Design & Emotion Blog

Philips Research’s magazine “Password” has a very illuminating cover story about their new light-emitting ‘Lumalive’ fabrics. They look like a lot of fun and the article shows some very nice illustrations of how the fabrics with LEDs could be used.

They suggest it can be used for:

• Safety (no more extra lights on the bike, but you carry your own light by wearing just your jacket)
• Signage and advertising (this application seems obvious and I foresee that this could be the most succesful and probably the first commercial application of the fabric)
• Fashion (creating even more unique fashion items; you will be the shining light of the evening at that important dinner)
• Culture (youngsters can personalize their items with their favourite idol names, etc.)
• Interior design (adding a little flavor to that boring couch)

Found through Experientia

You are what you wear

When I was browsing the Philips website, I stumbled upon The SKIN probe project:

“The SKIN probe project challenges the notion that our lives are automatically better because they are more digital.     It looks at more ‘analog’ phenomena like emotional sensing, exploring technologies that are ‘sensitive’ rather than       ‘intelligent’.” 

“The interaction between the human body, apparel and the near environment is going to be one of the next big challenges,” says Clive van Heerden, Senior Director of design-led innovation at Philips Design.”

“Searching for the ‘wow’ factor
Other related areas are also being explored as part of the SKIN probe. “You could say we are interested in extremes,” says van Heerden. “We are examining pioneering areas of body adornment like electronic implants, swallowables and ’emotoos’; tattoos that change depending on how you feel.” Such explorations may at first glance appear abstract and unrelated to Philips business, but in fact can provide very valuable input for future activities. We are trying to understand the psycho-sensorial characteristics of these products through probe projects like SKIN,” he says. “This can help us design products and experiences that people fi nd considerably more enriching and appealing.” 

I think Philips Research and Design are doing amazing work at the moment. It all feels very exciting and I like the way they take new technology applications as a means to create new ways of expressing feelings, emotions, experience. They thought of a dress that reacted to skin in such a way that when you would blush, the dress would blush with you! Wonderful. Of course, when you don’t mind to be blushing double 😉

Keep an eye on the developments at Philips, I think they are moving in a very exciting direction. Not just tv’s and cd players anymore! They talk about people; how people interact in their homes, with their environment, with other people.