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Research

Skin Sensitivity

Mechanoreceptors

A mechanoreceptoris a sensory receptor that responds to mechanical pressure or distortion. There are four main types: Pacinian corpuscles, Meissner's corpuscles, Merkel's discs, and the tympanic membrane.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanoreceptor

Meissner's corpuscles Discovered by the anatomist Georg Meissner (1829-1903), Meissner's corpuscles are a type of mechanoreceptor and more specifically, a tactile corpuscle(corpusculum tactus). They are distributed throughout the skin, but concentrated in areas especially sensitive to light touch, such as the fingertips, palms, soles, lips, tongue, face, nipples and the external skin of the male and female genitals. They are primarily located just beneath the epidermis within the dermal papillae. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meissner%27s_corpuscle

Pacinian corpuscles Similar in physiology to the Meissner's corpuscle, Pacinian corpuscles are larger and fewer in number than both Merkel cells and Meissner's corpuscles. Like Ruffini endings, they are found in deep subcutaneous tissue, and are considered rapidly adapting receptors.
Pacinian corpuscles detect gross pressure changes and vibrations. Any deformation in the corpuscle causes action potentials to be generated. These corpuscles are especially susceptible to vibrations, which they can sense even centimeters away. Pacinian corpuscles cause action potentials when the skin is rapidly indented but not when the pressure is steady, due to the layers of connective tissue that cover the nerve ending. It is thought that they respond to high velocity changes in joint position.
Pacinian corpuscles have a large receptive field on the skin's surface with an especially sensitive center. They only sense stimuli that occur within this field.
The term "Golgi-Mazzoni corpuscle" (distinct from the Golgi organ) is used to describe a similar structure found only in the fingertips.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacinian_corpuscle

Merkel nerve endings In mammals, Merkel nerve endings have a wide distribution. Merkel nerve endings are found in the basal layer of glabrous and hairy skin, in hair follicles, and in oral and anal mucosa. In humans, Merkel cells (along with Meissner's corpuscles) occur in the superficial skin layers, and are found clustered beneath the ridges of the fingertips that make up fingerprints. (Some other types of mechanoreceptors, such as Pacinian corpuscles and Ruffini endings, are found primarily in subcutaneous tissue.) In birds, Merkel receptors are located in the dermis. Wherever they are found, the epithelium is arranged to optimize the transfer of pressure to the ending.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkel_nerve_ending

Somatic Senses

A) Receptors associated with the skin, muscles, joints, and viscera make up the somatic senses

B) Touch and Pressure Senses
Three types of receptors detect touch and pressure.
Free ends of sensory nerve fibers in the epithelial tissues are associated with touch and pressure.
Meissner's corpuscles are flattened connective tissue sheaths surrounding two or more nerve fibers and are abundant in hairlese areas that are very sensitive to touch, like the lips.
Pacinian corpuscles are large structures of connective tissue and cells that detect deep pressure.

C) Temperature Senses
Temperature receptors include two groups of free nerve endings: heat receptors and cold receptors.
Both heat and cold receptors adapt quickly.
Temperatures near 45 degrees C stimulate pain receptors; temperatures below 10?C also stimulate pain receptors and produce a freezing sensation.

D) Sense of Pain
http://www.sirinet.net/~jgjohnso/senses.html

somatic: 1: of, relating to, or affecting the body; 2. of or relating to the wall of the body. The main keywords related to somatic senses are tactile and haptic which are both related to the sense of touch. Concerning this sense, there is a lot more than only touch itself. For example, distinguishes five "senses of skin": the sense of pressure, of touch, of vibration, of cold, and of warmth.
http://hwr.nici.kun.nl/~miami/taxonomy/node21.html

The somatosensory system is the sensory system of somatic sensation. A more complex concept comes into play when the term is used in reference to human beings. The sense of touch is mediated by the somatosensory system. Touch may simply be considered one of five human senses; however, when a person touches something or somebody this gives rise to various feelings: the perception of pressure (hence shape, softness, texture, vibration, etc.), relative temperature and sometimes pain. Thus the term "touch" is actually the combined term for several senses. In medicine, the colloquial term "touch" is usually replaced with somatic senses, to better reflect the variety of mechanisms involved.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_senses

Touching is having or getting a zero distance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touch

Proprioception is the sense of the position of parts of the body, relative to other neighbouring parts of the body.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception

Tactition is the sense of pressure perception.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactition

