KOBA Schneiderei für Elektronische Textilien is a tailor shop for electronic textiles and wearable technology in Berlin. Instead of speculating about a future in which technology is tailor-made, we want to make this scenario a reality and see what people can imagine. We opened in December 2017 and closed in January 2019.

>> final commissions PDF
>> KOBA website
>> Dear Future Customer

Shop logo:

After one year of running the tailor shop, we closed in January 2019. These are the commissions we realized:

Dominique’s Crochet Resistance
>> http://www.kobakant.at/KOBA/crochet-resistance/

Boris’s Trombone Breathing Vest
>> https://www.kobakant.at/KOBA/trombone-breathing/

Arne’s Lazy Programming Gloves
>> http://www.kobakant.at/KOBA/a-lazy-programmers-datagloves/

Deborah’s Burning Bollero
>> https://www.kobakant.at/KOBA/burning-bolero/

Tom’s EMF Listener Hoodie
>> https://www.kobakant.at/KOBA/emf-listener-hoodie/

Sebastian’s Party Geometric Jacket
>> http://www.kobakant.at/KOBA/sebastians-party-geometric-jacket/

Wim’s Storytelling Vest
>> http://www.kobakant.at/KOBA/storytelling-vest/

Abele’s Handbag Fix
>> https://www.kobakant.at/KOBA/handbag-fix-for-a/

Maurin’s Shepard Matrix
>> https://www.kobakant.at/KOBA/maurins-shepard-matrix/

Xavier’s Discolele Costume
>> https://www.kobakant.at/KOBA/discolele/

Tom’s Extra Digit Sensor
>> https://www.kobakant.at/KOBA/extra-digit-sensor/

As electronic textile practitioners, we are deeply involved in the creation of new technologies. The ideas we have, the things we make, the materials we produce will end up on our bodies, in our lives and our landfills. As careful creatives we are scared by our own creations. Paralysed by the very ideas that excite us.

During the eTextile Summercamp 2017 we gathered in an attempt to resolve this inner conflict, and Our Wearable Manifestos were the result. The manifesto is a pattern for a work apron that transforms into a jacket with a capacitive touchpad. A two-sided garment to illustrate our daily transformation between maker and user. The handmade touchpad as a comment on Google’s closed-source involvement in wearables. Built-in instructions and containing all the tools needed to remake itself, invite you to copy it. In fact, the manifesto must be re-created and customised in order to be fully understood by the person making it. We believe that the only way to fully comprehend technology and it’s implications is to make it yourself. To wear the manifesto is to spread technological curiosity, enthusiasm, scepticism and skill.

A wearable manifesto is made from a rectangle of fabric. Cut and sewn back together to minimize waste. Double sided to transform from a nice jacket into a practical apron. Wearing your tools inside or out. Ready to re-make the manifesto to show others how capacitive sensing works.

Manifestations: BE COMMUNITY | SHARE TOOLS | MAKE DIVERSITY | TAKE CARE | FOREVER CHANGING | USE ALTERNATIVES | WICKED PROBLEMS | STAY WEIRED

Our Wearable Manifesto

Every Wearable Manifesto originates from the same “pattern” because we are one COMMUNITY. The pattern is a open (source) design because to SHARE knowledge it to distribute power. There is no exact copy because DIVERSITY is necessary. Your version should produce no waste, because we CARE what remains. The design evolves every time somebody remakes it because our world is EVER CHANGING. Be aware of ALTERNATIVES, source your materials locally. Deal with complex power structures by recognizing WICKED PROBLEMS. Resist your inner resistance to STAY WEIRED.

COMMUNITY – as individuals we crave community
manifestation in pattern: we all share the same “pattern”

SHARE – knowledge is power
manifestation in pattern: transparent design spreads power evenly among those who can see

SHARE TOOLS
All the tools needed to produce the Wearable Manifesto should be carried with the manifesto. The wearer is obliged to explain the manifesto. To aide the wearer in explaining, the manifesto is resolved in the design of the garment.

DIVERSITY – “plurafunctionality”, inclusiveness, accessibility, empathy
manifestation in pattern: there is no exact copy, every one is different and all of them belong

MAKE DIVERSITY
The manifesto must be re-created and customised in order to be fully understood by the person making it. We believe that the only way to fully comprehend technology and it’s implications is to make.

