As computational technology and new materials enter the world of textiles, our view on textile materials is challenged. Textile interaction design suggests a new design space in which the fields of textile design and interaction design are merged. This work contributes to the introduction of textiles as material for interaction design and focuses on spatial and temporal design of the dynamic elements of textiles – the elements that enable interaction. The result is various interactive textile material examples which are meant to inspire new expressional uses of textile materials thought of as slow, interacting hardware able to inhabit our everyday environments through responsive light, tactile connections, and informative decorations etc. Design experiments conducted within this thesis are framed by a research programme, which is set up as an initial guideline to explore visual and tactile interactive properties of knitted textiles. Together with practical knowledge, the result is a theoretical framework that frames essential features of an interactive textile design where the defined design variables introduce a way to formulate what it is we design when we design for dynamic elements. By introducing notions such as the potential and precision of interaction, design variables relating to both physical and programming design are derived from the design of the dynamic elements of a material. A retrospective analysis of the experiments in relation to four acknowledged interaction design dimensions establish a link between the fields of interaction design and textile design. This work is based on the design experiments Electrical Burnouts, Costumes and Wall Hanging, Touching Loops, Designing with Heat, Functional Styling, Repetition and Stretching Loops, where the implemented structures are seen both as materials for further design and examples meant to provide inspiration in a more general sense.

As a way of opening a space where methods from the fields of fashion design, textile design and interaction design overlap, the project Repetition intersects different methodologies through practice-based research in design. Experiments were conducted to explore ways of creating relationships between body and space by means of translating information as pattern design between garments and interactive knitted walls. By arranging a startup performance, we reflected on the expressional variables that influence the expression of the pattern translations; variables concerning the garments, the walls, the print and the movements were illustrated by the expressions found. The result formulates specific descriptions regarding accuracy and distribution of pattern translation, illustrating basic concepts of pattern formations identified in visual changes appearing in the garment. By communicating our understanding of basic expressions, Repetition aims to formulate a new framework for collaborative work as a method for further design.

This paper describes a practice-based research project in which design experiments were conducted to explore how knitted structures can be designed with particular emphasis on various interactive heat expressions. Several heat transformable structures, able to both sense and react to human touch, were developed in the textile collection Knitted Heat. The designed textiles serve as references to reflect further on the role of interactive textiles as materials for potential designs. Specific scenarios defined by shrinking, breaking, stiffening, texturizing and warming expressed by the textile transformations exemplify and discuss their potential as complementary for other design processes.

“Repetition” is a Fashion Design and E-textile design project, which explore the use of thermo-chromic ink fabric and its interaction when designing a garment for performance art centering the body and movement as its design element.

As interactive materials enter the world of textile design, a new area is defined. From an interaction design perspective, interactive (or smart) textiles obviously differ from, for example, a computer game or a word processing program in various ways. One difference is that interactive textiles are experienced as physical materials and are not pixels changing colour on a computer display. But the main difference lies in the diverse aesthetical values; computer software and hardware are related to advanced technology, hard material and functionality whereas textiles are familiar, tactile, flexible and touchable. Still,textiles can build on advanced technology.To be able to understand the full potential of interactive textiles, we need to consider them as something new, designed in the intersection between textile design and interaction design. The experimental approach taken in the Functional Styling project is inspired by the work made at the Interactive Institute within the IT+textiles design program where a series of experiments and design examples were made in the field of interactive textiles, exploring the aesthetics and emerging expressions of smart textiles rather than technical functionality. This paper reports on a collaboration between the Smart Textiles Design Lab at the Swedish School of Textiles, University of Borås, and designers and technicians at Kasthall, a company with a long tradition in producing hand tufted and woven high-class quality carpets.

A computer mouse is a generic interaction tool designed for navigating graphical elements on a two dimensional plane. It is developed in a context of technology and formed to serve the ergonomics of the desktop work situation. A textile mouse, on the other hand, engages a different context. The textile alone evokes the traditions of clothes and home décor that will inevitably influence how it is perceived and consequently used.

