From Music to Machines: How Lady Gaga inspired my scientific pursuit of wearable electronics

I vividly remember my first email exchange with Professor Joe. We brainstormed several projects for my thesis, but my background in intelligent textiles particularly reminded him of a Scarf Keyboard proposal that he wrote back in early 2000, but never pursued. This project came about following a discussion with his, now late, colleague and friend, Lyle Mays, a world-renowned composer and jazz pianist in the Pat Metheny Group. The idea was to make a fabric-based electronic piano that musicians could roll up and pack in their suitcase - like a scarf or piece of clothing for composing music on the road. This proposal sparked my curiosity since I have always wanted to design my own electronic musical controllers.

During my time at the Media Lab, I have been fortunate to be able engage in research-manufacturing sessions in Shenzhen, China. These sessions originated with the increasing ability and accessibility to deploy our projects into the real world. As a "Silicon Valley'' of hardware and manufacturing, Shenzhen has one of the world’s highest concentrations of factories across many industries. This unique ecosystem gave us access to diverse knowledge, tools, and raw materials. Usually, in the lab, we can only develop a small version or number of our prototypes, and even if we want to scale or manufacture them, it is not as straightforward because of the limitation of the machines or services. My previous FabricKeyboard project, for example, required me to outsource various materials, hand and machine-sew multiple parts together, design and hand-assemble my circuits, and integrate both soft and hardware systems manually. Scaling projects usually resulted in high costs and long lead-times. Getting to know and collaborating directly with Shenzhen factories opens up possibilities to improve and manufacture prototypes. With my research interests, I ended up exploring and fusing two manufacturing processes of flexible electronics and knitted fabrics. I also worked heavily in a printed circuit board and a digital knitting factory.

It was very inspiring to learn and gain insights from the experts in these factories. Getting a chance to understand the fundamentals behind digital knitting allowed me to program and customize any type of fabric pattern and clothing in my projects. They were also generally open to my challenges, even when it meant manufacturing outside of their comfort zones. I feel that such experts have been too accustomed to doing things in a particular way, so discovering and trying out new techniques often triggers enthusiasm. It required many discussions and trial and error, but in the end, we managed to introduce new, unusual materials and methods into some of the fabrication steps. I realized how productive it is to work together in this kind of fast-paced environment. I feel that labs and factories should be more intertwined and innovate together, since rapid and large-scale production can push forward a well-established prototype for research deployment, as well as open up our eyes to what is and what could be feasible in terms of implementation and final products.

A week in Davos Exhibiting the KnittedKeyboard at ETH Zurich’s RETHINKING Creativity pavilion in Davos, during the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2020 was an invaluable experience. The piano-pattern textile aesthetics attracted people to play with it and learn how it works. It was also a good starting point to introduce people from all kinds of backgrounds, from industry and academia to the governmental officials about my research and the world of electronic textiles. They were also interested in knowing how intelligent and personalized textiles could benefit the society. Our discussions went from health monitoring and therapeutics, rehabilitation, and sports science to architecture and outer space. The possibilities are endless, as fabrics and clothing are ubiquitous in our daily life.

Under another roof, the World Economic Forum was buzzing with discussions on some of the world's most pressing issues, including sustainability and the fashion industry. Clothing production has roughly doubled since 2000, and has been taking a significant role in carbon emission, water pollution, and landfills. Industry 4.0 and the digital manufacturing revolution will also significantly impact innovation, job markets, and production around the globe in the future. These conversations also allowed me to further consider the ethics and implications of my research. We not only need to think about how our work could drive technology and economy, and benefit our lives, but also to really anticipate and mitigate its possible societal and environmental impact.

Irmandy Wicaksono is currently a PhD student and Research Assistant at the Responsive Environments Group, MIT Media Lab. He previously worked on multi-modal sensors and intelligent textiles at the Wearable Computing Lab for his MS in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at ETH Zurich. He was involved in several companies and institutions such as StudioXO for Haus of Gaga, Atmel, and KAUST, in areas ranging from fashion technology to consumer electronics, from mechatronic dress, stretchable electronic patches, to woven electronic fibers. His current interests include unconventional electronics for ubiquitous sensing, actuation, and energy harvesting, particularly in the development of flexible and stretchable devices and systems for health monitoring and therapy, activity recognition, and human-machine interfaces.