Trendsurfing: Tech-enchanced fashion (The Times)
By David Rowan
Remember all those futuristic visions of "smart clothes" and "wearable computers"? They're finally hitting the high street. From coats with built-in MP3 players to microprocessor-controlled running shoes, mainstream fashion is starting to get seriously wired. Some of these new products aim to monitor health and fitness, others simply promise high-fashion fun. All that remains is for the designers to agree on their terminology: is this "intelligent apparel" are we talking about - or is it "soft computation"?
You can't get much more mainstream than the Gap, whose US branches have just introduced the Hoodio, a £37 children's fleece jacket with built-in FM radio. The control keypad is built into the sleeve, the speakers hidden inside the hood. Or, if you want to hear MP3 tracks while snowboarding, consider the Hub, a "mobile communications and entertainment jacket" from O'Neill that wires in a music player (and Bluetooth phone connection) using electrically conductive fabric. Even the sneaker firms are at it, with adidas hyping the "1", a running shoe containing a 20-megahertz computer. The computer, linked to a sensor in the heel, supposedly analyses the running surface so that a motor-driven cable can adjust the shoe's cushioning.
As Joanna Berzowska sees it, this is just the start. When Berzowska is not designing innovative fabrics for companies like Nike, or advising medical firms on "electronic textiles" that monitor patients' health, she is researching wearable tech at Concordia University in Montreal. Her projects have included dresses that change color to indicate their history of use and mobile-phone aerials woven into jackets so as to minimise radiation. So what other "smart" clothes does she see arriving in the shops some time soon?
"You're going to see textiles that incorporate sensors to monitor heart rate, blood pressure or respiration," she says. The results are already being used in sports training and healthcare. A company called Sensatex sells a shirt that collects everything from body temperature to caloric burn, sending readouts to your watch or PDA. Philips Research has even developed "electronic underwear" that can warn of a heart attack. "The latest sensing fabrics are not only comfortable, but they're also washable," Berzowska says. "So as well as having medical benefits, you also get to keep clean." Look out, too, for clothes as energy sources: jackets with built-in solar panels to recharge your gadgets.
"But fashion will be the killer app," she adds. "Wearable technology will mainly be about playfulness. People want to personalise what they wear, to say something about their lifestyle. So you will be able to customise your clothes and have some fun."
Such as? "I'm working on a wearable fabric that can change colour, thanks to the electrochromic inks," she says. "So you'll have a black jacket, and every now and then it displays a picture of a squirrel." Heat-responsive inks and
light emitting diodes are also providing amusement. "We're working on dresses that illuminate when someone gropes you. And we've got textiles that change shape with changes in temperature. I call them 'distraction dresses' - you might get shapes of breasts, for instance, popping out all over your dress."
It might be a while before that one makes it to the Gap, but Berzowska doesn't think tech-enhanced clothes should always focus on practical solutions. "Maybe it's a gender thing," she reflects. "The engineers at places like Nike think it's all about efficiency. But why should we forget the playful effects of fashion?"
(The Times, London, December 4 2004)
Remember all those futuristic visions of "smart clothes" and "wearable computers"? They're finally hitting the high street. From coats with built-in MP3 players to microprocessor-controlled running shoes, mainstream fashion is starting to get seriously wired. Some of these new products aim to monitor health and fitness, others simply promise high-fashion fun. All that remains is for the designers to agree on their terminology: is this "intelligent apparel" are we talking about - or is it "soft computation"?
You can't get much more mainstream than the Gap, whose US branches have just introduced the Hoodio, a £37 children's fleece jacket with built-in FM radio. The control keypad is built into the sleeve, the speakers hidden inside the hood. Or, if you want to hear MP3 tracks while snowboarding, consider the Hub, a "mobile communications and entertainment jacket" from O'Neill that wires in a music player (and Bluetooth phone connection) using electrically conductive fabric. Even the sneaker firms are at it, with adidas hyping the "1", a running shoe containing a 20-megahertz computer. The computer, linked to a sensor in the heel, supposedly analyses the running surface so that a motor-driven cable can adjust the shoe's cushioning.
As Joanna Berzowska sees it, this is just the start. When Berzowska is not designing innovative fabrics for companies like Nike, or advising medical firms on "electronic textiles" that monitor patients' health, she is researching wearable tech at Concordia University in Montreal. Her projects have included dresses that change color to indicate their history of use and mobile-phone aerials woven into jackets so as to minimise radiation. So what other "smart" clothes does she see arriving in the shops some time soon?
"You're going to see textiles that incorporate sensors to monitor heart rate, blood pressure or respiration," she says. The results are already being used in sports training and healthcare. A company called Sensatex sells a shirt that collects everything from body temperature to caloric burn, sending readouts to your watch or PDA. Philips Research has even developed "electronic underwear" that can warn of a heart attack. "The latest sensing fabrics are not only comfortable, but they're also washable," Berzowska says. "So as well as having medical benefits, you also get to keep clean." Look out, too, for clothes as energy sources: jackets with built-in solar panels to recharge your gadgets.
"But fashion will be the killer app," she adds. "Wearable technology will mainly be about playfulness. People want to personalise what they wear, to say something about their lifestyle. So you will be able to customise your clothes and have some fun."
Such as? "I'm working on a wearable fabric that can change colour, thanks to the electrochromic inks," she says. "So you'll have a black jacket, and every now and then it displays a picture of a squirrel." Heat-responsive inks and
light emitting diodes are also providing amusement. "We're working on dresses that illuminate when someone gropes you. And we've got textiles that change shape with changes in temperature. I call them 'distraction dresses' - you might get shapes of breasts, for instance, popping out all over your dress."
It might be a while before that one makes it to the Gap, but Berzowska doesn't think tech-enhanced clothes should always focus on practical solutions. "Maybe it's a gender thing," she reflects. "The engineers at places like Nike think it's all about efficiency. But why should we forget the playful effects of fashion?"
(The Times, London, December 4 2004)
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