The garment as a reactive interface opens up new possibilities for self-expression, sensory experiences and more, thanks to emerging research and development in soft circuit technologies and its integration into textile and clothing design. This 7-week class introduces students to this realm using exercises connecting modern technology and traditional crafting. The class is for students with basic physical computing and computational media knowledge to explore the possibility of fashion, and arouse discussion about the potential to re-imagine our relationship with textiles and garment design as an interactive media. What will students do? The class will introduce the process of wearable design and prototyping. We will look at the history of textiles and fashion, and discuss how they influence technology, and vice versa. The topics we will discuss in class will include senses, expressions, communications, identities and social justice. We will explore a variety of wearables and e-textile technologies, including: conductive textile crafting, on-body sensors, actuators, modular circuitry, wireless communications, and manufacturing. Students will get hands-on experience of designing and prototyping wearable projects individually or in groups. How will the course be structured? Each class will be a hybrid of lectures, in-class discussions and hands-on workshops. For each class, the instructor will bring up different topics, share existing projects and research, or invite guest speakers from fashion technology industry, to discuss the different aspects of current fashion technology, e-textiles, and wearables field. During the workshops, students will undertake design exercises to practice user experience design methodology for wearables, and also learn different techniques of textile crafting, soft circuitry, and physical computing. Syllabus: Week 1: Introduction to course Discussion: What is wearable? Lecture: The history of fashion, textiles and technology In-class activity: Getting started with soft circuitry – Materials, connectors and modular design Assignment: DIY soft components Week 2: Senses Project show and tell Guest speaker lecture: TBD Discussion: Is technology blocking our senses or enhancing our senses? What can garments sense? In-class activity: Sensory experiment: Use sensors and outputs to replace or shift one human sense. Assignment: Creating a new sense through wearables. Week 3: Expressions and identities Project show and tell Discussion: How do garments express information, message or data? In-class activity: On-body visualizations: Experiment with different on-body visualization methods, including LEDs, reactive pigments and kinect constructions Assignment (2 weeks): Creating a garment to express a message/information/data, and wear it for one day to get feedback. W4: Networked communications Lecture: Connected fashion Discussion: IoT of wearables: security, privacy and connectivity In-class activity: Wireless communication: Wifi, bluetooth and NFC experiments Assignment (2 weeks): Creating a garment to express a message/information/data, and wear it for one day to get feedback. W5: Environment Project show and tell Guest speaker lecture: TBD Topic: sustainability in fashion Discussion: What does fashion and fashion technology bring to the environment In-class activity 1: Sense the environment: using sensors or wireless communication to sense the environment Assignment: Final project ideation W6: Society Final project proposal presentation Lecture: Manufacture of hardware and textiles, and the conjunctions Discussion: Fashion and society In-class activity: final project work session W7: Final presentation Subject Area Specialist for this class will be Jingwen Zhu jingwen-zhu.com. Th 6:30-9:00pm (03/22 – 05/03)
ITPG-GT.2189.1 () | Instructor: Jingwen Zhu | Thur 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-Second Half | Start Date