Group Member: Zirui (Lavender) Peng, Zhihan Zhang

Conceptual Design

It’s a handcrafted piece of transformative fashion art. We will design a futuristic dress skirt that combines fashion and function, combining tradition with technology. Shiny Dress is gorgeous and exquisite, and the style tone is technical and dark. Integrated into the edge or body of the dress are several fairy lights, addressable Neopixel LEDs, and individual lights. The lights are managed by an Adafruit, which enables any behavior or RGB color to be programmed into each LED. Actions will trigger switches to produce a lighting effect, and the action can be a two-player interaction or a single-player. When performing some movements and poses and environment lighting changes, these lights diffuse, allowing the garment to bloom and become a wearable light show. The various light behaviors, which range from a straightforward fading breathing pattern to a rainbow light chase, are controlled by a switch. The two players physical contact and some movement dance poses to trigger the lights.

Sketches

Parts & Materials

• base dress structure​
• base suit set​
• organza​
• 4 strips of fairy lights​
• gloves​
• 1 neopixcle lights​
• hand-made trailing part​
• conductive thread & fabric​
• charger box​

Circuits Diagram

Circuit Coding

• Coding 1 of the first adafruit playground express. https://gist.github.com/liach926/2297ea8ca4277ee4d8624a48aa0bb74b
• Coding 2 of the first adafruit playground express. https://gist.github.com/liach926/526ee535b5083e69c65c690b9f463de5

Description:

There are a bunch of codes in CODING 2 being commented, because I cannot make the first for loop function and second for loop function work at the same time. Based on what I research, it seems to be a blocking issue caused by “delay”, so that only the first for loop function works. I tried to research and test for a long time, and did some experiments, but the result was not changed. Therefore I changed the first for loop function(fading light) into a static light, so that it will only be affected by the switch on and off. And there will only be a for loop function for the color changes of neopixel lights.

Final Photos & Video

Project Context

1. http://www.makefashion.ca/ is the online platform for MakeFashion, a creative and innovative fashion and technology initiative. MakeFashion is known for its fusion of cutting-edge technology with fashion design, pushing the boundaries of traditional apparel by incorporating electronic components, wearable tech, and interactive elements. It is most likely the goal of MakeFashion to encourage creativity at the nexus of technology and fashion. This could entail pushing the limits of what’s feasible in the fields of wearable technology and stylish apparel, as well as motivating designers and educating the general audience.

2. Ying Gao, No[Where] / Now [Here], 2013, Super organza, photoluminescent thread, PVDF, electronic devices; courtesy of the designer/ Photo Credit: Dominique Lafond

Ying Gao has some intriguing ideas in her collection No (Where) / Now (Here). Photo luminous thread with integrated eye-tracking technology is used in the garments to react to onlookers’ gaze. When worn, this might prove to be rather interesting—depending on where viewers chose to focus their attention, it might even make the person uncomfortable. This advanced technology and creative ways of interacting are inspiring.

Process

Next Step

The subsequent Prom Suit will improve contact sensitivity, through stronger connections and increased conductive contact area based on body area. At the same time, we will add more switches based on physical contact interaction to make the whole work more complete and rich. Finally, challenge the programming to control the change of lighting variables and actions, and switch poses to trigger the change of light color, brightness and darkness and arrangement of neopixel lights.