Somatosensory and Motor Research Journal

http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/08990220.asp

Skin

pps: academic.pg.cc.md.us/~aimholtz/AandP/LectureNotes/ANP1_Lec/Skin/Skin.pps

Material

ELectro Magnetic Shielding Fabric

Example: NATURASHIELD FABRIC - From the look and soft feel of NaturaShield, you would never know it was a high performance shielding fabric. Advance technology has created a fiber which has the conductive components on the inside, with pure natural cotton on the outside. The result is a fabric which is gentle to the skin, has a great feel, and still provides 20-35 dB from 100 MHz to 2.2 GHz, and residual performance up to 10 GHz, according to independent test results.
NaturaShield Fabric Performance Surface resistivity is 109 Ohm/sq. Perfect for bedding, clothing, drapes and most other applications where you want shielding without the harshness of metallized fabrics. Completely machine washable and dryable (cool) without losing shielding performance, cuts and sews like ordinary cotton, 125 g/m?, 60" wide, white as snow with a fine grey grid.

For more: http://www.lessemf.com/fabric.html

Bed Shielding Canopy

Topas-B. RF Shielding Fabric Reflects harmful Radio Frequency Waves (microwaves) from local cell towers. Effective range 200mhz to 3.3ghz

Building a Faraday Cage in Clothing to Shield RFID Tags

RFID tag privacy and security is an issue getting growing attention. As the use of RFID grows and touches consumers' lives, concern is also growing about whether tag data is secure or whether tags can be "forced to talk" and reveal private information. A number of companies are working on or offer solutions to prevent tags from being scanned improperly or the tag data being "eavesdropped" or "skimmed" impermissably. Solutions range from tag encryption, to jamming devices, to kill switches, to tag blocking.
Read on: http://www.rfid-weblog.com/50226711/building_a_faraday_cage_in_clothing_to_shield_rfid_tags.php

World Health Organization's EMF Project

- Electromagnetic fields of all frequencies represent one of the most common and fastest growing environmental influences, about which anxiety and speculation are spreading. All populations are now exposed to varying degrees of EMF, and the levels will continue to increase as technology advances.

As part of its Charter to protect public health and in response to public concern, the World Health Organization (WHO) established the International EMF Project in 1996 to assess the scientific evidence of possible health effects of EMF in the frequency range from 0 to 300 GHz.
http://www.who.int/peh-emf/en/

About electromagnetic fields

Electromagnetic radiation has been around since the birth of the universe; light is its most familiar form. Electric and magnetic fields are part of the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation which extends from static electric and magnetic fields, through radiofrequency and infrared radiation, to X-rays.

Human-made sources of electromagnetic fields
Besides natural sources the electromagnetic spectrum also includes fields generated by human-made sources: X-rays are employed to diagnose a broken limb after a sport accident. The electricity that comes out of every power socket has associated low frequency electromagnetic fields. And various kinds of higher frequency radiowaves are used to transmit information whether via TV antennas, radio stations or mobile phone base stations.
http://www.who.int/peh-emf/about/WhatisEMF/en/

FEB - The Swedish Association for the ElectroSensitive

About ElectroSensitivity - Electrical Oversensitivity or Electrical Hypersensitivity is a fairly new phenomenon, the first cases and discussions came to public knowledge in the early seventies. The first signs of electrical hypersensitivity are often experienced as a minor irritation when working with VDTs (Computer monitors, surveillance monitors, common TV - Television sets). A frequent symptom is that of warmth or a burning sensation in the face, not unlike a strong sunburn. Some people develop a reddish skin blemish or rash at the same time. These can also be accompanied by a tingling sensations in the skin, both facially and/or over other parts of the body. In addition eye problems can occur. You might get the feeling that the mucus membranes have dried.
These initial symptoms must be regarded as a serious first warning! Switch of the VDT when not in use, cut down time before the VDT, move the VDT far away from the user, buy a new low emission, grounded, monitor with a Cu-net embedded into the front glass (shielding glass).
http://www.feb.se/index_int.htm

Thermoregulating Jacket

This jacket adapt itself to fit the surrounding temperature. It is comfortable to wear inside as well as outside. The thickness is varied from 3 mm to 2 cm by inflating or deflating the jacket. Its is microprocessor controlled and uses a portable battery. The jacket is a working prototype.
http://www.designinsite.dk/htmsider/r0119.htm
http://www.alexsoza.com/

