Soft, embodied, situated & connected: enriching interactions with soft wearables

Material explorations

Open Up (Figs. 4, 5 and 6) is a symbiotic outfit that measures displacement, and through material feedback, gives its wearer a new sense of the environment. The work is inspired by animal behaviours. In particular, the methods animals use to attract each other. The goal of Open Up’s first iteration (Fig. 4) was to support relaxation in the mountains (for example through an enhanced experience of yoga). The prototype consisted of a basic natural woollen felt t-shirt-like enclosure that served as a support for a hand-actuated mechanism opening and closing wind catching nets. Moving the arms expanded these wind-catching nets, creating an extended (physical) feeling of the air. Physically connecting the hands and the net additionally made the wearer feel the weight of the wind on their shoulders.

In the second iteration of Open Up (Fig. 5) the context of application shifted from relaxation in the mountains to the everyday activity of walking. Instead of feeling the air, the wearer could feel their ‘personal’ space being transgressed by people around them as they walked. Proximity sensors were used to sense approaching people. When a certain threshold was breached, the garment changed shape. An automated mechanism attached to the supporting structure would move two metal rods up and down, opening and closing the nets. The supporting structure on the body played a similar role in version 1 and 2, thus becoming the ‘red thread’ of the design. In the final iteration (Fig. 6) Open Up was conceived as a cocktail dress that changes shape when people approach. The aim of this version is to ensure the wearer is being noticed. The supporting structure was made using black synthetic felt, with special cuttings to make it more fashionable. The “surprise” opening-up effects are achieved using the same proximity sensors and moving rods from iteration 2 but in this case the reaction is programed to be faster and more energetic.

The design process for Open Up relied heavily on material explorations of mechanisms that can trigger movement: wind-catching nets, rods, and their attachment to the body through a garment. The principle design action throughout was material explorations, undertaken on a table, then transferred to the body. As each new idea emerged, the context of application and the role of the body shifted. Open Up began as a relaxation aid that allows the wearer to feel at one with the environment. When the context changed to walking in a city, the wearable’s use transformed into visualizing the distance between the wearer and others. Finally, visualizing distance was used to create a dramatic entrance effect in parties when approaching the crowd.

Framing the design process by means of material explorations allows a designer to continuously try out new ideas, and thus expand the design space, or broad context of use (e.g., relaxation, protection, cocktail dress). However, it doesn’t support decision-making or depth. There is always a new context, a new application, a new idea that can alter the design. Moreover, the concepts remain in an early stage, a first answer to a challenge (e.g., what if it could…). In this approach, reasoning is driven by how ideas fit with materials at hand, making it imagined but not lived. This process is not uncommon in DIY communities where statements like wouldn’t it be cool to… exemplify a continuous search for the ‘next cool thing’. Material explorations for the sake of material explorations may thus avoid engaging in deep ways with personal meaning and societal value.

Material explorations on the body

The second work we discuss here, Sound Embracers, is a kind of instrument that links body movement to sound generation (Figs. 7, 8 and 9). This ‘garment-instrument’ consists of a knitted collar (similar to a large scarf) with integrated knitted stretch sensors and small speakers. When used in live performance, the collar can be connected to an amplifier or external speakers (like a guitar) to better enable amplification. The starting point for the design of Sound Embracers was to empower an explorative behaviour by triggering curiosity. While sitting down, constraining arm movements with a knitted net helped focusing the attention of the designer on his/her fingers. This first person experiment with felt-experience allowed for a detailed exploration of the environment using the fingertips (see Fig. 7). The wearer’s sense of touch was enhanced by foregrounding texture, temperature and humidity rather than sight.

In the second iteration (Fig. 8), the experience of the net embracing the body became so distracting that any notion of context disappeared completely. The focus moved from playing with the fingers, to exploring the space that formed between the arms. Stretch sensors were added to the knitted net to sense deformation of the collar and transform it into sound. The intention was to create an object that would allow for the combination of dance and music performance. In the third iteration (Fig. 9), the dialogue between the net and the arms was developed further, allowing the performer to twist and turn the net. However, due to the difficulties of creating a functioning music instrument (latency, accuracy and robustness issues) the knitted collar moved to the background. The role of the wearable shifted. It became a support instrument to create soundscapes and allow other instruments to take a leading role in terms of music making. This shift gave bodily expression a central role in the music performance.

