Functioning QR codes are woven into a jacket

July 23, 2018  |  Out There

Artist Julie Helles Ericksen has created a jacket with QR codes woven into it that can access digital information as the wearer shares it. According to Ericksen, “We communicate to others through what we wear, what we post on social media and what we choose to hide. We curate ourselves to present …
Read More
Wearable controller tracks hand and finger gestures

July 10, 2018  |  Out There

A hand-wearable device called Kai enables the wearer to control any digital device by tracking hand and finger gestures. Human augmentation start-up Vicara has created the device, a smart band that fits over the hand, that’s meant to increase productivity. Kai features gesture-based computer inter…
Read More
Facial recognition technology used in adidas display

June 25, 2018  |  Out There

Adidas has commissioned designer Behnaz Farahi to create a display case with the ability to “read” facial expressions and respond to them. According to the designer, the emotive display called “Mesolite” was designed to showcase an adidas concept shoe. The name is a reference to Mesolite cr…
Read More
Textile art pays homage

June 19, 2018  |  Out There

Textile artist Tamara Kostianovsky’s latest creations, a series called Tree Stumps, uses strips of fabric gleaned from her late father’s clothing. The intricately layered detailed forms are an allusion to her father’s body returning to the environment after his passing. Kostianovsky was inspi…
Read More
Fabric has user-controlled color and pattern function

June 11, 2018  |  Out There

The College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL) at the University of Central Florida (UCF) announces that it has produced a fabric that allows the user to change the color or pattern of the fabric via smartphone. According to the university, CREOL’s ChroMorphous technology can be applied to large, wov…
Read More
Snake skins used in tribology study at Drexel University

June 11, 2018  |  Out There

A Drexel University professor is studying snakes and their skins to better understand traction and to help engineers improve the design of textured surfaces such as engine cylinder liners, prosthetic joints and even footwear. Hisham Abdel-Aal, Ph.D, an associate teaching professor in Drexel Universi…
Read More
Paradiddle: a 3D-printed drumming prosthesis

June 6, 2018  |  Out There

An open-source 3D-printed upper-extremity prosthesis gives drummers who have lost a hand or arm a new way to play. Working with renowned drummer Greg Anton, who lost his left hand, “Paradiddle” designer Dominic Siguang Ma developed unique features that allow the drummer to play intuitively a…
Read More
Fabric sculpture purifies the air

May 7, 2018  |  Out There

A giant, air-purifying sculpture is not just art; it has the ability to absorb emissions from 90,000 cars per year, its creators say. “Breath/ng” by Kengo Kuma, initially on display during Milan’s 2018 Design Week, is composed of 120 hand-folded panels inspired by Japanese origami and made of …
Read More
Shoes are hand-made from fungi

April 23, 2018  |  Out There

Engineering firm nat-2 has developed fungi footwear made of “mushroom leather” that has a vintage look and is reported to be very soft. The leather-like material is created from the trama of the tinder sponge, fomes fomentarius, which grows on dead or weak birches and beeches. The material is …
Read More
“SHIFT” from acoustic panel to shelving

April 9, 2018  |  Out There

Benjamin Hubert’s London design agency LAYER will be launching a flexible, retail shelf system for Danish textile manufacturer Kvadrat. The system called “SHIFT” is LAYER’s first collaboration with Kvadrat and the result of ten prototypes over a period of six months. The shelving is made fro…
Read More