Responsive (Smart) Materials

"Smart" materials respond to environmental stimuli with particular changes in some variables. For that reason they are often also called responsive materials. Depending on changes in some external conditions, "smart" materials change either their properties (mechanical, electrical, appearance), their structure or composition, or their functions. Mostly, "smart" materials are embedded in systems whose inherent properties can be favorably changed to meet performance needs.
smart materials:
Colour changing materials
Photochromic materials
Thermochromic materials
Light emitting materials
Electroluminescent materials
Fluorescent materials
Phosphorescent materials
Moving materials
Conducting polymers
Dielectric elastomers
Piezoelectric materials
Polymer gels
Shape memory alloys (SMA)
Self assembling materials Self assembling materials
Self diagnostic materials Optic fibres composite
Smart composites
Smart tagged composites
Temperature changing materials Thermoelectric materials
Thickness changing fluids Magneto-Rehological fluids (MRFs)
http://www.designinsite.dk/htmsider/md950.htm

TEXTILE/MATERIAL COMPANIES

Textronics http://www.textronicsinc.com/aboutus.html
Infinion http://www.interactive-wear.de/cms/front_content.php
Nuno http://www.nuno.com/Yarn/index.html
Foster Miller http://www.foster-miller.com/wearhome.html
Eleksen http://www.eleksen.com/
X-static http://www.x-static.com/index2.html

MATERIALS EXAMPLES

Conductive Thread http://members.shaw.ca/ubik/thread/
Conductive Velcro http://www.lessemf.com
El Wire http://www.coolight.com
Metallic Silk Organza
Velostat (Desco Industries)

Refferences

Smart Second Skind Dress

http://www.smartsecondskin.com/main/animations.htm

Design for Wearability

http://www.ices.cmu.edu/design/wearability/front.html

Wounded Jumpers by Theodore Watson

muonics.net

Dream Blankets II by Jacqueline Gordon

A large croched blanket with integrated loudspeakers suspended to form a tunnel-like space. The speakers make sounds when triggered by steps on certain areas of the oriental carpet beneth.
Bent Festival 2006 for Circuit Bending

The Whisper Opera by Caitlin Berrigan

Small silicone body parts equipped with sensors and speakers that, when removed from their cozy display boxes and held in the palm of the hand, will whisper and sing to their holders- separately or in unison.
Bent Festival 2006 for Circuit Bending

Paul Frank's monkey

Pinecone fabric that keeps you cool (2004)

A layer of thin spikes of wool, or another water-absorbent material, that opens up when it is made wet by the wearer's sweat. When the layer dries out, the spikes automatically close up again. A second layer underneath protects the wearer from the rain
www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1213575.htm

Ezio Manzini (Desinger)

http://www.edf.edu.au/Resources/Manzini/ManziniMenuMain.htm

Intimate Memory Dress

http://www.xslabs.net/intimate.html

whisper

wearable body architectures
http://whisper.surrey.sfu.ca/index2.html

katherine moriwaki

http://www.kakirine.com/

Teresa Almeida

Modes for urban moods are a suite of wearable coping mechanisms which explore relationships in public spaces and materialize invisible social networks. Space Dress is a dress that inflates in specific situations according to its user's decision. It is designed to cope with stress, moments of anxiety and claustrophobic situations - or, simply, for comfort. It was first thought to be used during rush hour in the MTA, New York City's subway system.
itp.nyu.edu/archive/thesis/spring2005/detail.php?lastname=Almeida
www.banhomaria.net

Endangered Senses, Gemma Shusterman

web.media.mit.edu/~gemma

Blogger Hoodie, Diana Eng

home.comcast.net/~populartransit/poptrans/newframeset.htm
students.risd.edu/yr2005/deng/dianaeng
Together with www.emilyalbinski.net (industrial design student)
Her portfolio features, among other tech-influenced designs, garments designed using biomimetics, the science of applying the laws of nature to technology; a hoodie with a wireless heart monitor and an embedded camera that snaps pictures as a wearer's heart rate increases; and the gown, fitted with a hacked hand vacuum and a series of valves, that inflates and deflates according to the desired silhouette. Eng designed the garment with classmate Emily Albinski while a student of apparel design at the Rhode Island School of Design.
www.technudge.com/2006/01/stop-me-before-i-hurl.html
news.com.com/2300-1041-6030151.html

muk.luk.flux, Amanda Parkes

web.media.mit.edu/~amanda
(check also her other works: Topobo and Nomad Pneumatics), is a pair of boots which change shape based on the speed of motion of the wearer. By drawing an analogy between respresentations of mechanical movement in contrast to bodily gesture, they mock the notion of the "machine aesthetic." An accelerometer in the boots tracks the wearers speed and when in motion, the boots expand into their 'engaged' position using a system of mechanical actuators in the structure of the boots.
www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/008117.php

