Emotive-textiles by Chun Shao

Emotive-textiles explores the relationship between feelings and tactile sensations. Playing with the experience of touch, this project presents a series of tangible emotions through a half-traditional and half-digital crafting process.

These handicrafts are mainly made from silicone fabrics, which feature different degrees of tenderness and form an uncanny association with the human skin. To create organically moving textures, traditional embroidery stitches, beading, and fabric manipulation techniques are explored and interweaved with electronic actuators (such as vibration motors, mini DC motors, muscle wires, air/water pumps, DIY color-changing patches, etc.) These kinetic elements are programmed (by Arduino) to produce rhythmic movements and conduct different types of computational behaviors. This research focuses on transforming electronic components into sewable beads, vibrating patches, inflatable textures, and embroidered microcontrollers.