Soft Assembly: Being dressed by a soft robotized garment

DESIGN: Pola Demianiuk 

Poland 

make me! 2023

This work explores the kinetic potential of pneumatic actuators applied to garments. Based on soft-robotic principles, the clothing embedded with the wearable structures acquires a property of self-assembly on the body, without or with its minimal intervention. The design development investigates how to relate body and fabric form to the movement performed by the robotic actuators made of laminated woven fabrics. 

At the same time, the project questions the reality where the garment is static and the body active agent in the dressing up process. Through this speculative approach, the work introduces a fresh relation between body form and clothing in the service of wellbeing. In other words, the garment design assists the body to be dressed what brings vast opportunities in a context of customers with mobility issues.