Dresses that move or change shape over time

http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/007918.php
http://www.xslabs.net/work-pages/vilkas.html
The hemline of the Vilkas dress rises over a 30 second interval to reveal the knee and lower thigh. The very light yellow cotton element of the hand-made felt garment contracts through the use of hand-stitched Nitinol wires. Once heated, the shape-memory wire pulls the cloth together, creating a wrinkling effect. The hemline is programmed to rise autonomously. The behavior of this kinetic dress can be playful and even desirable, but can also be embarrassing in the wrong social situation. The wearer can wait for the hemline to fall or can actively pull it back down. This initiates a physical conversation between the wearer and the garment, as they fight over control of the body s real estate.
The Kukkia dress is decorated with three animated flowers. Each flower opens and closes over (on average) a 15 second interval. The flowers are constructed out of felt and silk petals that provide relative rigidity and conceal the Nitinol wire stitched onto the back. When heated, the wire shrinks and pulls the petals together, closing the flower. As it cools down, the rigidity of the felt counteracts the shape of the wire, allowing the flower to open again. By Joanna Berzowska (Concordia University). Check also her Intimate Memory clothing. Photos by Shermine Sawalha. See also CuteCircuit's Kinetic Dress and a wearable system for showing off tattoos.

An article about smart and sensitive fabrics

Fabrics have become an arena for competition for scientists all around the world. The race is on to be the first to develop new fabrics that will not only keep you warm but also cool, dry, moisturised and free of bacteria, odour and stains while measuring your heart rate. Welcome to the world of smart fabrics.
- Temperature sensitive textiles
- Reinventing wool
- Odour eaters
- Medical materials
www.abc.net.au/catapult/indepth/s1435357.htm

The shirt that rolls its own sleeves (2001)

Nitinol, an alloy which is said to have a "shape-memory" - that is, it can be deformed and then returned to its original shape when heated to a certain temperature
www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s336668.htm

Smart bra to give support when it's needed (2000)

polymer fabric sensors measure strain and stresses caused by different movements. A sensor attached to the midriff also measures breathing restriction
www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s131388.htm

Wearable keyboard (2000)

Elektrex, Eleksen's core technology, which incorporates smart fabrics, electronics and software
www.elektex.com/flash/homeloader.html
www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s210853.htm

Lisa Stead's Emotional Wardrobe

www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/007434.php

Lucy Orta

www.fashion.arts.ac.uk/5190.htm
studioorta.free.fr/lucy_orta.html

Camhuman

a.parsons.edu/~ebarbareschi/fall05/FT/camhuman.swf

IVREA student homepage

http://people.interaction-ivrea.it/a.rao/thesis_2_back.html

"body props"

As seen in MOMA safety design exhibition
Five soft forms moulded in expanded polyurethane, with elastic varnish finish, created as an extension of the body to support it in all its different postures.
http://www.idsland.com/q.php?prj=32

Dialectric

A Collaboration between Laura MacCary and Lawrence MacCary. Each piece in the Dialectric series consists of a textile woven by Laura MacCary of conductive or resistive materials cast off by industry, and a circuit designed around that textile by Lawrence MacCary. These woven structures form simple electronic components, such as coils, potentiometers, and switches. In each piece, by interacting with the woven component the viewer physically enters the circuit, and the circuit passes through the viewer.
The title of the series, Dialectric, is taken from the words dialectic, meaning the juxtaposition or interaction of two conflicting ideas or forces, and dielectric, an insulating substance (frequently air) or a substance in which an electric field can be maintained with a minimum loss of power. I see these as metaphors for the participants in an interaction, and the space between them.
http://www.users.qwest.net/~maccaryl/MacCaryMacCary.html

wearing wires, Dr. Sundaresan Jayaraman

Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Textile and Fiber Engineering
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3068740/
http://www.tfe.gatech.edu/faculty/jayaraman/jayaraman.html

Links

Virginia Tech E-Textiles Laboratory

http://www.ccm.ece.vt.edu/etextiles/

Hexagram, Concordia

Joanna Berzowska - www.hexagram.org/hexengine/researchers.php?command=viewresearcher&rid=936&lang=fr
Ingrid Bachmann - www.hexagram.org/hexengine/researchers.php?command=viewresearcher&rid=984&lang=fr
Barbara Layne -www.hexagram.org/hexengine/researchers.php?command=viewresearcher&rid=937&lang=fr
Sha Xin Wei - www.hexagram.org/hexengine/researchers.php?command=viewresearcher&rid=995&lang=fr

