Giant flowers respond to passersby with shading

November 20, 2015  |  Out There

Created by HQ architects, ‘Warde’ is an urban installation in Jerusalem that is comprised of four nine-meter square-shaped inflatable flowers. These flowers, however, are not just striking with their bright color and impressive size. They are uniquely useful, since they offer city dwellers some …
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MIT researchers develop a responsive bio-skin

November 6, 2015  |  Out There

Researchers in the Tangible Media Group at MIT’s Media Lab say they “imagine a world where actuators and sensors can be grown rather than manufactured, derived from nature as opposed to engineered in factories.” They haven’t just imagined it, they’ve actually done it, and it’s called Bio…
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Interactive canopy installation in Shanghai “speaks” to its occupants

October 22, 2015  |  Out There

An innovative art installation, constructed as a canopy over visitors, responds to the presence of people and starts playing synthesis-based ocean sounds, so that when people enter the installation, it seems that the artwork itself is “speaking” interactively to them, within the suspended canopy…
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It pays to have this jacket

September 18, 2015  |  Out There

bPay chip makes payment possible with the swipe of a sleeve. Scottish clothing brand Lyle and Scott now have a contactless payment jacket to add to your wardrobe. Featuring bPay technology by Barclaycard, the sportswear-styled jacket with hood has an unobtrusive cuff tab where the contactless bpay c…
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Creating sound with a screen-printed MIDI textile interface

September 4, 2015  |  Out There

EJTech, an experimental art and tech lab based in Budapest, Hungary, has developed an experimental textile interface for sonic interactions. Esteban de la Torre and Judit Eszter Karpati are the design team behind it. The technology is screen printed directly onto a textile surface, then through an A…
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Seeing the unseen—in color

August 21, 2015  |  Out There

Co-founder of The Unseen, Lauren Bowker, identifies herself as an alchemist and leads the London-based design studio with a blend of material science and “magick.” The studio recently developed a sculptural jacket that is capable of detecting and reacting to brain activity, the company says, the…
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House in Brisbane, Australia protected with shadecloth wrap

August 6, 2015  |  Out There

Responding to the subtropical climate of the new farm peninsula area in Brisbane, the Australian firm, James Russell Architects developed the Oxlade Drive House. Protected from floods, and designed to have a protracted life span, the family home is configured as a series of two volumes that sit in b…
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U.K. team replicates natural camouflage

July 24, 2015  |  Out There

Researchers at the University of Bristol in the U.K. have developed smart materials that behave like an artificial skin and can mimic the camouflage of cephalopods, such as squid. The development has potential applications for military and rescue work. As explained in Interface, the Royal Society’…
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Heat the furniture, not the room

June 24, 2015  |  Out There

A team at the University of California has received a $2.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency to research a temperature-regulating textile which they hope could reduce heating and air conditioning bills for homes. Joseph Wang, professor of nanoengi…
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Levi’s® and Google smart jeans partnership called “a natural fit”

June 19, 2015  |  Out There

The Levi’s® brand and Google share the distinction of profoundly impacting the way people live. Blue jeans changed the way the world dresses; Google’s search technology transformed the way the world finds information. The two companies are now working together on a new challenge named Project J…
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