"Soft Interfaces is a groundbreaking project that is changing how we interact with everyday objects by merging advanced technology with textiles. The result is a lamp whose brightness can be changed just by pressing or stretching its soft, fabric-covered surface. This is possible thanks to liquid metal embedded within custom-knitted fabrics. The collaboration between the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM and WINT Design Lab offers a glimpse into a future where touch and movement replace screens and buttons in our daily technology."
"Instead of relying on switches or digital displays, users simply touch or stretch different areas of the fabric to adjust the light's intensity and temperature. This intuitive, screenless control uses body movement and the sensation of touch, creating a direct connection between the user and the device. The lamp's textile surface is engineered so that when it is pressed or stretched, the cross-section of the liquid metal pathways changes."
"What truly makes Soft Interfaces unique is its approach to integrating technology into fabric. The team developed new methods for injecting liquid metal into knitted textiles, ensuring the pathways are precise and durable. This breakthrough enables the fabric to sense even the gentlest touch, surpassing traditional conductive threads in sensitivity and flexibility. The lamp's textile screen is held in a specially designed frame that keeps it perfectly tensioned, diffusing light softly throughout the room and hiding the technical components from view."
Soft Interfaces merges advanced electronics and textiles to create a lamp whose brightness and color temperature respond to pressing and stretching the fabric. Liquid metal is injected into custom-knitted pathways so that changes in cross-section alter electrical properties, which the system detects and translates into lighting changes. Users adjust intensity and temperature by touching or stretching areas of the tensioned textile surface, eliminating switches and screens. Injection methods produce precise, durable conductive channels that outperform traditional conductive threads in sensitivity and flexibility. A dedicated frame keeps the textile perfectly tensioned, diffuses light softly, and conceals technical components. Applications could extend to responsive home textiles, interactive car interiors, and sensitive medical surfaces.
Read at Yanko Design - Modern Industrial Design News
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