MIT Seamless Computational Couture

http://www.media.mit.edu/events/movies/video.php?id=seamless-2006-02-01

Beauty and the Bits

http://www.media.mit.edu/wearables/lizzy/out-in-the-world/beauty/

Switch

http://iheartswitch.com/bios/

Seamless

a fashion event featuring innovative and experimental works in computational apparel design, interactive clothing, and technology-based fashion.
seamless.sigtronica.org

Horizon Zero (Magizine)

Issue 16::Second Skins Articles::Wear and Tear::Intimate Electronics
Wearable technology in the form of clothes is thousands of years old. Clothing is also one of our most intimate and personal technologies - it functions as protection, disguise, and interface with the world. We need to think carefully about what we want our electronic textiles to do.
http://www.horizonzero.ca/

IDS - Interaction Design Studio

The Interaction Design Studio (IDS) is a multidisciplinary thrust that involves faculty and students from Engineering, Computer Science, and Industrial Design. IDS addresses the development of new concepts by focusing on the process of creating experiences through a product's design. IDS considers first what people want to do, then caters the product's surface and enabling technologies to fit the needs and constraints of the user.
http://www.ices.cmu.edu/thrusts/ids/idsdeftxt.html

About WEARABLE COMPUTING

www.cybersalon.org/wearables
electricwig.com

Deff.: Wearable Computing

wearable-computer.wikiverse.org

MIT wearable computing wiki

www.media.mit.edu/wearables/index.html

The Wearable Group at Carnegie Mellon

is an interdisciplinary team of researcher combining a decade of investigation into the architectural and interface requirements of wearable systems.
www.wearablegroup.org

weblog on many things interesting

www.styleborg.com

London University of the Arts

www.fashion.arts.ac.uk www.arts.ac.uk/index.htm

Wearable, hand-held and portable technologies conference

http://www.eurowearable.org/

Fashionable Technology

ttp://fashionabletechnology.orgh http://www.core77.com http://www.core77.com/materials

IVREA interactive design institute

http://courses.interaction-ivrea.it/on/exercises.html

fashion/ design magazine

http://www.clearmag.com/clear.htm

Xlabs

XS Labs focuses on the development and design of electronic textiles, reactive materials, and squishy interfaces.
www.xslabs.net/news.html

Industry Community

www.industrycommunity.com

BSN 2006

International Workshop on Wearable and Implantable Body Sensor Networks: April 3-5 at MIT
http://bsn.media.mit.edu

MIT Things that Think

Things That Think is inventing the future of digitally augmented objects and environments.
http://ttt.media.mit.edu/

MIT Affective Computing

Affective Computing is computing that relates to, arises from, or deliberately influences emotions.
http://affect.media.mit.edu/

DESIGNINSITE

Lovely site for materials. Intended for Designers and creatives, with explainations and nicely networked examples. Not complete and maybe not up to date but great.
www.designinsite.dk

Sensatex

Textile engineering company focused on the development of Smart Textile Systems. First commercial product, the SmartShirt System is a wearable physiological information management platform.
www.sensatex.com

Softswitch

Providing customers with technology solutions that incorporate the functionality and lifestyle enhancements of electronics with the aesthetics and benefits of textiles.
http://www.softswitch.co.uk/

Fiberart International (Exhibition)

http://www.fiberartinternational.com/

Loop.pH

Loop.pH is a design and research studio that creates and develops new surfaces and structures, conducts an extensive range of research activities and collaborates with industry. It is a multidisciplinary partnership set up in 2003 by Rachel Wingfield with artist Mathias Gmachl after meeting on a FoAM project in the UK. Together they have fabricated reactive surfaces for a variety of environments, from the public to the domestic. Their work aims to provide a more intuitive understanding of our natural environment, from day-night cycles to power consumption. Research into the physiological effects of light and colour on the human body is a strong component in their work. They are developing textile-based ambient displays for the home with active textiles that visualise information through dynamic pattern and colour change.
http://www.loop.ph/bin/view/Loop/WebHome

National Textile Center

www.ntcresearch.org

Thinking Materials

Based in Stockholm, Sweden, hinking Materials is a company working towards manufacturers in the area of wearable computing and communication. Their mission is to enable processes for making communication more creative, more varied and more ubiquitous. As a result it will give the end user more self esteem and more creative ways to communicate.
http://www.thinkingmaterials.com/news.html