Clothing Turned Music Player Can Wear New Interactive Mode.

Fashion designer Borre Akkersdijk thinks that wearable technology is a nonexistent thing. He thinks "it's all carry-able technology."

He believes that those pedometer, augmented reality glasses and other wearable products will solve important problems, but they have not been fully realized.

Akkersdijk is not just a critic. He has designed his own product to describe what the real wearable technology is in his eyes.

His first work is called BB. Suit, which includes WiFi, GPS, NFC and Bluetooth components, making the wearer mobile.

Access point.

At SXSW (South West South Conference), he tested the dress, broadcast its location on Google Maps, and invited musicians to upload their music through the "WiFi" to the corresponding website.

This prototype product is very successful, helping to form a music menu.

But more importantly, it shows how truly wearable technology leads to a completely different user experience.

Wearable technology will bring new design opportunities and challenges.

Think about the various UI innovations brought about by iPhone's "pinch magnification" and "drop-down refresh" mechanism.

On wearable products, leg lifting and scratching may become new forms of interaction.

Spilling drinks on clothes will become the basis for local dry cleaners to advertise on your Facebook.

Dating sites can detect your interest and match them by measuring your heartbeat level.

BB.Suit shows us the potential, but to be a reality, we still need a lot of R&D efforts.

"If we really want to create a wearable platform, we need to overcome a series of difficulties in the intersection of technology, fabric and clothing."

Akkersdijk said.

The main way for his team to deal with this problem is to store batteries, processor circuit boards and UI actuators in the pocket of BB.Suit. However, there are still many manufacturing problems to be solved in order to bring the technology to the mainstream.

Then it is the problem of shape. It is probably the most important part to shape the shape of 3D textile. Akkersdijk needs to insert chips into GPS and WiFi reasonably in the garment shape.

Use double layered cotton cloth to hide and protect these fragile copper wires.

How does the fabric print on 3-D?

In 2009, Akkersdijk began to explore circular looms, and designers could use this equipment to weave various patterns on socks.

Later, he discovered that by invading the software of these devices, three dimensional fabrics could be produced.

He used this machine to weave two layers of cotton thread so that they could wrap a rough synthetic fiber and look like a blanket that was worn. It appeared on the fashion week of Paris with the brand ByBorre.

Akkersdijk was not satisfied with the product appearing on the T stage. He further added the conductive thread.

In order to prove this concept, he printed a pillow with pressure sensors, batteries and vibrating motors, so that people with Alzheimer's disease could communicate with their loved ones.

"Funny, I personally don't think these are very innovative," Akkerskijk said.

"3-D textile technology has been developing for many years, but the technology level is still very basic."

The production of these garments, even a small batch, is also difficult because traditional fibers and conductive copper wires are very different.

It is also a challenge to enable these chips and copper wires to withstand intense use.

As a result, the ByBorre team in Amsterdam now aims to pform the whole manufacturing process.