Interactive technology embedded in fashion emotional design: Case study on interactive clothing for couples
International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology
ISSN: 0955-6222
Article publication date: 26 April 2018
Issue publication date: 24 July 2018
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to bridge the gap between human emotions and wearable technologies for interactive fashion innovation. To consider the reasons why smart clothing should satisfy the internet of things (IoT) technical functions and human emotional expression simultaneously, to investigate the manner in which artistic design perspectives and engineering methods combined effectively, to explore the R&D elements of future smart clothing based on the IoT technology.
Design/methodology/approach
This study combines artistic design perspectives with information-sensing engineering methods as well as kansei evaluation method. Micro-sensors and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) embedded in couples clothing prototype. The first experiment step in the design and production of prototype clothing, and do the initial emotional evaluation. The second experiment is the comparative evaluation of the prototype and other typical smart clothing.
Findings
The interactive clothing prototype was proven to correlate well with human emotional expressive patterns. The evaluation I indicated the prototype can stimulate the emotional response of the participants to achieve a higher score in the activate sensor state. Evaluation II revealed that in the process of interactive clothing design, the technical functionality should synchronize with the requirements of human emotional expression.
Originality/value
This study builds the research and development theoretical model of interactive clothing that can be integrated into daily smart clothing life design, and analyze the methods and means of blending IoT smart information-sensing technology with emotional design. By means of this experimental demonstration of human-centered interactive clothing design, the authors provide smart clothing 3.0 evolutionary roadmap and propose a new concept of internet of clothes (IoC) for further research reference.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all the volunteers and Zhe Wang, Liyao Cao and Xin Chen for their help in the experiments. Special thanks to Professor Takaya Yuizono, Jader Zelaya and Katsuhiro Umemoto for their guidance. This study was supported in part by China Ministry of Education humanity and social science fund (15YJC760022) and Dalian social sciences federation fund (GDSKLYL201622, 201723).
Citation
Wang, W., Nagai, Y., Fang, Y. and Maekawa, M. (2018), "Interactive technology embedded in fashion emotional design: Case study on interactive clothing for couples", International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 302-319. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCST-09-2017-0152
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited