Opening new avenues on work placement in eTextiles

Lucija Brzovic joined Walton Institute on a short placement from VTOS. With thanks to funding from Waterford Credit Union, Lucija gained hands on experience in our eTextiles lab giving her the opportunity to work directly with technologies such as voice assistants. Read more about Lucija’s experience working with the eTextiles team.

What was your experience working in the eTextiles Lab in Walton Institute?

My first contact with eTextiles was last year at the Re-fashioning the Future workshop. That’s when I first came across the term etextile and started learning about it. I immediately knew that I wanted to know more, so I expressed my desire for my work experience to be at the Walton Institute.  At the workshop I created a cushion cover for children who are afraid of the dark. The idea developed from week to week until in the end I was completely satisfied with the functionality and design of the cushion cover.  For work experience, I expressed my desire to try something new, so my project was completely different, more technologically oriented but equally interesting.

What did you learn during your time here?

E-textiles can be used for numerous applications such as temperature sensitive fabrics, fashion and entertainment, clothes, health monitoring fabrics, emergency fabrics, military, sportswear, transport and automotive etc.

This time the project was a little different. Mycroft is an open-source voice assistant. It can run anywhere – on a desktop computer, inside an automobile, it even runs on a Raspberry Pi. It is open so it can be remixed, extended, improved. It can be used in anything from a science project to an enterprise software application. Using Mycroft we created a new skill for Raspberry Pi. It was a challenging and interesting experience.

How easy is it to incorporate electronic textiles to your trade and knowledge?

The use of e-textiles is extensive and varied. In interior design, we can apply e-textiles in curtains, pillows, upholstered furniture, carpets… any area where materials or textiles can be found. By using etextiles, we can achieve high end finishes. E-textiles is still an unexplored area when we talk about interior design, so I am looking forward to seeing how it will develop in the future.

What would you say to someone interested in learning more about eTextiles?

Go for it! It is interesting and fun. Think outside box!

How do you see eTextiles growing over the next few years?

It will be interesting to follow how eTextiles will develop in interior design. Technology will always advance, so e-textiles will also develop and have increased use in everyday life.

Watch the video below to learn more.