Designer Diana Eng is on the cutting edge of integrating electronics with high fashion, as seen in the above footage from one of her shows. While most of us can’t go out and pick up an LED-enhanced Eng gown or tuxedo just yet, advancements in materials and electronics, including small batteries and conductive thread, make her designs possible.
It’s a short matter of time before this clothing, embedded with lights that respond to sound, shows up in dance clubs around the world. But fusing electronics with clothing isn’t all for show - there are also practical applications for the technology:
Take the M-dress, designed by CuteCircuit to solve the problem of digging through a purse in a dark lounge to find a cell phone. With a SIM card embedded in the dress’s tag, a microphone and speaker in the sleeve, and gesture-recognition software, the wearer can answer calls by simply raising her hand to her ear. There is no external device and no button to press—the movement alone activates a sensor that answers and ends calls. Our bodies become part of the communication tool, mediated by little more than fabric. “When our relation to something nonbiological is that close, and we’re secure in our access to information, then we feel the information is part of our mind,” says Clark.
(Via The Atlantic)