Design and Product Development

Tangible E-Textile Interface for Digital Patternmaking with Soft Goods

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Abstract

This project explores augmenting the fabric used to drape patterns with electronic textile (e-textile) components, such that pinning the fabric to the form directly digitizes the shape made by the designer. The e-textile interface uses a keypad matrix approach with rows and columns on opposite sides of the fabric. Passing a metallic pin through a row/column intersection creates a circuit connection that a microcontroller reads and maps to a 2D spatial layout on the screen. The proof-of-concept device developed here is a first step toward an automatic digitizing system that allows designers to better preserve manual skills and processes while integrating with digital systems.

Keywords: Electronic textiles, digital patternmaking, draping, soft goods, tangible interface

How to Cite:

Adeleke, O., Woelfle, H. & Dunne, L. E., (2024) “Tangible E-Textile Interface for Digital Patternmaking with Soft Goods”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 80(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.17304