Webelow Wear

Here’s a great article to leave the wearables tinkerers feeling inspired and hopeful:

Ecouterre’s “Ask A Designer” Series asked Syuzi Pakhchyan of Fashioning Technology  if wearable technology hype or hope?  Pakhchyan ended her hopeful response with a quote from educator and philosopher Marshall McLuhan:

“The book is an extension of the eye…Clothing, an extension of the skin…Electric circuitry, an extension of the central nervous system. Media, by altering the environment, evoke in us unique ratios of sense perceptions. The extension of any one sense alters the way we think and act—the way we perceive the world. When these ratios change, men change.”

Pakhchyan explains how technology alone will not save our planet,  but rather the affect technology has on the psyche of people  will spark the change necessary to make our lives more sustainable.  The use of wearable technology will provide a window into how we as humans affect our world.  The transparency of production in the fashion industry, energy harvesting textiles and environmental pollutant sensing garments are some of the ways Pakhchyan predicts wearables will  directly affect people and subsequently change their minds and behavior.