TEXTILES.ORG
Among songwriters in Nashville, they used to say, “Keep it simple, stupid.” Writing a really good country song may appear to be simple, but sometimes the simpler the idea, the more difficult it is to say something fresh and new, and solving that is … well, simply in the details.
It may be a stretch to compare this to wearable technology, but success in this market is also very much based on the details. That’s where our new feature, “Making wearable tech a reality” by Daniel McKewen and Craig Morin from Priority Designs, excels, providing a clear, well-organized and straightforward summation of the challenges facing wider commercialization and acceptance of wearable technology. And it’s precisely what we need.
Identifying the issues in general terms isn’t that difficult; lots of folks could offer credible answers off the tops of their heads: washability, scalability, weight, enough power, a better, less intrusive power source, comfortability, and, of course, the pricetag.
It’s in the specifics where the real work surfaces, and that’s where people like our feature writers “live,” identifying—and not just in general terms—what has to be addressed to make a certain wearable product function as it should. How, exactly, can this product be made more comfortable, washable, powerful, and so forth. No, it’s not simple. It’s actually very complex. But addressing the details – breaking it down, shall we say – helps us understand and tackle each obstacle in a way that makes sense.
Interestingly, solutions are often found via collaborations among those specializing in just one aspect of the material, or the technology, or the process required to make a viable wearable. There again, this is a space where this particular company “lives,” illustrating every day the importance of working across disciplines.
The conventional wisdom in Nashville says that collaboration is the proper way to write a good song. There may be a specialist in lyric writing and another in composing, and they may be working with a singer, or even an entire band to complete a song. But it’s rare that one person writes a song, sings it, plays all the instruments in the accompaniment, mixes the recording, and releases a viable product all alone. Very rare.
I could say the same about wearables!
Janet Preus is senior editor of Textile Technology Source. She can be reached at janet.preus@textiles.org.