A color-changing material has been developed by Judit Eszter Karpati, a textile designer from Budapest. This fabric experiments with external surroundings to create a form of bodily camouflage for its wearer. Karpati’s techy textile is chameleon-esque, changing color to best suit its environment. She integrates tech with textiles, making a wearable technology of sorts.
This project that counts toward her master’s degree allowed her to hone her programming, engineering, and electronic integration skills while incorporating both digital media and art. She unified electronic, technological, and programmable elements to effectuate color changing surfaces that could be potentially worn in the future. Karpati is working on this project called Chromosonic in tandem with her schooling at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Doctoral School.
On Chromosonic’s website, Karpati stated that she “created a symbiosis between the world of handmade, traditional textiles and the world of the immaterial digital media. I used traditional hand-crafted techniques such as weaving and screen printing to create the textiles.”
All textile patterns originate from processed sound files and react from environmental stimulation. The fabric is heat sensitive allowing patterns to appear when temperature changes are present and responds similarly to touch. Karpati used an Arduino open-source platform with a 12V supply of power. The 20 customized PCBs were used to drive and control 4 heavy-duty 24V DC power supplies that warm the nichrome wire-integrated textiles. The fabric is silk screened with a process of thermochromatic dying that allows the programmed sound file patterns to show. The two textiles measure 200 cm. x 60 cm.
Later on, perhaps this textile will be mass produced and available for us all to purchase a chameleon wearable tech wardrobe.
Story via Chromosonic
Advertisement
Learn more about Electronic Products Digital
