V2_ Knowledgebase

Barbara Layne is the Director of Studio subTela at the Hexagram Institute where she works with a team of graduate students from Visual Arts and Engineering at Concordia University and a variety of international collaborators. The Studio is focused on the development of intelligent cloth structures for the creation of artistic, performative and functional textiles. Natural materials are woven in alongside microcomputers and sensors to create surfaces that are receptive and responsive to external stimuli. Controllable arrays of Light Emitting Diodes present changing patterns and texts through the structure of cloth. Wireless transmission systems have also been developed to support real time communication. In both wearable systems and site related installations, textiles are used to address the social dynamic of fabric and human interaction.

As a new media installation artist, Suzi Webster's practice is concerned with exploring and critiquing the ways in which technologies, specifically but not solely digital technologies, impact and shape our experiences of being human. In particular, Webster is excited by the possibilities offered by digital media to create work that is collaborative, responsive and dynamic, rather than fixed and static, and that undermines traditional fine art distinctions based on medium specificity. Her current research interests center around wearables that explore intersections between sculpture and performance, fashion and computing, the body and its context, public and private, in a critical way.

SymbioticA is a research facility dedicated to artistic inquiry into new knowledge and technology with a strong interest in the life sciences. SymbioticA has resident researchers and students undertaking projects that explore and develop the links between the arts and a range of research areas such as: neuroscience, plant biology, anatomy and human biology, tissue engineering, physics, bio-engineering, museology, anthropology, molecular biology, microscopy, animal welfare and ethics.

Over the last ten years TED has been developing a set of practice-based sustainable design strategies that assist designers in creating textiles that have a reduced impact on the environment.

The Textile Futures Research Group comprises researchers across Chelsea College of Art and Design, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London College of Fashion, at the University of the Arts London.

A non-profit organization dedicated to developing textile creation in QuÈbec by providing top rate services in education, training, consulting, research, production, equipment rental, exhibition and sales. Textile creation using the most advanced technology available in weaving, knitting, embroidery and computer-assisted design. A staff composed of practising professionals who are experts in many different techniques and materials for textile production. A network of internationally leading artists and organizations. Consulted by researchers, artists and students from around the world.

The mission of The Textile Institute is to promote professionalism in all areas associated with the textile industries worldwide. It is an association of men and women throughout the world which unites those with an interest in textiles. The individual professional expertise of members is diverse: it includes management, art, design, fashion, economics, science, engineering, research, production, marketing, selling, retailing, education and training. These skills relate to the totality of industrial and commercial operations from fibre production to the use of products by individual and corporate consumers.

Op 3 december 2011 opende TIO3, een uniek textielcentrum, de deuren. Het is een centrum voor ondernemerschap, opleiding en ontmoeting en dit met een bijzondere focus op textiel en innovatie.

TNO is an independent research organisation whose expertise and research make an important contribution to the competitiveness of companies and organisations, to the economy and to the quality of society as a whole. TNOís unique position is attributable to its versatility and capacity to integrate this knowledge.

The Tampere University of Technology (TUT) Department of Electronics has conducted research in wearable technology since 1997. The TUT Kankaanp‰‰ Unit, established in 2003, is a research unit specialized in wearable technology. It is a part of a wearable technology competence center located in Kankaanp‰‰, Finland. The Kankaanp‰‰ Unitís personnel are very interdisciplinary and include researchers from electronics, material technology and textile technology background. This enables us to conduct extensive research on different aspects of wearable technology and quickly adapt information and new results from various disciplines.

UNITEX is the National Association of (technical) executives of the textile industry in Belgium. Beside members in Belgium, Unitex has also members in other countries ( Netherlands, Germany, France, Portugal, Great-Britain, USA...). It is led by Professor Dr. Marc Van Parys - head of the textile division of the University College of Ghent). Its activities mainly consist of monthly presentations on technical and general topics which might be of interest to the textile industry, as well as the organization of international congresses such as European Coating Congress and World Carpet Congress .

V2_Lab is a place for artistic research and development (aRt&D). V2_Lab develops generic technical solutions that are relevant to the fields of art and culture. The results are published and made available under open-source licenses whenever possible. In V2_ projects, artists, technicians and scientists work together to develop technology for specific artworks. Additionally, V2_Lab offers technical and productional support to artists working with new technologies. An artist-in-residence program is one means of achieving this.

Van oudsher is Varitex nauw verbonden met de flebologie. Zo werd de eerste Varitex maatkous ontwikkeld voor de praktijk van pionier H.R. van de Molen. Varitex heeft altijd een actief en stimulerend beleid gevoerd ten aanzien van wetenschappelijk onderzoek en de publicatie daarvan. Vanaf de oprichting onderkende Varitex dat productie van elastische kousen samen moet gaan met de ontwikkeling van de compressietherapie. Zo werden de eerste drukmetingen al in 1958 met behulp van TNO apparatuur bij Varitex verricht. Deze metingen zouden de basis leggen voor de officiële indeling in de klassen 1 tot 4. Momenteel levert Varitex zelf aangepaste apparatuur voor drukmeting aan TNO en fabrikanten van elastische kousen. Vanuit deze taakopvatting en de ontwikkelde kennis op het gebied van compressietherapie, is Varitex nauw betrokken bij de nationale en internationale ontwikkelingen op het gebied van regelgeving en standaardisering. Vanzelfsprekend is een goede compressietherapie afhankelijk van het juist instellen en uitvoeren van die behandeling. Daarom beschouwt Varitex het instrueren en opleiden van ieder die bij de behandeling betrokken is, als een essentieel onderdeel van haar taak.

We are attempting to address the computing research issues that arise in the successful realization of e-textiles. Our approach to this process is to build physical prototypes and employ extensive simulation to explore the vast design space in e-textiles. Towards that end, we are constructing a modeling and simulation environment to explore that space.

-Wifi jacket: While I was orignally working with basic light stripes, I ultimately decided to integrate them with a flower motif. This design choice was made to recount the age old story of borrowing from the environment to decorate garments - think floral and animal print patterns. Since Wi-Fi is so prevalent in the environment now, I thought it would be interesting to integrate this representation of a man-made part of our environment into a garment in that same way. In the end design, flowers referencing our natural environment are juxtaposed with technology from the synthetic environment. -'Intimate Controllers' is a platform where video games are played by couples touching each other. The platform consists of two controllers, a bra for the female player and boxer shorts for the male player. Each controller is embedded with 6 sensors placed with varying degrees of intimacy in relation to the body part with which they correspond. Players must pass game levels together and in doing so, game play results in increasingly intimate positioning. The goal of this project was to research and create objects that challenge the traditional notions and orientation of video game play.