When Computing is worn out (and about)
Every day, choosing what to wear gives you a chance to be creative, try on new identities, or at least keep yourself warm and dry. The possibilities don’t stop at your closet though. You don’t just have to wear clothes – you can wear
computers too. Looking smart just got a whole lot smarter.
Find out about all sorts of ways that computer science can improve your style from t-shirt designs made with the help of evolution, a mirror that helps you choose what to wear, and the technology behind Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit. Plus we’ll get to the bottom (so to speak) of why robots always insist on going naked. The computerised wardrobe of the future contains everything from LED frocks to bio-mechanical exoskeletons, buttons that are buttons and smart handbags …
Smart Bags
In our stress-filled world with ever increasing levels of anxiety, it would be nice if technology could sometimes reduce stress rather than just add to it. That is the problem that QMUL’s Christine Farion set out to solve for her PhD. She wanted to do something stylish too, so she created a new kind of bag: a smart bag… (read on)
Let buttons be buttons
We are used to the idea that we use buttons with electronics to switch things on and off, but Rebecca Stewart and Sophie Skach decided to use real
buttons in the old-fashioned sense of a fashionable way to fasten up clothes… (read on)
Shirts that keep score
When watching sport in person, a glance at the scoreboard should tell you everything that’s going on. But why not try to put that information right in the action? How much better would it be if all the players’ shirts could display not just the score, but how well each individual is doing?… (read on)
Full metal jacket: the fashion of Iron Man
Industrialist Tony Stark always dresses for the occasion, even when that particular occasion happens to be a fight with the powers of evil. His clothes are driven by computer science: the ultimate in wearable computing.… (read on)
The computer vs the casino: Wearable tech cheating
What happened when a legend of computer science took on the Las Vegas casinos? The answer, surprisingly, was the birth of wearable computing... (read on)
The naked robot
Why are so many film robots naked? We take it for granted that robots don’t wear clothes, and why should they? If they started to though perhaps it would show there was actually something in there... (read on)
Sick Tattoos
Researchers at MIT and Harvard have new skin in the game when it comes to monitoring people’s bodily health. They developed a new wearable technology in the form of colour- and shape-changing tattoos... (read on)
The Tactful Watch
These days art and high technology don’t mix much. Personal gadgets are one thing, jewellery another. That hasn’t always been so though and hopefully it won’t be in the future. In the 18th century there was a mobile revolution just like the current one, driven by watchmakers…(read on)
Knitters and coders separated at birth
People say that computers are all around us, but you could still escape your phone and go to the park, far away from the nearest circuit board if you wanted to. It’s a lot more difficult to get away from the clutches of computation though. For one thing, you’d have to leave your clothes at home...(read on)
Dickens knitting in code
Charles Dickens is famous for his novels highlighting Victorian social injustice. Art and science really do mix, and Dickens certainly knew some computer science. In his classic novel about the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities, one of his characters relies on computer science based knitting. … (read on)
Encrypted Deckchairs
Summer is here so it is time to start looking for secret messages on the beach. All those stripy deckchairs and windbreaks seem a great place to hide messages, or how about making a stripy dress and hiding messages in it … (read on)
More to come …
This page was funded by UKRI, through grant EP/W033615/1.
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