Gallery: This Smart Yarn Makes Gadget Interactions Magical
Photo: Yen Chen Chang01Guitar hero
Royal College of Art student Yen Chen Chang created a series of knitted sensors that control various gadgets.
Photo: Yen Chen Chang02IMG-5961
Project Guitar Hero translates your finger gestures into different notes. Five sensors on the left translate finger gestures into signals and two woven pads on the right control notes.
Photo: Yen Chen Chang03IMG-5947
Chang created all of the sensors by knitting together a yarn made from 80 percent polyester and 20 percent stainless steel. The Squeezy Juicer (pictured here) requires two people to squeeze the ball between them to power the juicer.
Photo: Yen Chen Chang04IMG-5892
When the yarn is manipulated, the overlap of the metal fiber causes the textile to change conductivity which is then measured by an Arduino and communicated to the gadgets. In this case, a lamp.
Photo: Yen Chen Chang05IMG-5906
You pull down on the stretch handle to dim the light.
Photo: Yen Chen Chang06IMG-5907
*Touch of Breeze* is a fan that starts to blow air as soon as you stroke a knitted patch of carpet. The more pressure you apply, the faster the air flows.