CARE – we notice what remains
manifestation in pattern: our design produces no waste

EVER CHANGING – we do not resist change, we do not conserve energy, we expend it to fuel
manifestation in pattern: our design evolves every time somebody remakes it

ALTERNATIVES – accept that we need the Other even if she doesn’t become a follower
manifestation in pattern: use of materials so they could be sourced locally

WICKED PROBLEMS – dealing with complex power structures
manifestation in pattern: capacitive sensing on the body is a wicked problem

STAY WEIRED – resistance your inner resistance
manifestation in pattern: not everything has to have an economic reason. defy disciplines, standards, authority, boxes

My Wearable Manifesto

Jacket/vest:

Three different apron options:
1) Sides dangling (stay weird!)

2) Arms opened and sides tucked inside

Links:
Project page >> http://etextile-summercamp.org/2017/summercamp/our-wearable-manifestos/
Customizations >> http://etextile-summercamp.org/2017/summercamp/our-wearable-manifestos/
Manifesto Pattern >> http://etextile-summercamp.org/2017/summercamp/a-wearable-manifesto/
Flickr set >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157685358842794

Group Bio:
We are crafters of wearable technologies, engineers of on-body interactions and educators of new minds and bodies. Our practice starts with the basic manipulation of material and ends up in what we will wear. We are bound together by a concern for the future of our skill-set. Our names are: Admar Schoonen, Beam Contre Choc, Celine Marcq, Hannah Perner-Wilson, Lara Grant, Liza Stark, Rachel Freire and Zoe Romano.

stars bright, threads alight
the tools we use are not all right.

the shuttle of progress wove traces that now control us
these powerful structures must come undone.

copper of thread, carbon of fiber, pigment of change
react to our heated resistance!

standing on common ground,
our bodies clad in textile sensors/electronic textiles,
we are shocked,
we are grounded.
glad to have founded
this wicked community.

our fabrics have power,
yet they resist
their capacity
to exploit.

when ends fray
there is cross-talk between traces.

the disconnected pin listens to noise
of angels dancing.

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

In March 2017 I spent one-month in residence at Amit’s Hybrid Craft Lab, where I explored blurring the aesthetics of materials collected from different contexts to create hybrid jewels.

Blurred Boundary #1: Carbon Nature
Carbon coated seed pods. Strung from copper threads. Hanging on a burnt branch. They clash in silence, but their contact is detected. What follows? Must every physical interaction have digital consequences?

This work was collected, painted and assembled during a one-month “residency” in the Hybrid Craft Lab at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel.

I collected these seed pods in the park on may way between home and the lab.
Painted them in Bare Conductive’s carbon paint.
Strung them from Karl-Grimm’s copper thread.
One day I broke off the branch from a burnt bush.
The consequences are still missing.

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBcdrMTQXcI

Original version:

Blurred Boundary #2: Beaded Circuit Board
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/sets/72157679469412322

Blurred Boundary #3: Primitive Continuity
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157679261138554

Version 1

Front and back:

Version 2

Front, back and side:

Flickr Album

>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/sets/72157677985033993

Stirring Queen mask for Purim

>> http://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=6532
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/sets/72157681273298536

Hybrid Jewels Workshop

>> http://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=6539
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157679469354192

Field Notes

Inspiration

Jewelry from the Kalahari

Jacobs, Jennifer and Amit Zoran. 2015. “Hybrid Practice in the Kalahari: Design Collaboration Through Digital Tools and Hunter Gatherer Craft.” The 33th international conference on Human factors in computing systems (CHI ’15). ACM, New York, NY, USA
>> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1772560/publications/CHI_Kalahari.pdf

Dots to Lines

>> http://www.dotstolines.com/

3D Sewing

Blurring boundaries by binding things together…
>> http://www.plusea.at/?p=5844
Instructable >> http://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Sewing-Rings-With-Strings/
Flickr sets:
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/sets/72157664675662002
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/sets/72157664675662002

“The concept of making holes or opening sin metal had its origin in prehistoric times when boring tools of bone or stone were used to make holes in softer materials.” (Oppi Untracht, Jewelry Concepts and and Technology, p88)

Wire jewelry work of Ann Lee Hu
>> http://www.facerejewelryart.com/artist.php?id=15

Leah’s beaded LED bracelet

Susanna Bauer
>> http://www.susannabauer.com/

>> https://www.instructables.com/id/Non-Functional-Circuit-Broach/
https://cdn.instructables.com/FTT/3YM1/FNI3VURU/FTT3YM1FNI3VURU.MEDIUM.jpg

Mandalas

Jewelry Concepts and Technology by Oppi Untracht (1982)

