Last week I attended MWC in Barcelona. This was a fantastic conference to look at and talk to companies at the cutting edge of mobile communication technologies. Everyone was there (except Apple who hold there own conference and keynotes in the summer) from Skype to Microsoft (who announced they would be partnering with Nokia for the next wave of smart phones).
Skype at MWC – Live video chatting
Alcatel Lucent took over all of Hall 8 showcasing some of there emerging technologies, one of my favourites was their Amazing Learning Unit. This allows children to play with each other (or chat to their parents) remotely using a smart phone which is placed onto a DIY toy becoming and making up part of the robot.
This is a fantastic platform for children to ‘meet’ each other in a virtual world and then play together as if physically in the same space. Children can search (through the robot) to find other children with the same hobbies, interests or perhaps who are doing similar projects at school and connect with them through their smart robots.
It is also possible for parent and child to communicate through the robot, with it having a cleaver setting which will show the child when the parent has some ‘free time’, this can be linked to a personal calendar so when for example a lunch break is scheduled the icon on the child’s smart phone will change to show the parents presence and availability. The child then knows that he/she can call the parent without disturbing their work. This works similarly the other way round with the parent having the same ability so can see when their child has finished school (and homework/extra curricular activities etc) and is enjoying some ‘free play’ where they are able to talk. This calendar setting has the ability to be overridden (so if a meeting runs short it can be manually turned off). A cleaver idea and I imagine in the future (perhaps a good few years) these types off communications will be a commercial reality but for now the cost of the technology is still to great, so this cleaver piece of innovation is perhaps for the select few who can afford the cost of this communication toy and its key components.
Alcatel Lucent’s Amazing Learning Unit at MWC 2011
For more information on the Amazing Learning Unit see powerpoint below.
VoIP Conference – Emerging Communicationshttp://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=voipconference-emergingtrends-jose-slideshare-091105094510-phpapp02&stripped_title=voip-conference-emerging-communications&userName=jdefrancisco
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I went to the Futuro textiles exhibition in the Maritime museum, Barcelona last week and what a show. They were showcasing everything from Helen Stories Dissolving Dress, to the Spanish Synchronised swimmers costumes for the 2008 Olympics (which incidentally they did not get to wear in competition due to the fact the judges thought they were to spectacular and would give the team an unfair advantage!).
They have many traditional and modern raw materials on display and the best part about the exhibition was that you were encouraged (on the most part) to touch, play and interact with the exhibits.
I cannot talk about all of the works but below I have listed a few of my favourites.
La Parole (1998 – redone 2008) in by Pablo Reinoso is a large torpedo shaped instillation that looks like a flying ship from days gone by. In fact it is not. It is a safe communication space for two people. Each person stands on the perfectly positioned ‘box’ underneath a Velcro ‘head slot’ and enters inside this vacuum where nothing seems to matter but the conversation you are having with the person who has joined you in this strange universe. This inflated cocoon, according to the artist “provides a new approach to human relations and a mode of conversation that is paradoxically introspective”. The artist to me has created a wonderful space for two people to converse one-to-one, leaving everything else ‘outside’ and purely focussing on the words.
La Parole
La Parole
Vasyble Project by GAIA Design (2010) is a concertinaed hood that two lovers can use to shut out the world “any time and any place” to be alone with each other. This project is about creating intimacy and to me holding on to these private moments shared between two people in our ever changing fast passed digital world, where everything is on show and intimacy appears dead.
Vasyble Project
And of course Daan Roosegaarde’s Intimacy Dress (2009-2010) that I have mentioned before in my blog. It was wonderful to see this dress in action, observing first hand as the sections of the dress slowly faded in and out from opaque to transparent and back again. The wearer revealing and then hiding them self from moment to moment.
Intimacy Dress
To find out more about this wonderful exhibition see the Maritime Museums webpage and for more photos of the show see my flickr page.
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Wear I go by Yu-Min Chen
Capture and Record your experiences, upload & share automatically with the Wear I Go ring. This is a really interesting project that can keep your friends up-to-date with your every goings on… it does raise the question of privacy… everything in moderation? It would be a very useful tool to record events, research and practical activities giving accurate time lines in pictures that can be annotated at a later date. All in all a very cleaver solution to fulfil our need to be constantly aware of what our friends are doing.
“Wear I Go” is a camera-wearable that introduces new perception into your everyday. You believe you knew where you live but this device will help you think again. As a font of inspiration, photographic experiment or just for the fun of it, Wear I Go will put your life in to a whole new perspective.
The initial device is a self-contained ring. When you buy this ring, you are automatically subscribed to a service that allows you to upload photos and videos as they are taken. On the ring itself, there is a built-in diamond like camera which you can use as just another camera and take pictures on demand. Or, you can also use it as a “second-eye” by setting it up to automatically take pictures at pre-defined intervals, and in this case your device will pleasantly surprise you by giving you unexpected angles and bringing a new light into known and new grounds.
By setting your ring to “public mode” when you and your friends are together, will also allow you to sync your photos to your friend’s online account, meaning pictures will be taken at the same time from the Wear I Go devices worn by different people, documenting “this moment” from a variety of view points.
