Kristi Kuusk

Crafting butterfly lace: conductive multi-color sensor-actuator structure

The work describes background and methods involved in the development of Butterfly Lace, a conductive multi-color sensor-actuator structure that lies in the intersection of traditional craft and smart materials. Traditional craft is introduced as inspiration for developing smart textiles in lace structure. Both, the process of dyeing conductive threads with multi-color thermochromic pigment mixes and the technical set up for the sensor-actuator system are described. The possibilities and challenges for the multi-color sensor-actuator combination in a lace structure are discussed based on the experience gained from working with the material. Potential applications are glanced for inspiration and future directions.

2013 e-textile swatchbook exchange: the importance of sharing physical work

The E-Textile Swatch Exchange is a platform for sharing physical work samples in the field of electronic textiles. The exchange wishes to emphasize the importance of physicality and quality workmanship in an increasingly digital world. Individuals and collaborative efforts participate in the exchange by submitting a unique swatch design of their own, and in turn receive a compiled collection of everybody elses swatches. This means that everybody participating needs to make as many multiples of their swatch as the total number of participants. There are no guidelines defining what the swatches could or should be, only that they relate to the field of E-Textiles.

Growth plan for an inspirational test-bed of smart textile services

In this pictorial we visualize the growth plan for an inspirational test-bed of smart textile product service systems. The goal of the test-bed is to inspire and inform the Dutch creative industries of textile, interaction and service design to combine their strengths and share opportunities. The pictures exemplify the characteristic tools, approaches and prototypes for three phases of growth: Incubation, Nursery and Adoption.

Wearable Senses, Department of Industrial Design, TU Eindhoven

As told by Oscar Tomico, Stephan Wensveen, Kristi Kuusk, Martijn ten Bhömer, René Ahn, Marina Toeters, and Maarten Versteeg