Back From The Future

The fun started when we were all asked to move to the design studio. 2 minutes into it and we were broken down into groups of 5 and told we have a rapid design exercise to do!

The briefs were revealed & set us somewhere in the future where we were asked to innovate in the next 20 minutes. 🤯

Each group was given a unique brief and our brief was to create a piece of clothing from the future. The nature of the activity was hands on so we pulled out the markers and post it’s and started brainstorming.

The exercise almost drew upon design fiction where there was no limit to the kind of technology we could use but keeping things simple, we broke down the ideas into those that have been developed and realised (so as to add to them) and ideas that haven’t been developed yet.

We discussed things like utility, what piece of clothing to pick, fabrics, sensors, ease of use, aesthetics amongst others and decided we finally want to create a utility jacket.

We then came up with a list of features to include in our jacket which was as follows:

1. Modularity - The idea was to create one jacket that fits all the user scenarios, a cyclist may require a reflective vest whereas a person who goes for outdoor treks might require a water bottle. The jacket would be built around the idea of modularity with various modules to pick from and create THE JACKET that suits the user best. Modules may also be preassembled based on popular scenarios.

2. Temperature Control - We wanted you create a jacket that could be worn throughout the year hence we decided to add a temperature control system that rests in the back and chest pieces which cools/heats your body based on the scenario, ambient temperature and the body temperature.

3. Media System - We seldom leave our phones outside our pockets! it only made sense to accommodate some room to interact with incoming calls/messages and listen to music. However we wanted a system which doesn’t isolate the user from their environment which is why we opted for bone conduction headphones in the neck of the jacket which lets the user interact with their device but without cutting away the ambient sound.

4. Safety - We thought of scenarios where a person might be running, cycling or going through a parkour course. We came up with the idea of the jacket being an Airbag which fills up as a fall/accident is detected! The gyroscopes placed in the sleeve would detect a sudden change in orientation which would trigger the airbags. We also wanted to integrate this feature with an app where the user creates a list of contacts who get a notification with the location of the person if an accident is detected.

5. Additional features - With all the tech inside the jacket it definitely needs to be waterproof which was an important aspect and there would be a sleeve to connect a power bank into which powers the jacket. There would be light and haptic feedback systems built in for safety and navigational purposes.

"I personally found this exercise amazing because it to showed me how a simple and rapid session can lead to a great start to a project. The constraints set forth in the brief give a great shape to the project and the design fiction aspect helps free up the imagination."