The textile is based on movement-based interactions that respond to emotion.

 

Disguise-Garment is designed for body movement within space, where the dynamic form of the garment needs to change and be changed to adapt to a person’s mood and emotion, to provide a sense of psychological, physical, and emotional wellbeing. Human actions and perceptions of the spaces they move within evoke different emotions. Disguise-Garment is the second iterative design developed as a result of the observations and interviews with a group of participants (women, n=15, age of 20-40 years) who engaged in the manipulation of the textile piece, Trans-For-M-otion. The participants in this study were observed to be more aware of the garment forms when they were placed in fearful and insecure situations, and in response, the design concept called ‘disguise body like a ghost with garment’ evolved from the following research questions: how do feelings of fear or threat in insecure situations turn into comfortable, enjoyable, and playful emotions; how does the experience of the garment act as a mood-altering material when stimulated by cognitive image processing?

 

Disguise-Garment is designed to have sensing, adapting and reacting capabilities. The design process for Disguise-Garment considers in particular how the wearable textile is designed to detect feelings such as fear and react by closing around the wearer to foster a greater sense of security. Created from felted wool layered units that trap air and embedded with LED light and sensor technology, the textile enables to move and change shape. The textile responds to the wearer's actions by changing texture and reconfiguring its position on the body. Kinaesthetic experiences that the textile has when worn make its dynamic and interactive as it flexes and bends on the body. Embedding the textile with LED light and sensor technology the textile is designed to be pulled upwards so that the collar can conceal part of the face. In this sense, the textile enhances its function as a mask to hide, protect and distort the self when the wearer is in danger of attack. The wearer can move the textile itself to position it in a way that makes it feel protected. In a situation where a threat from the rear is imminent, the textile’s built-in LED light with electronic vibration is generated. In this context the textile enables the wearer to find out how feelings of fear or threat can be transformed into comforting emotions. Therefore, the fabric can be used as a self-help therapeutic tool as the mood-altering material. 

In addition to the protective qualities, the illuminated textile is designed to morph and change color to help the wearer feel simultaneously playful and confident.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​