Nominee | Research | 2017
e – Broidery 2.0

e – Broidery is a term designating textiles with electronic components like LEDs, which have been incorporated in textile fabrics with the help of industrial embroidery techniques. The development of a manufacturing process suitable for the process formed part of the first e – Broidery research project, completed in 2013. Following this initial success, the subsequent project e – Broidery 2.0 concentrated in the first instance on extending the technological range with the addition of dynamic and chromatic light. Now a technical solution has been found as the basis for activating, saving and displaying light images of changing complexity, colours and dynamics in the textile. The design conception of e – Broidery products faces designers with new challenges, because formerly static components like material, form and colour now have to be combined with the dynamic component of the light. Several tools have been developed and summarised in a design guide. These lend support to the complex design process and give it a structure, with the aim of bringing product ideas located at the interface of light and textiles to the point of market maturity.
Comments of the nominators
This project, which has been carried out at the highest level, makes it plain that when it comes to applied research and innovation, what counts is not the creation of a new product category so much as the opening up of new markets. On the one hand the developers have been successful in expanding the technical possibilities for the manufacture of luminous textiles, while on the other hand they have provided important tools showing designers how luminous textiles can be used.
Comments of the jury
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