Item 1
1. What does your project do? (1-2 sentences)
● My project is a shirt that has a grid of shapes capable of changing color. This color change is triggered on or off by user input, via a thermochromic paint and heating elements.
2. Who is your project for? (1-2 sentences)
● My project is for young adults and tech enthusiasts. Specifically someone who wants their clothing to help express how they are feeling or want to be perceived in that moment.
3. Describe how someone would use the developed device. What are the steps that a user would go through to interface with the technology? (at least a paragraph)
● First user puts the device on like a normal t-shirt. Then user attaches the control portion that has the microcontroller, bluetooth module, and battery. Then to change the design, the user connects to the bluetooth module and uses a program (most likely a phone app) to design and send the design to the shirt.
4. What makes your project different from existing products? (2-4 sentences)
● Similar projects such as those sound reactive shirts you typically see at a mall kiosk. Those however don’t really take user input, more so react to the wearers environment. My project seeks to give the wearer more control over the output and doesn’t emit light allowing the designs to “blend in” more.
Item 2
Part/Material Price Quantity Link to purchase location
Flora bluetooth module $17.50 1 https://www.adafruit.com/product/2487
Thermochromic ink $15 1 https://www.sfxc.co.uk/collections/thermochromic-screen-printing-ink/products/colour-changing-paint-and-coatings-uk
Needles, thread, snaps $10 N/A https://www.adafruit.com/?q=conductive%20thread
Heating pads $3.95 3 https://www.adafruit.com/product/1481
Item 3
● End of this week have a proof of concept showing turning heating element on and off, changes color of ink, possible see if embroidered conductive thread can achieve same result as heating pads.
● Next week design grid to be placed on tshirt. Start figuring out a layout for how the conductive thread/heating pads are to be laid out.
● By beginning of april I would like to have a working prototype
● First week of april have a prototype of the interface finished. I have a similar grid interface left over from a lighting design class I took. The program is in processing however. I haven’t dealt too much with app development before, and I have heard it’s possible to turn a processing project into an android app.
● By the 15th of april I would like to have the electronics and conductive thread embroidery/heating pads “tucked” away either through wire/thread management or by use of a PCB.
● Rest of time spent debugging the garment, as well as improving/debugging the app.