Since finishing this project I often receive emails from students or physical computing/fashion tech researchers asking where I purchased the hardwares I used.

This post will provide a summary of each of the critical technologies which have been used to help guide anyone who may be interested in pursuing a similar kind of project. I have divided the list into two sections, wearable display and wearable computer.

1 - WEARABLE DISPLAY JERSEY

(1.1) EL Wire: this is made by a company called Lytec used on the shoulders of the jersey. I was lucky to find a place in Australia that stocked and sold EL wire by the meter. I got mine from a company called Quatre Pty Ltd (trading as The Electroluminescent Company) based in Victoria, Australia. Their website now appears to be offline but anyway it is www.electroluminescent.net.au.

Further details are:

address: 2/40 GORDON AVE. E’ OAKLEIGH. VIC 3166
email: info@electroluminescent.net.au
phone: 03 95628696 or 0415 353814

(1.2) EL Panels: these flexible panels were used along the left and right sides of the jersey. I did not find an Australian supplier of these devices, so I purchased all EL panels from the All Electronics based in the USA. They were a pleasure to deal with an answered questions by email very quickly. The panels that I used in my display were the 5″ x 1″ CAT# EL-5 type. There are many other different sized panels available (most are surplus though). The 5″x1″ ones I used were brand new I thought, extremely flexible and coated in a protective film. I understand the EL panels can be cut into different shapes as well.

(1.3) Conductive Thread: All the conductive thread was sewn into the jersey fabric and used to seamlessly connect electronics embedded within each jersey. The thread was ordered from Lamé Lifesavers. It is a little expensive, but 2 rolls was enough to do all four of my jerseys with some leftover. They are also very helpful if you email them with questions about the thread.

More to come…

2 - WEARABLE COMPUTER

More to come…

Finally, If you are interested in completing work in the fields of wearable displays / wearable computing, especially within the context of sports, then please don’t hesitate to contact me, I will be happy to help out as much as I can.

Got a call from Anna Salleh at ABC Science Online today, who are runing a news article about the TeamAwear system. The story can be viewed here. I regularly check out this website to see the latest innovations in science & technology, so its rather exciting to have one of my own projects featured there.

Today the TeamAwear system was featured in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, both are prominent Australian newspapers. Online versions of the stories can be found here and here. Interestingly, this morning after the story was published I was phoned by a Melbourne radio station and provided a short interview.

I think it is exciting when an academic project receives interest outside of University walls, and hope that others may be interested or even inspired by the work we have done here.

I will keep track of TeamAwear in the media, and report any other news stories on the project under the headings ‘Blogged at’ and ‘In the News’ on the right-hand side of this Blog. Watch this space…

Tonight was the opening of the Less Than Three exhibition at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Sydney. The exhibition showcases works which combine design, technology and culture. The TeamAwear project was displayed and demonstrated during the night, and was enjoyed by a number of interested attendees.

Some of the other interesting physical computing works exhibited included the Petro Cow Project (exploring social-networking within a common architectural space) and Scratching Datasets (gesture controlled information visualization exploration).

The information poster for my exhibit can be downloaded below:

Poster: mpage_lessthanthree.pdf

Below are a couple of images of TeamAwear during the exhibition (if you look closely, on the right you can see the Sydney Opera House outside the window).

Today I presented my final research presentation to the Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition staff and students.

I was earlier today notified that out of the many posters submitted to the the Research Carnivale last week, my TeamAwear poster was selected for the award of Best Poster Prize!

From Monday 23rd October to Friday 27th October, The Faculty of Architecture at the University of Sydney will be holding a Research Carnivale. The Research Carnivà le is a week-long event designed to showcase research student work from the Faculty of Architecture. Students are required to submit a 1 page short paper describing their research, as well as an A2 poster.

My paper and poster can be downloaded below:

Paper: mpage_rc_06.pdf

Poster: mpage_rcPoster_06.pdf

Tonight was the opening of the veloCITY exhibition at the Tin Sheds Gallery, University of Sydney. A working demo of the TeamAwear system was on display there, along with a computer running a Flash presentation about the project. There were quite a few interested onlookers throughout the night. I had re-programmed one of the wearable computers on a time-delay to activate the various displays throughout the night - this seemed to get peoples attention, even from a distance!

There were many different interesting and engaging works exhibited at the exhibition, so I encourage people to go look at all of them.

Below I have included some photos from the night.

UPDATE: More photos from opening night, taken by Joanne Jakovich (veloCITY curator):

I have developed this short flash presentation to describe this entire research project and the design processes used. The presentation provides a concise yet informative overview of the project, detailing key aspects such as the design, development, and evaluation. It has been developed for the veloCITY exhibition, to be viewed in conjunction with the jersey. During the exhibition, this presentation is continually running on a nearby iMac computer, informing and engaging visitors about the project.

Download/View the presentation: veloCITY_online.swf

This research project will be exhibited at the veloCITY graduate design exhibition at University of Sydney from tonight, 12th October to 4th November. veloCITY encapsulates the newest ideas in art and technology in the graduate design programs at the University of Sydney, traversing audio design, architecture, digital media, illumination, sustainability, urban design, design computing, and urban and regional planning.

The floorplan image below, borrowed from Joanne Jakovich (curator for veloCITY exhibition), reveals the location of my TeamAwear jersey within the exhibition (bottom right).

For more information about veloCITY, consult the flyer below: