Tech

A designer is making interactive robotic clothing that's straight out of the future

Danielle Muoio

2016-01-20T18:06:00Z

A Dutch fashion designer is pushing the envelope by incorporating electronics into her fashion designs.

Anouk Wipprecht uses sensors and robotic devices to give her couture a futuristic edge. Whether its dresses with their own motorized limbs or clothing that can hold an electric current, Wipprecht's designs are so high-tech they seem like the clothing we envision people wearing in 3030.

Wipprecht became interested in fashion design at a young age, and even started experimenting with fabrics at 14, IEEE Spectrum reported. She wanted her clothes to do more than lie there, so she began experimenting with implementing motors into her clothing.

And the results are pretty breathtaking — here's a look at Wipprecht's work:

In 2010, the Dutch designer made the "Pseudomorphs" — a dress that comes with a neck piece that pumps out ink.

Pneumatic control valves and a pressure and control system pump out the ink that then "bleeds" onto the dress.

"It basically spreads the ink over a series of absorbing dresses in a uncontrolled matter, making the designs to 'bleed' the ink that is given to them, while creating fluid displays," Wipprecht wrote about the dress.

But our personal favorite is this cocktail dress made in 2011 that actually makes cocktails!

Called the "Daredroid," the dress uses sensors to measure if people have entered the wearer's personal space, which is defined as being within 18 inches of the wearer. If a person is too close to the dress, the cocktail function will shut down.

But if a person remains at a respectful distance, the dress will activate the dispensation of juice into a cup. To add alcohol, the viewer has to play a game of truth or dare on the wearer's phone (hence the name "Daredroid").

If the game is completed, the dress will add alcohol. Otherwise, you're welcome to have a glass of juice!

In what arguably put Wipprecht on the map, the designer collaborated with a number of people to help put together Fergie's interactive outfit worn at the 2011 Super Bowl halftime show.

She integrated Fergie's shoes with Luminex, a non-reflective material, so that they would shine throughout the show, according to the Dutch blog V2.

She also made the chest piece that lit up with LED lights.

In 2012, Wipprecht made a dress that featured robotic spider limbs on the shoulders.

The animated spider limbs will move on their own. But if someone approaches too fast, the spider limb will "attack upon approach," Wipprecht writes on her YouTube video about the dress.

The dress is kind of reminiscent of Doctor Octopus' robot limbs that had a mind of their own in "Spider Man." It also follows a theme of respecting personal space seen in many of Wipprecht's creations.

And in 2013, Wipprecht made the "Smoke Dress" — a couture dress with a wireless and wearable smoke screen. When someone gets within a certain range of the wearer, the dress will emit clouds of smoke as camouflage.

A battery-driven sensory system attached to the back of the dress will calculate if anyone is in a certain range of the wearer. If it detects someone is nearby, it will trigger the wearable smoke generator attached to the shoulders.

The system can run for four hours before needing a new battery.

This seems like the perfect item for introverts.

The designer also collaborated with ArcAttack, a performance art group, to make a dress that could hold an electric current in 2014.

Tesla coils on the shoulders are responsible for holding and producing the high-frequency alternating electric currents. The dress debuted in 2014.

Wipprecht is currently looking into machine learning so that her clothes can interact with people in more subtle ways. She is currently collaborating with Google on a project.

Source: IEEE Spectrum