>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppi_Untracht

Design elements/concepts:
– contrast
– relative scale
– balance
– visual climax

Jewelry concerned with composition, form or pure design
Jewelry with dominating surface ornamentation
Jewelry associated with nature
Jewelry commenting on contemporary life
Jewelry using industrial techniques
Jewelry using new / non-traditional materials

THE MESSAGES OF JEWELRY
Why We Wear Ornaments

Origins:
Satisfying psychic and physical needs
Natural substances: products of hunt used first a body decoration/status symbol before use as material for tools
The bead: transforming natural materials

USES AND VALUES PLACED ON JEWELRY
The Amulet: protection against the unknown
The symbol: communication with the conscious and the subconscious

THE JEWEL AND THE JEWELER
The Jewel Mandala – mapping the jewel-motivation cosmos
remembrance
function (holding clothing together)
artistic/aesthetic
contemporary vs. traditional concepts
magical powers
self-image/public image

Circuits as material, in material

Wire-wrapping technique
>> http://www.nutsvolts.com/magazine/article/wire_wrap_is_alive_and_well

3D sewing, layering, combining materials from different disciplines
Barebones circuitry
Cardwoven USB cable
Irene’s beaded USB cable
Daniela Rosner’s knitting

3D print and circuitry Thingiverse
>> http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:21975

Lynn’s protoboard embroidery

Display…

Maurin’s fiber optics

>> http://maurin.donneaud.free.fr/
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/maurin/albums/72057594109320583

Ebru and Irene’s flip dots

>> http://www.stitchingworlds.net/

Flip dot jacket

>> http://www.instructables.com/id/Flip-Dot-an-interactive-kinetic-wearable/

Tool functions

Measuring

Manipulating

– subtractive
– additive
– deformative

Storing

Woven memory

Reading…

Das Glasperlenspiel by Herman Hesse

Drawing…

Illustrating concepts and ideas

Mark Ngui’s Thousand Plateau illustrations >> http://www.bumblenut.com/drawing/art/plateaus/
Taeyoon’s handmade computer >> http://taeyoonchoi.com/projects/handmade-computer/

A WEARABLE STUDIO PRACTICE WEBSITE

Now is a perfect time for electrical engineers to become mobile with their practice. It’s not just electronic parts that have become smaller and smaller, but also many of the tools used in electrical engineering (power supply, multimeter, oscilloscope, programmers… ) have become more compact and portable. Many practices closely related to hardware such as software/programming and CAD/design have been liberated from static infrastructures because laptop computers – their primary tools – are powerful and lightweight. Co-working spaces and FabLabs offer temporary workspaces all over the world. There is an awareness of the benefits of local production and site-specific development.

Wearable Studio Collection

A collection of wearable and portable accessories that allow the electronic textile engineer to travel, build hardware on-site, incorporate local craft techniques and resources, experience different cultures, encounter and collaborate with other disciplines and share their skills with others.

The items in this Wearable Studio Collection are in various stages of development, but shall eventually be documented in great detail, so that they can be reproduced by others. I hope to encourage copies, modifications and improvements to these designs.

Body modifications…

>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/collections/72157671954961281/

>> Gloves Documentation

Team: Imogen, Kelly, Tom, Seb, Rachel, Adam, Hannah

Links:

>> MiMu website
>> Dev Blog
>> Kickstarter page
>> Imogen’s Glove Page
>> Making-of x-IMU Gloves
>> Twitter
>> YouTube Videos
>> Flickr Photos
>> Seb’s Glove GitHub

The x-IMU Gloves

This first pair of customized gloves uses custom made version of the x-IMU. Each glove has one x-IMU, 8 bend sensors, an RGB LED and vibration motor.

The DIY ArduIMU Gloves

An Open Hardware pair of datagloves that capture movement and gestures of the hand using the ArduIMU and bend sensors. The gloves can be connected with an FTDI cable or wirelessly using a Bluetooth module. The gloves also include an RGB LED light and a vibration motor for visual and haptic feedback.

These gloves are made from off-the-shelf parts and documented in these step-by-step instructions.

E-Textile Gloves

This is a version of The Gloves that uses conductive and piezoresistive fabrics to capture movement and gestures of the hand in an attempt to build a fully fabric data glove.

MiMu Gloves

Three pairs of this version of the glove were produced in preparation for Imogen’s NIME performance.

Collaborator Gloves

This version of the MiMu data gloves for composing and performing electronic music are in production for a small group of collaborators who continued to support us after our Kickstarter campaign.

>> How To Get What You Want