The design process behind Sound Embracers revolved around the relation between the material properties and the body performance. The stretch qualities of the yarns, the structure (openness) of the knit and the weight of the ‘instrument’ were in constant dialogue with the body in terms of positioning, comfort, and expressiveness. As the piece evolved, Sound Embracers moved from a light open knitted structure that enabled the fingers to move and open up the knit; to a closed, stretchy structure that supports twisting and stretching the knit without loosening it in order to create sounds.

Framing the design process by means of material explorations on the body brings awareness to the personal intricacies that are necessary to move from designing an object to be used, to an object to be worn. The body necessarily becomes part of the emerging design, and in the case of Sound Embracers, part of the ‘instrument’s’ look, structure, and functionality. The continuous dialogue between the body and the object allowed a continuous reshaping of the material properties embedded in textile structure, and the body movement that these capabilities elicit. The result is a performance where no single entity has meaning without the other. They cannot be treated as independent.

Mastering interaction between the body and material risks reducing the importance of where interactions take place. Interaction with design may be meaningful for the wearer, but without context, the design cannot be situated. It is not a coincidence that Sound Embracers ended up as a music instrument. Music performance closely relates the player with the instrument. It creates an intimate bond between them. Mastering this relation becomes a quest, detached from when and where it is practiced. The distracting power of the body is a red flag when designing wearables. Movements such as Quantified Self [35] and research into Somaesthetics [21] offer a glimpse of the kinds of self-reflexive and self-absorbed experience that are possible when the body becomes the primary context for design.

Material explorations on the body in context

The initial goal of Trailblazer (Figs. 10, 11 and 12) was to support balance when running up and down a mountain. The garment was constructed of a single piece of insulation felt made of natural wool, laser cut using an industrial machine. It functioned by connecting the wearer’s arms together across the upper part of the back (Fig. 10) in a similar way to the upper part of a jacket. The intention was to create a sturdy but playful shape that would fit the body and the action of running. In the second iteration the context of Trailblazer evolved to a generalise notion of running: in the city, the mountains, along a beach… For this version, the designers introduced vibration sensors to not only support, but also guide the balance of the body and the movement of the arms (Fig. 11). The placement of sensors was carefully undertaken by analysing the movement of the body while running. For this iteration, synthetic felt was used instead of natural felt because it emitted less odours when laser-cut and the finish was better as synthetic felt doesn’t burn during laser cutting, whereas natural felt does. In the final iteration (Fig. 12) it was discovered that cues to guide balance may be experienced as cues to guide direction-taking, similar to when a cyclist leans into the handlebar of their bicycle when they turn. This discovery prompted the designers to evolve the context into navigating unfamiliar locations without the need for a map. This new use transformed the design into a service where Trailblazer was one part of a larger system. A shop and a web based interface for selecting running routes were also developed in connection to the garment.

For some designers, framing the design process through: Material explorations on the body in context may be experienced as constraining and difficult, particularly when the designer lacks knowledge of the context they are designing for. In the case of Trailblazer, most members of the design team were avid runners. Their personal experience allowed them to “remember” or “replay” the experience of running rather than imagining or discovering it for the first time. Yet even with contextual knowledge, there are many things to consider when designing for specific contexts (e.g., size of the body, comfort, friction, other garments used in complement, the weather, the chosen terrain, performance and strength of body, as well as materials, possible distractions, length of the run, etc.), and the view of the novice can bring much insight [36]. Requirements that arise from ‘being there’ may seem overwhelming at first. Especially when the direction of a project is not defined. However, once initial frictions are resolved and the designers are able to accept not knowing where they are heading, experiencing material on a moving body in context creates a source of inspiration that is situated, embodied and relational. The decision making process becomes tacit, one just “feels” if the material, shape, or even the direction the project is going is the right one.

When a person is situated in context, they sense the environment through their body, interact with garments through their body and fulfil goals using their clothed, accessorised and thus augmented body in an intuitive manner. A designer’s augmented body filters data, picking up what is relevant to the designer’s goals, including what might impede these goals. By using their own bodies in context in this way, designers are able to achieve the necessary intimacy and personal meaning-making required in worn objects. Being in context also maintains focus on social value. A critique to this hyper-localised approach might wonder if the resulting garment could be used in a context other than the one it was designed for. Exploration of such questions can enable a designer to focus their design decisions to arrive at appropriate outcomes.

Opportunities

Exploring materials on, with and through the body in context can allow meaning to emerge directly from interaction with the material if one remains open to the unexpected, looking to perceived “missteps” as inspiration. This approach can allow designers to design for the senses from the senses, opening the door for multisensory interactive qualities and complex interrelations between the senses. In the presented cases, in the shift from iteration 1 to 2, Open Up (which neither used the body nor context to frame the design process) lost its relation to the body entirely, shifting the focus from feeling the air around the wearer to reliance on a sensor that measured proximity to others to activate the nets. Sound Embracers (which used the body’s engagement with materials, not the context, to frame the design process) switched the focus from the touch of the fingers, to the space the knitted collar created between the arms and the body as it is stretched. Whereas, Trailblazer (which used the body in context to frame the design process) enhanced the wearer’s relationship with their running body by shifting the focus from maintaining balance to guiding. This development stemmed from an exploration of the materials on, with and through the body in a clear context. The results were experienced as meaningful in ways that the other two cases were not.

We believe it is crucial to understand that ideating on the body can allow a designer to combine language with movement in abstract ways, and to think through and with the full range of their movement capabilities and perceptions. Such explorations can assist the designer to postpone the moment of defining outcomes, thereby extending the process of not knowing to enable unexpected results to emerge. It can also allow the designer to become personally experienced in the context with which their design is concerned, and to relate functionality through both material and use by means of the body. To demonstrate: Open Up was concerned with the concept of symbiotic relations detached from specific actions. In contrast, Trailblazer was about running and Sound Embracers was about exploring the surroundings-both specific actions that required intense involvement of the body. With each iteration, Trailblazer and Sound Embracers arrived at increased understanding of how to support these actions, each time becoming more specific.

Prototyping on the body can afford the emergence of functionality, giving value to subtle experiences, small details, and elements that may otherwise be overlooked. It can help a designer to identify which details to focus on, through access to direct and instant feedback. It can allow for quick changes and iterations in an intuitive way, and can help develop: a relational understanding of the chain of events, sensitivity to the implications of changes, and an awareness of the subtle relations that any design experienced by the body may engender. While Open Up stayed quite conceptual throughout and had to be wizard of oz’ed at the end, Sound Embracers was performed live at the end of the project. It was used to provide a supportive sonic atmosphere for a didgeridoo player during a concert. The prototyping of Sound Embracers focused on technology development, rather than end usage. Once usage was determined, a musician had to select the scale and selection of tones to map to the stretchiness of the kitted collar/scarf. In the case of Trailblazer, its motive “Just run” was developed at the end of the project as communication material. Significantly, the team was able to maintain a strong focus and direction over the three iterations without defining functionality from the beginning. They also created a service that was in line with the experience the prototype could provide to users. All was achieved by keeping the process embodied and situated.

Challenges

Restricting the focus to explorations between the body and material during design and use reduced the importance of where interactions take place. In such cases (when becoming self-absorbed), interaction with the body may be meaningful for the designer/user, but without context, the action cannot be situated. The typical reasoning in these cases is the following: it doesn’t matter where the action takes place, it can be used everywhere as the focus is on the body. Sound Embracers, for example, became a tool, a musical instrument to support any kind of instrument for any kind of song. Without realizing, the sounds and movements the designers were using for testing the prototype become the context for development and use. Once a performer and place of presentation were found for the piece the designers had to completely redo the mapping so that it made sense in the new context.

Ideation in context can be experienced as too constraining and can create a creativity blockage. Ideation in context requires the designer to think inside the box rather than outside the box. Doing so can, at times, feel like a dead end, and designers can become frustrated on a personal level. Such moments require finding ways to disrupt the design experience. The easiest solution, if the designer wants to keep an embodied approach, is to change places or imagine other contexts (and lose the situatedness). Both Open Up and Sound Embracers changed contexts after the first iteration. Living surrounded by nature, feeling the space around and being in touch with the earth (soil, plants, animals, …) transformed into living in a city, being at a party, or performing in a concert.

Neither electronic nor mechanical structures fit well with the body. They are not typically designed to be used on moving, unprotected and unstable “surfaces” that include elements such as skin and muscle structures that move. While this is changing, with the advent of new, flexible materials, mechanical and electric engineers typically undertake explorations and tests on a bench in a lab, because electronic components and the elements of mechanical structures tend to be well suited to being fixed to hard surfaces and worked on in a stable environment. Prototyping and testing electronics directly on the body thus can be difficult. Doing so in context brings further challenges. In the case of Open Up, for example, the programing and material explorations were done on a table in a lab. The “body” used (the table), was static and horizontal and the context (the lab), an enclosed area with people walking around. If the designers wanted to use another body or context, they would have to imagine them from the ground up. However, without leaving the lab, they would not be able to decontextualize themselves from the lab. The lab, therefore will have an impact on the creative process.