There is a buzz in the textile and high tech industries about the integration of technical and smart/intelligent functionality into fabrics for clothing and interior environments. But there is a big gap between aspiration and reality due to the gulf between designers who generate ideas, and technologists who develop technologies and materials to realise those ideas. This means that to date much 'wearable' technology has been developed by the electronics and technology sectors and has used clothing as a carrier of entertainment and communications systems, adding increased functionality. Technologists and scientists need to work with fashion and textile designers at the outset of materials development to ensure seamless integration of technology into products, as well as ensuring that their products are both attractive to the market place and indeed demanded by it.

Work within the smart fashion and textiles group explores the use of design as a tool to better understand users, and as a tool to facilitate multi-disciplinary collaboration between science and design. The integration of smart functionality will expand the scope of our material environment exponentially, and as a result designers need a better understanding of users. Research probes mobilise users' tacit knowledge about their beliefs, aspirations, desires, providing deeper level of knowledge and insight into what might be the catalysts and drivers of future consumer wearable technology. Application of this research to the making and marketing of products will ensure that they meet not only functional needs but also the desire of the consumer for creative, sensory and emotional fulfilment

The design of these kinds of products is a group activity with a range of partners in application based industries: defence agencies; cognitive and social scientists; computer scientists; electronics specialists; electrochemistry specialists; textile and fibre engineers; fashion, textile, industrial, interior and architectural designers; economists; future trend forecasters. This group also explores design techniques, such as visual thinking, and 'thinking through doing', to manage knowledge flows between people, to facilitate knowledge creation and sharing, and shared understanding in multi-disciplinary collaborative partnerships.

The Reader in smart textiles research is Dr Sharon Baurley.

Related Links:
www.smartextiles.co.uk
www.emotionalwardrobe.com
www.smartsecondskin.com