Name of the participant: Juan Haladjian
Description of the IT-research project: eTextiles are textiles equipped with electronic components such as temperature sensors, motion sensors, vibration motors. eTextiles are closer to the user than desktop computers or mobile devices and are much more context-aware. For example, they can measure temperature, pulse, heart rate of the wearer, movements of the body limbs, contact and pressure on certain surfaces, ambient brightness, etc. This great context awareness makes it possible to automatically detect and react to certain situations. For example, an eTextiles system can use hip and wrist motion sensors to detect whether a user is lifting heavy objects correctly from the floor and, if necessary, actively warn of errors. eTextiles have the advantage of being more integrated into the user’s life, for example, their use does not require the user to look at a screen (eyes-free) or use their hands to interact with the system (hands-free). Computers have evolved from huge mainframes and desktop computers to compact mobile devices. The trend shows an optimization of size, better portability and increased context awareness. As a result, eTextiles are well positioned to become the next generation of computing devices. The development of eTextiles currently requires knowledge in several areas (i.e. textile design, electronics, software engineering, etc.), which makes their development very costly.
In the project eTextIDE it shall be investigated how software for eTextiles can be created without programming knowledge. The long-term vision is that in the future, the users of an eTextile (e.g. the wearer of a T-shirt or hat) will program their eTextiles themselves. The advantage of this approach is that the users know their own needs better than the manufacturers. The idea also aims to promote the sustainability of eTextiles. If an eTextile no longer meets the needs of its user, then the user could change its software himself instead of necessarily disposing of it and buying a new one. For this purpose, the development and evaluation of a programming environment for eTextiles is planned. This environment should enable people to program eTextiles without any previous knowledge of software technology. The target group of the environment is both the technical experts (e.g. doctors, engineers, designers) and the end users of eTextiles (e.g. the wearer of a garment).
Software Campus partners: TU München, Deutsche Telekom AG
Implementation period:01.03.2014 – 31.08.2015
