Just heard that my paper proposal for the Textile Institute World Conference 2012 in Malaysia has been accepted….
The title and abstract is reproduced here:
Title:
Embedding Design in the Process of Communication of Functionality in Smart Clothes and Wearable Technology to the Active Ageing Consumer
Abstract:
The development of market ready Smart Clothes and Wearable Technology (SCWT) for the Active Ageing beyond the conceptual research stage is a challenge. The discipline brings together a complex multidisciplinary team from a range of diverse areas of expertise and the end product is a potentially confusing mixture of technologies incorporating smart textiles, new and novel manufacturing techniques and embedded and modular electronics. To be a success in the market place, and specifically, to be attractive to the Active Ageing cohort, the benefits and functionality of the product must be clearly articulated otherwise the target end user will see no reason to invest in the product. This paper examines a group of active ageing participants in a SCWT co-design process in order to better appreciate their understanding of smart materials and technologies in the context of clothing. The research is based on a context mapping methodology, combining observation and narrative techniques with coding and analysis of transcriptions from a number of workshops. The aim is to uncover latent knowledge from users from within the context of use of the products and the accompanying levels of understanding. The objective is to gather knowledge in order to consider the implications for the appropriate use of design in the communication of functionality as part of the proposal of a working development methodology for the SCWT domain.
Keywords:
Active Ageing, Design, Communication, Functionality, Smart Clothes
As I make more progress on my thoughts for the final paper Ill post it here.