Sunday, November 2, 2008

XS Labs is a research design studio, located in Canada, working on merging all types of technology and clothing into wearable,functional art. Some of their collaborations include...

The Excitable Sites with Barbara Layne, Chris Salter and Sha Xin Wei.
The Addressable Dress project with Barbara Layne.
The Topological Media Lab at Hexagram
The Code Zebra project with Sara Diamond


The newest project is Skorpions, clothing that slowly changes form during wear...very interesting.

SKORPIONS: behind the scenes
Joanna Berzowska & Marcelo Coelho

"SKORPIONS are 5 kinetic electronic garments that use the shape-memory alloy (SMA) Nitinol to move and change on the body in slow, organic motions. The idea of integrating Nitinol into textiles is an obvious way of achieving shape changing, responsive fabrics. However, even though it sounds simple, the process is quite complicated and expensive, as can be seen by the lack of Nitinol-based shape changing garments on the market today.
SKORPIONS integrate electronic fabrics, soft electronic circuits, specially designed circuit boards, Nitinol, mechanical actuators such as magnets, and traditional textile construction techniques such as sculptural folds and drapes of fabric across the body. The cut of the pattern, the seams, and other construction details become an important component of engineering design.
SKORPIONS are not interactive: their programming does not respond to sensor data. They are more like living organisms or moving sculptures that display characteristics such as control, anticipation, and unpredictability."

They also have a blog http://xslabs.blogspot.com.

Intellifit is not brand new but it is definitley noteworthy!I can't wait until it reaches the masses!!!! I have been dreaming of a tool like this to determine that my clothes fit perfectly, without having to try them on. Every mall should have this so you can go in, get your measurements, take them with you, and shop on-line at your leisure. Moms can shop peacefully! All retailers need to get on board.

From the Intellifit Website:
"Hi, we're Intellifit. One-part technology, one-part Design Studio. We've created a system that allows you to get a great pair of jeans custom made for your body shape and measurements. You can even design a few different looks. And it's easy. Imagine that.

Intellifit has been around a few years. Now, with our own manufacturing resource, we've created a Design Studio in the Philadelphia suburbs. And that's where you can get custom fitted for a great pair of jeans.

It's all possible with what we call a “Virtual Fitting Room” (VFR). The VFR is the size of a traditional fitting room and electronically detects your measurements with safe, low-power radio waves. It takes dozens of measurements in about 20 seconds. Once the measurements are generated the information is processed to produce a custom pattern that's created by the manufacturer. The VFR is completely safe. In fact, cell phones emit more radio waves than our VFR."