The recent technological and material advances indicate new future scenarios that see technology integrated into areas of everyday life so far unexpected. New visions of the future, formulated by field experts, are influencing the surrounding material world, which is transforming form passive to interactive. These changes are involving the textile field as well, where a new class of smart textiles, called e-textiles, in extenso electronic textiles, endowed by sensory, processing and responsive capacities, is taking shape. With this thesis I aim to analyse this phenomenon, still developing and at the experimental stage, that is leading to the design of new hybrid artefacts, on the boundary between technology and textile. Starting from a research into the genesis and the developments of the e-textile, I explored the building elements, the features and the potential offered by these new products, carrying out also an overview of the design tendencies and the current state of the art. This analysis intends to understand the future evolution of the e-textile and its impact on the sociocultural and environmental context. The purpose of the final part of the thesis is to verify the ability of the e-textile to provide a positive response to a problem related to the safety field, which appears to be one of the most promising directions for the development of this new class of textiles. A close examination of studies conducted in several European countries showed that a very high number of accidents, partially attributed to the lack of proper strategies to make the cyclist conspicuous, occurs in the scenario of urban cycling every year. Through a technology and material driven approach, I designed a new e-textile product, Firefly Jacket, conceived to improve the safety of urban cyclists, by enhancing of two basic aspects: conspicuity and communication.
I recenti progressi tecnologici e materici lasciano presagire nuovi scenari futuri che vedono la tecnologia integrata in ambiti della realtà quotidiana fino ad oggi impensati. Nuove visioni future, elaborate da esperti del settore, stanno influenzando il mondo materiale circostante, che si sta trasformando da passivo ad interattivo. Questi cambiamenti stanno coinvolgendo anche il settore tessile, dove si sta delineando una nuova classe di tessuti intelligenti, denominati e-textiles, ovvero electronic textiles, dotati di capacità sensoriali, elaborative ed attuative. Con la presente tesi mi sono prefisso l’obiettivo di analizzare questo nuovo fenomeno, ancora in fase di sviluppo e di sperimentazione, che sta portando alla progettazione di nuovi artefatti ibridi, al confine tra tecnologia e tessuto. Partendo da una ricerca sulla genesi e sugli sviluppi dell’e-textile, ho esplorato gli elementi costitutivi, le caratteristiche e le potenzialità offerte da questi nuovi prodotti, effettuando anche una panoramica sugli orientamenti progettuali e lo stato dell’arte attuale. L’intento di questa analisi è quello di comprendere l’evoluzione futura dell’e-textile e il suo impatto sul contesto socioculturale ed ambientale. La parte finale della tesi ha lo scopo di verificare la capacità dell’e-textile di fornire una risposta concreta ad una problematica legata all’ambito della sicurezza, che risulta essere una delle direzioni più promettenti per lo sviluppo di questa nuova categoria di tessuti. Da un esame approfondito di studi condotti in vari paesi europei è emerso che nello scenario del ciclismo urbano si verifica, ogni anno, un numero molto alto d’incidenti, in parte imputabili alla mancanza di strategie adeguate a rendere visibile il ciclista. Attraverso un approccio technology e material driven ho progettato un nuovo prodotto e-textile, Firefly Jacket, pensato per migliorare la sicurezza dei ciclisti urbani, potenziando due aspetti fondamentali: visibilità e comunicazione.
L'e-textile + firefly jacket. La nuova dimensione dei prodotti tessili
LOUAZA, SIMON
2012/2013
Abstract
The recent technological and material advances indicate new future scenarios that see technology integrated into areas of everyday life so far unexpected. New visions of the future, formulated by field experts, are influencing the surrounding material world, which is transforming form passive to interactive. These changes are involving the textile field as well, where a new class of smart textiles, called e-textiles, in extenso electronic textiles, endowed by sensory, processing and responsive capacities, is taking shape. With this thesis I aim to analyse this phenomenon, still developing and at the experimental stage, that is leading to the design of new hybrid artefacts, on the boundary between technology and textile. Starting from a research into the genesis and the developments of the e-textile, I explored the building elements, the features and the potential offered by these new products, carrying out also an overview of the design tendencies and the current state of the art. This analysis intends to understand the future evolution of the e-textile and its impact on the sociocultural and environmental context. The purpose of the final part of the thesis is to verify the ability of the e-textile to provide a positive response to a problem related to the safety field, which appears to be one of the most promising directions for the development of this new class of textiles. A close examination of studies conducted in several European countries showed that a very high number of accidents, partially attributed to the lack of proper strategies to make the cyclist conspicuous, occurs in the scenario of urban cycling every year. Through a technology and material driven approach, I designed a new e-textile product, Firefly Jacket, conceived to improve the safety of urban cyclists, by enhancing of two basic aspects: conspicuity and communication.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/92984