Emmi Pouta

Touch Interwoven - Role of textile thinking in woven eTextile exploration

Dialogue between eTextile innovation and textile thinking

In eTextile exploration Woven structures form the most common type of textile in our everyday life. The potential for eTextile development ranges from component integration to fully woven user interfaces has invited researchers from various fields to explore how weaving can be used to expand the interactive capabilities of textile surfaces around us. This development has also opened new avenues for textile designers to exploit their technical skills, analytical understanding of textile structures and tactile sensitivity to textile materials in this emerging and interdisciplinary field. However, eTextile literature rarely acknowledges the reflective nature of weaving, and the insights related to the use of woven textile design and construction methods are often sparingly described.

This project investigates how the practice of weaving can be used to explore new concepts and design opportunities for eTextiles. Based on findings gained through design experimentation, the research proposes a framework for approaching woven eTextiles as platforms for circuit integration. It supports considering how functional structures, smart textile material innovations and sensorial properties of conventional textile materials can be situated more holistically within complex woven eTextile systems. The interdisciplinary research project is conducted at Aalto University between the School of Art, Design and Architecture and the School of Electrical Engineering.