Interactive Haute-Tech fashion

New York City-based interaction designer and teacher Younghui Kim created the ‘Stir-It-On!‘ skirt, an interactive skirt hat reacts to any close encounter on the surface of the skirt such as bumping or touching.

Younghui got the inspiration for the ‘Stir It On!’ light effect by bioluminescent bay organisms called ‘Dinoflagellates’, a type of plankton  that react with luminescent glow when they are stirred up.

Taking this natural wonder of light emitting when touched and transferring it to the crowded urban jungle where we pass daily many people very near or even touch briefly one another, the skirt will exhibit a subtle light pattern during the brief ‘passing by’ touch by recreating the natural wonder of ‘Dinoflagellates’.

The interactive reaction of the ‘Stir It On!’ skirt can either be a signal expressing to stay away to give more personal space or it can be a playful request to be closer, an invitation for more touching.

The materials used for the ‘Stir It On!’ skirt are: conductive thread and fabric, LEDs, an Arduino and for touch detection a capacitive touch sensor from Quantum Research Group.

Younghui Kim  likes to design interactive wearables that are not only fashionable but also expressive with a personal statement.

Her fashionable technology projects have been showcased at many exhibitions. We posted about her project ‘HearWear‘ – The Fashion of Environmental Noise Display – last year.

The creative play of fashion plus technology and the in-depth observation of natural effects make those models to one of my favorite Interactive Haute-Tech fashion designs.

[via: Fashioning Technology]

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