TEXTILES.ORG
Researchers Dr. Sophie Skach and Dr. Victor Shepardson have been doing research into fabrics, as part of their work in the Intelligent Instruments Lab, University of Iceland. Recently, they devised a set of smart fabrics that can produce sounds like musical instruments when people handle them, producing sounds comparable to ASMR scratches and water sloshes.
Photo: Dr. Sophie Skach and Intelligent Instrument Labs.
The fabrics incorporate materials such as silver threads and steel fibers, which gives them electronic properties, but they can also function like touch screens or interact with external digital devices to mix and compose music. Because they are made of yarn-like fabrics, they’re soft to the touch and malleable enough to fit the size and shape of a target musical instrument. So far, they have produced e-textiles that users can stretch, squeeze, stroke and use to potentially coat their musical instruments.
In the Intelligent Instruments Lab, Skach and Shepardson have explored other materials that can be musical instruments. Traditionally, these sound-making devices are made of rigid materials such as wood, but this project could impact the Lab’s approach going forward. Also, interfaces used to compose digital music often feature plastic or metal.
“We ask how we can design instruments that are soft, warm, and flexible,” the researchers say. “We are interested in how such [soft] materials can afford new ways of interaction.”
These smart fabrics can generate sounds that may complement music composition and, in a way, transform instruments into intelligent devices through their surfaces. The design team has tested applying them to mixing decks as woven and knitted fabrics, as well as to synthesizers using crocheted soft sculptures.
The research is ongoing, but to date the “E-Textiles Project” has prompted Dr. Sophie Skach to publish studies related to the smart fabrics, including the use of pressure sensors in trousers. The Intelligent Instruments project (INTENT) is funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.