The Wear I Go ring is only the starting point. You can expand your collection and bring newer angles by buying accessories, such as pendants, earrings or bracelets, which also have built-in cameras and are part of the full concept. In this case, your ring works not only as a self-standing device, but also as a “remote-control” to the other Wear I Go devices.
via the Interaction Design Programme Denmark’s website
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Inventor Claudia Schultze has developed the NuMetrex; heart monitoring technology that is woven directly into sports apparel. These intelligent sensing fibres communicate with a small transmitter that is also embedded into the clothing (this is removable for washing purposes). The transmitter sends the heart rate information to a watch, treadmill or any compatible machine.
This type of monitoring system could have applications outside the sporting realm as smart textiles in health care and also the wearables market as a whole. The possibilities for textiles that can recognise certain information about the body and communicate this to an external device are endless… New parents monitoring their babies vitals for distress etc.
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Intimacy Black + White
Last year I blogged about Daan Roosegaarde’s Intimacy work in this post, I am now following up with what happened next with this exciting project. Roosegaarde has collaborated with designers Maartje Dijkstra and Anouk Wipprecht to make two interactive outfits known as Intimacy White and Intimacy Black (the white/black e-foil turns from white to transparent depending on the level of interaction with the dress).
These two interactive pieces really push the boundaries between art and fashion, and lets the wearer and non wearer see the connection between body and garment. Beautiful work. Studio Roosegraade is continuing to collaborate with haute couture designers creating more limited edition fashion pieces that will be added to the ‘Intimacy’ series.
‘Intimacy Black’_ Daan Roosegaarde from Daan Roosegaarde on Vimeo.
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Tags: Interaction, smart materials, wearables
Love Jackets by studio 5050
Back in 1995 Studio 5050 came up with the concept of the Love Jackets. A pair of coats fitted with infrared sensors, led’s, a speaker, conductive velcro and a rechargeable battery. The jackets came and worked as a pair, each pair would have their own infrared programming which would only recognise and interact with its corresponding unit. When the two garments were in close proximity (10ft or closer) they would light up and create clicking noises as a form of communication and recognition of their counterpart.
Despina Papadopoulos at studio 5050 in her paper written about the Love Jackets states that this type of technology should be utilised throughout the world of fashion design to “communicate with the world and others“. In the 15 years since this paper has been written many new developments in the world of wearable technology have been made but many of the issues arising from functionality and connectivity of the products remain the same. Through my research I hope to address many of the issues surrounding how we as humans build connections, how these connections can be transmitted and enhanced through wearable technologies and smart textiles . This aims to supply ”new models of interaction with the world, wearable computers can be used to dispel the notion of technology as alienating and lacking of human characteristics.“(Papadopoulos, 1995) If this type of technology can be used in an emotive and considered way I feel that the above statement can be realised.
movie: Digital Insignia #2
See below the Abstract form the paper Fashions of the Times detailing the Love Jacket project:
Abstract
This paper discusses ways in which wearable technologies can be used as agents of communication. Furthermore it stresses the necessity of using wearable technology for the initiation of social interactions, the constitution of new ways of participation in the social realm. In doing so it expands the notion of personal space and of how it interfaces with that of an other. Finally, it discusses uses of wearable technologies as aligned with traditional wearable systems (fashion, trends, style) and points to ways that wearable technologies can be utilized as not to exclude themselves from such uses. As a model for the above the paper uses the Interactive Jackets, developed by the author in May 1995, at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program.
social interaction — Interactive Jackets — physical space
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Tags: communication, Interaction, wearables
embrace-me by Studio 5050
Studio 5050 have created the embrace me hoodie. An arc of twinkling LED lights are seen across the back of these jumpers when two people wearing them hug and complete the circuit. These hoodies also give off a faint heartbeat when a pair embrace. Studio 5050 say these hoodies “take their design inspiration from the construction of early Siberian hooded coats, creating an enveloping safe haven, a tranquil vestige of protection and romanticism.” Just beautiful.
These are on sale and can be bought via Studio 5050′s website for $480-$600.
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“The 7thannual Smart Fabrics 2011 will take place on 4-6 April 2011 at the Hotel Russell in London, UK.
The conference will cover topics such as the current status of innovative smart fabric technologies in the marketplace, as well as recent application breakthroughs and adoption. The conference will be of particular interest for people involved in electronics, textiles, medical, sporting equipment, fashion, and wireless communication industries, as well as military/space agencies and the investment community.
The conference will be chaired by Stacey Burr, CEO of Textronics and VP at Adidas.”
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Researchers at Nokia and the University of Cambridge are developing a flexible circuit board that can be moulded, folded and scrunched. This electronic skin, includes a touchpad that responds to touch and pressure no matter how it is manipulated. The material will function at 100% performance even if it is stretched to up to 20 percent of its original length.
The capabilities of this type of mouldable communication surface is endless especially when thought about in the world of smart textiles and fashion design.
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Where: Florence
When: November 10
What: Plug and Wear: Wearable Technology Workshop
Blurb:
What can electronic technology offer to the design field? What are the most cutting edge uses of interactive applications?
The workshop WearableSmart Textiles: Technology to Concept: a hands on analysis of electronic technology in innovative textiles and prototype development seeks to address these questions. The course offers a theoretical and applied introduction to smart textiles; innovative fabrics currently being introduced in the different Interaction Design fields: from clothing to work dressing, to display and exhibits. Our objective is to explore in terms of design, themes that are based on technical knowledge but develop their potential in a visual and formal aesthetic.
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