A new design technique for irreversible textile patterns has been developed. This technique can be compared with commonly used burn-out techniques (Ausbrenner etc.), but without using chemicals. Kanthal, a highly resistant heating wire, was knitted together with a blend of “conventional” textile yarns like cotton, wool, polyester and viscose into twelve different textile samples. In the samples, about five courses of heating wire were embroidered into parallel connections with a copper yarn. The textile samples were put on wooden frames and connected to a power supply. As the heating wires get hot, burned out patterns appear. The material combinations react to heat in different ways and the grade of expression varies in the samples. Some materials melt, others become dark/burned and some vanish or burn very quickly. The burned out expression depends on a range of factors such as the textile construction, access to oxygen, yarn combinations, length and number of heating wires used for the parallel connections, power supply etc. Being able to design a textile material by incorporating heat directly into the textile construction is considered as a new design technique for burned out patterns. By this technique, colour and structure changes in the material can be affected to create an aesthetic expression designing holes, stripes or cuts etc. The design technique enables a novel way of decorating a textile after a fabric is produced. It would be possible use this technique for showing information through colour- and structure changes in the textile using it as an ambient textile display. Technique: knitting, embroidery Materials: Kanthal, Kevlar, cotton, wool, polyester, viscose

This work deals with Smart Textiles in interaction with the body. We design textiles and outfits as tools that can influence fashion and textile design. Central to our work is that artistic envisioning can point to new possibilities and values, in which we want to stress the importance of combining traditional materials and methods with contemporary and future functions in order to obtain sustainable ideas. The film documents a performance, where dancers create a link between the body, the textile material and the room surrounding the body. The textile material and the garment are to inspire movement that, in turn, creates development; when a person wears the garment and moves in a certain way or touches other persons, the visual expression of the room changes through an electronic signal. In this case, the colour of the pattern of the textile draping changes to the static pattern that is printed on the person’s outfit. The point of the show was to show possibilities of non-static and dynamic design through scenic expression.

Aiming to open a new design space that connects three areas of architectural, interaction and textile design, the knitted structures Furry lines and Groovy squares were designed. By combining conventional textile yarns together with conductive yarns, the result investigates the sensation of warmth through the design of knitted structures. The purpose is to offer a synesthetic experience that correlate the physical and visual perception of space and focuses on tactility as an asset to create interactive architectural environments. The structures were made using different knitting techniques, combining a silver-coated copper yarn and conventional textile yarns. The silver coated copper yarn is used both for heat generating and touch sensing properties. Connected to a microcontroller able to sense and react on small differences in electricity, the textile becomes a touch sensor itself. By offering feed-back to hand touch DESIGNING WITH HEAT DELIA DUMITRESCU ANNA PERSSON by becoming warmly pleasant to the skin, new types of patterns can be created using the combination between heat and human touch that exceed the visual dimension. Designing with heat exemplifies how visible and invisible expressions merge into one experience, expressed through the textile material. The textile structure is perceived both through the eyes of imagination and the skin as heated patterns. The prototypes show how heat could be part of the surface aesthetics alongside with colour and shape.

The new spatial context in building design exceeds the limits of conventional architectural space. A major aim of the new architecture is to create a close emotional connection to the user besides physical enclosure. In this context the emotional of role of the surface is explored both visually and physically in the space perception (Schittich). The interaction between the viewer-user and the viewed space can also be expressed physically due to the integration of computer technology. By means of computational technology new possibilities for the traditional materials to express their aesthetic and haptic properties of the surface can be created in order to appeal to the user emotions. The architectural surfaces exceed their value in this case; from static they become dynamic (Addington and Schodek) interfaces between the user and the physical environment. By touching a complex perception concerning space and objects is provided through shape, softness, texture, vibration, temperature, etc. In this context the sense of touch in the perception of the space becomes fundamental together with the sense of sight. The present paper investigates the new forms of expression integrated into textile materials that are meant to participate actively to our space experience. By facilitating the relation userthe built environment, the focus of the project is to explore a dynamic way to design textile materials that join together aesthetics and computation as manner to expand human experiences. The purpose of the project is to correlate the physical and visual perception of space and focuses on tactility as asset to create interactive architectural environments. Tactility and heat are explored as integrative part of the textile design process in order to generate interactive patterns. By combining conventional textile yarns together with conductive yarns, the result investigates the emotional sensation of warmth through the design of two knitted structures capable to emit heat as a feedback to the human touch.