Functional Styling : Exploring a Textile Design Space

As interactive materials enter the world of textile design, a new area is defined. From an interaction design perspective, interactive (or smart) textiles obviously differ from, for example, a computer game or a word processing program in various ways. One difference is that interactive textiles are experienced as physical materials and are not pixels changing colour on a computer display. But the main difference lies in the diverse aesthetical values; computer software and hardware are related to advanced technology, hard material and functionality whereas textiles are familiar, tactile, flexible and touchable. Still,textiles can build on advanced technology.To be able to understand the full potential of interactive textiles, we need to consider them as something new, designed in the intersection between textile design and interaction design.\nThe experimental approach taken in the Functional Styling project is inspired by the work made at the Interactive Institute within the IT+textiles design program where a series of experiments and design examples were made in the field of interactive textiles, exploring the aesthetics and emerging expressions of smart textiles rather than technical functionality. This paper reports on a collaboration between the Smart Textiles Design Lab at the Swedish School of Textiles, University of Borås, and designers and technicians at Kasthall, a company with a long tradition in producing hand tufted and woven high-class quality carpets.