Addressing dresses: user interface allowing for interdisciplinary design and calibration of LED embedded garments

Abstract

Wearable technology projects afford the opportunity to work within interdisciplinary teams to create truly innovative solutions. Sometimes it is difficult for teams of designers and engineers to work together because of process differences and communication issues. Here we present a case study that describes how one team developed a system to overcome these obstacles and propose viewing interdisciplinary collaboration tools as boundary objects. The system described here allows designers to work with programmers to create full color light effects in real time, through a calibration process and interface that allows designers an easy entry into discussions about the placement of electronics in an LED-embedded garments.