We’ve all fallen in love with a lace dress at some point in our lives, but did the one you fell for happen to respond to gestures + emotions by reading you a poem? We didn’t think so. But the Lace Sensor Dresses, created by Meg Grant and Anja Hertenberger, do just that.
There are three dresses that are a part of the Lace Sensor Project that the two designers worked on, all of them sourced from an antique embroidery sampler. All three have a different poem stitched onto the dress, and each evokes a different emotion. The emotions correspond to a specific gesture, such as embracing yourself, that triggers a recording of the poem to be played aloud via speakers built into the dress. That’s right, speakers in the dress! The more pressure the gesture induces, the louder the sound clip of the poem plays, as the sensors are made from conductive lace that reacts to pressure. We see some serious bumpin’ parties coming out of our clothing with this technology!
The poems are about different things, such as controlling one’s life through acquiring a skill, the pain of embroidering and being remembered after death. Though those might seem like rather dark topics, the project is meant to evoke emotions and display the feelings of the poets’ works on the dresses. Putting hands on hips, embracing your body and massaging the shoulder are the three gestures that put pressure on the sewn-in sensors that begin playing the audio recordings of the poetry.
The two designers collaborated with the Lace Factory Museum in the Netherlands to create the conductive lace. All three are currently on display at the museum through September, as a part of a “Tradition Meets the Future” exhibition that focuses on smart fabrics. So, if you happened to see our feature on Deli Amsterdam and have already planned your trip overseas, be sure to stop by to check out these intricate, intelligent lace dresses.
To see the Lace Sensor Dress project in action, check out the video below:
What’s your take on these innovative lace dresses? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
