— 22nd January 2016
‘TEST BED 4 – Textiles as an Interface’ is the fourth in a series of four events exploring the nature of the discipline, new contexts for Textiles, the impact of new materials, new ways of thinking and research projects within the programme.
The head of programme, Prof Anne Toomey invited me to develop a seminar, based on my research into transient interfaces, that looks at the role Textiles can play as "interface" — from the traditional example being the interface between ourselves and our environments through the clothes that we wear, to advanced materials and their shifting implications for society. Together we explored the history of interface design, metaphors, analogies and representation, as well as fathoming the future prospects for textiles in the vastly growing field of wearables, wearable computing, smart materials and body interfaces.
A diagram I came up with to visualise the uses of metaphor in the conception of transient interface design (Jan 2016)
This RCA internal seminar will be lead by myself and Dan Lockton (Visiting Research Tutor, IDE) and will take place in the Upper Gulbenkian Gallery.
▶ Pictures of the seminar can be found on Flickr.