The research studio will be conducted by the Department of Industrial Design at the Eindhoven University of Technology and specifically by the following persons: Eunjeong Jeon, Martijn ten Bhomer, Kristi Kuusk, Eva Deckers and Oscar Tomico (contact person). Partners to the research studio will be the Higher School of Design (ESDi), part of the Fundació del Disseny Tèxtil (FUNDIT) by the person of Marina Castan, Bywire.net by the person of Marina Toeters and Sietske Klooster by the person of Sietske Klooster.

The appearance of smart textile technology leads to completely new possibilities to design for human wellbeing. The research studio explores this emergent design space and proposes a new design practice. A practice that acknowledges that textiles are an intimate and central element in daily life, completely interwoven with our conscious and unconscious behavior and identity. A practice that exhibits a sensitivity to embodied interaction, acknowledges the importance of posture and movement, and appreciates the 1st person perspective. A practice that confronts the practicalities of integrating the worlds of electronics, fashion, manufacturing and design. To enable this practice, the research studio focuses on 3 key challenges: 1) exploring the dynamic relation between the body, textiles and context, 2) developing interaction styles that fit close to the body, and 3) getting smart textiles close to market ready product service systems (PSS).