Gallery: This Smart Yarn Makes Gadget Interactions Magical

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    Photo: Yen Chen Chang
    01

    Guitar hero

    Royal College of Art student Yen Chen Chang created a series of knitted sensors that control various gadgets.
  • Image may contain Clothing Apparel Finger Human Person and Hand
    Photo: Yen Chen Chang
    02

    IMG-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.
  • Image may contain Plant Citrus Fruit Fruit Food Grapefruit and Produce
    Photo: Yen Chen Chang
    03

    IMG-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.
  • When the yarn is manipulated the overlap of the metal fiber causes the textile to change conductivity which is then...
    Photo: Yen Chen Chang
    04

    IMG-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.
  • Image may contain Human Person Clothing Apparel and Scarf
    Photo: Yen Chen Chang
    05

    IMG-5906

    You pull down on the stretch handle to dim the light.
  • Image may contain Tape Architecture Clock Tower Building and Tower
    Photo: Yen Chen Chang
    06

    IMG-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.
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