Abstract
While mobile technologies are moving closer to our body and novel wearable gadgets and smart textile interfaces emerge, current approaches are often expensive individual solutions for specific applications and lack reconfiguration possibilities. With this work, we introduce BodyHub, a modular wearable approach that allows users to realize their own smart garment applications by arranging and configuring exchangeable functional modules. To address individual user requirements and preferences, we developed a comprehensive repertoire of input and output modules that can be placed freely onto slide-in sockets which are imprinted in the textile by using 3D printing. Further, we developed a smartphone companion app that facilitates the creation of user-defined system functions without any programming skills. BodyHub thereby allows the creation of personalized wearable solutions by the users themselves and also supports ad-hoc assemblies for interface design explorations in research labs. To demonstrate the range of possible applications, we describe real-world use-cases from the areas of work life, shopping, mobility, and gaming.
Related Publications
In the 32nd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology Adjunct Proceedings. UIST ’19, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. ACM, 2019.
Publisher Video Research Website
BodyHub:
A Reconfigurable Wearable System for Clothing
| Category | Wearables and eTextiles |
|---|---|
| Project date | 2019 |
| Project URL | imld.de/bodyhub/ |
| Collaborators | Andreas Peetz, Prof. Raimund Dachselt |
| Video | Watch on YouTube |
| Technologies and Methods |
Android Java IFTTT Bluetooth Arduino C Rapid Prototyping I2C 3D-Printing on Textiles Capacitive Sensing NFC |
Presentation at ACM UIST 2019
in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
Further presentations
Interactivity at Output.DD '19.received dresden|exists expert award Interactivity at CeTI Truck Tour '19