ANU: Where Fashion Meets Tech

1. Original

Our revolutionary designed product will revitalize an area of the market that has long gone ignored and assumed to be worthless in investing; headbands and beanies. From fit to fashion, our attention to detail will create an iconic his and her’s branding of headbands and beanies. And did we mention, this will be the first mass produced public emotion sensing system. That’s right, it’s time to understand our emotions.

Our headbands, beanies and more are made from state of the art materials in knitting technology which uses silver as part of the thread which is more resistive to oxidation and stress cracks as compared to other conductive materials. The knitted fabric design allows for the material to become piezoresistive in its aggregate form; meaning that it can measure minute changes in physical pressure variations (i.e. movements in forehead muscles). The intricacies of the design is explained below:

“Piezoresistive fabric sensors change the electrical resistance according to strain, and the variation of the electrical properties occurs due to the different path of the electrical current inside the fabric structure. Usually this property can be observed in stretchable fabric, where a mechanical solicitation affects the flow of carriers inside the structure. When the conductivity of the yarn is due to the presence of conductive particles (like in a bicomponent fiber), the elongation of the yarn produces different distribution of the conductive particles in the structure of the yarn and in the fabric, leading to a modification of charge transport mechanism… Piezoresistive textile sensors have been used to detect the movements of the human body in a wide range of configurations, for monitoring of hand, wrist, elbow, and knee
articulation [7].”

Lastly, we will append micro EEG sensors and sweat monitoring patches. Our sweat monitoring sensors can record: relative quantity (i.e., perspiration rate), over salinity (i.e.,conductivity), specific ions (K 1 , Na 1 , Cl-, Mg 1 ; Ca 1 ), pH, and organics”. In addition, our EEG sensors can monitor particular alpha and beta waves which are fairly accurate indicators of attention.

By using micro EEG sensors, sweat monitoring patches, and smart fabric and interactive textiles systems we are able to potentially monitor a range of emotional states throughout the day and over time. This would be the first ever known ploy at using these technologies together to get an accurate read of emotions which are being demonstrated to be the most influential processes in decision making.

2. Useful
Emotions arise within microseconds, our conscious decision making happens much later. Science is currently revealing that our emotions are determining most of our decisions.

By understanding our emotions as they vary throughout the day, weeks and years, we are equipping ourselves with the ability to make better informed decisions. Whether we like it or not, our emotions are potentially the single greatest influencer on our moment to moment decisions. For example, being sad drastically increases the chances of making impulse purchases at very exorbitant prices. Certain emotions make us more prone to breaking healthy habits and perpetuating unhealthy ones. In fact, every single moment, the emotion we are experiencing is heavily swaying our decisions, and we go on blissfully unaware. Only a full awareness of ourselves, especially in regards to emotional states, are we able to make decisions that promote ours’ and others’ well-being.

3. Desirable to target audience:

Our revolutionary cap gear is desirable on multiple levels. The first, and arguably most important factor of imroving the desirability of our product, is that our aesthetic design and physical comfort is what will illicit an iconic sentiment. Our technology, which is the frontier of emotion related science, is overshadowed by the sheer visceral enjoyment of wearing our products.

By using knitted fabric techniques (which are the best for creating piezoresitive fabric) we are able to optimize breathability and elasticity for genuine comfort. Circular knitting, and in particular the seamless technique, provides comfortable, stretchable, well-fitting, and adherent garments, which makes this technology suitable for sensing applications where adherence, elasticity, and comfort are the main requirements. Furthermore, the integration of microfibers allow the head garments to be light weight and anti-bacterial prone to reduce the chances of odor.

The emotional experience is directly applied as the head garments interact and read the user at a personal level. It’s a companion that understands you better than you know yourself. And this process of self-awareness that grows with the individual as they continue to wear the garment, will turn into a greater experience of meaning in their life. It will become a window into understanding their own behaviors and decisions and help them regain control of what they had been so blind to before; a mirror of why they do what they do, which gives them the ultimate power, the power of being truly able to change.