incorporated flirtation with comedy. Berzowska used muscle wires (brittle wires that shorten when given an electric charge) to randomly lift the hem of a dress, making it alternately playful, flirtatious, or embarrassing, as the hem could lift all the way to the wearer’s mid-thigh.


Other wearable designers began taking this softer approach to garments. Despina Papadopoulos, a professor at NYU and founder of Studio 5050 explored human to human contact with her “hug jackets”, in which a constellation of LEDs embroidered on the back of sleeveless jackets light when two users embrace.

Elise Co of MIT used wearables to react to environmental factors surrounding its wearer. Her “Puddle Jumper” jacket used embroidered water sensors on its back to sense when raindrops were falling. Corresponding patches of electroluminescent ink on the front of the jacket reflected the pattern of the rain.

I would like a darker space with a light above the piece that has a fader, so that visitors can see the embroidery when the light is on and the light pattern when the light is off. The capelet will be presented on a bodyform (like the ones we borrowed from the costume department last semester). Hopefully, there will be enough room for the visitors to walk around the form, as the light pattern and embroidery are also on the back.

The capelet was handknit and felted by me. It was then embroidered with conductive thread. Surface mount LEDs were also embroidered into the design. The pattern of the embroidery was designed to feed two lines of conductive thread carrying current to every LED (each LED is embedded in a white circle). The lines are all fed to a 1" by 2.5" circuit board on the back. The circuit is powered by a 3V coin cell battery.