Future Physical - Wearable Computing

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WEAR ME!!! @ Magna

21st - 26th April 2003
@ Magna, Sheffield Rd, Templeborough, Rotherham, S60 1DX

The Wear Me! exhibition fuses fashion and technology and will give visitors a sneak preview of what the fashion of tomorrow will be able to achieve.

Wear Me, is an international showcase of 'wearable technology', which will run for one week between 21st and 26th April 2003 and is the world's largest gathering of such technology ever seen.

Magna Centre

intelligent garments, wearable computing and smart textiles, alive, smart, intelligent, responsive, portable

We are entering into an age where visions of the future in stories, films and comics made in the past will start to turn into our reality very soon, where we might be able to wear our mobile phones, walkmans or computers and communicate with others via our coat collars.

Nearly everyone wears a watch and some of us wear glasses, both of these are examples of wearable technology. Technology and fashion have always been brought together to help us interact with the world around us in different ways, such as waterproof materials enabling us not to get wet in the rain and man made fibres which enable us not to have to iron our t-shirts! Now the next generation of fashion and technology is starting to make it’s way towards us, items of clothing that have hardware built within them, fabrics that are digital or change as we want them to.

Wear Me brings to you a snap shot of where fashion and technology currently is. It is an exhibition of, and is your opportunity to view, current developments in the intelligent garments, wearable computing and ‘smart’ textiles.

You will have the opportunity to view and play with computers that fit on your back, musical insturments that you wear, mobile phones that you put on and are truly hands free. You will see fabrics that are sensitive to your touch, blankets that move by themselves and images from up and coming designers of possible future ideas of what you will be wearing.

The integration of the digital into our clothing and fashion raises both practical and conceptual issues. The collaboration between designers and artists from the technology hardware, textiles and fashion industries, is very relevant to our everyday lives.

Wear Me gives us all a chance to explore the issues and see the products at play. This week long exhibition will include full outfits, research and prototype textiles made by fashion designers, artists, companies and universities research labs from around the world.

Wear Me gives you the opportunity to find out what modern technology is doing for your fashion and what you might be able to do from your coat in the very near future…..

For further information contact visit the Magna Science Adventure Centre website

WEAR ME is a collaborative project between plan b and Future Physical [shinkansen/East of England in co-operation with Magna and Xybernaught with funding assistance from Arts Council of England National Touring Programme.