A small robot walking on clothes may know you better than a boyfriend!

High technology has long been the most popular topic in the fashion industry. How to use high technology to bring different fashions to 'fashion' is the most concerned issue for many designers.

Because fashion is more like a fleeting beauty. Chalayan makes the model rain, and a new set of fashion will appear.

Or maybe one dress and two wear, let the clothes change slowly during the catwalk.

Most designers also often pay attention to the material of the fabric in order to have a better wearing experience.

For example, in 1999, Speedo invented a high-tech swimsuit that resembles shark skin, which can increase buoyancy and reduce drag. It has also become an artifact for swimmers to increase their speed.

It has brought earth-shaking changes to the swimming world. However, because this swimsuit is too powerful and controversial, in 2014, this swimsuit was forbidden to wear, only fabrics could be worn.

In 2015, Jennifer Lopez's 6-meter-diameter white projection skirt on American Idol sang at the climax and the skirt was engulfed by the Milky Way.

Looking from the top down is a large fantasy fairy tale.

Let's open our minds~

If we don’t bother with the fabric

But let the clothes move themselves

What will happen?

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, known for its cutting-edge engineering, has developed a clothing 'accessory' that adds to the vitality of the garment.

This is a flexible small robot in the clothing upstream accessories.

The design was inspired by the term "kinetics." These robots constantly change the design of the garment through exercise.

This small robot is attached to the clothes by magnetic wheels on both sides of the fabric, and a 100 mAh battery keeps them moving on the clothes. And the antenna receives signals to control the motion trajectory. They can also be autonomous, for example, they will return to wireless charging when there is no power.

At the same time, the design team also designed many features for the robot.

1. For example, changing the clothing pattern, changing the shape of the jewelry, drawing out the traces that can be faded, etc., through the change of the matching, the same set of clothing can change the subtle style at any time.

The material of the fabric is velvet, so the pattern can erase the redraw.

2. The lab also explored some of the more useful and interesting features. By adding sensors, the robot can actively respond to changes in the environment and become intelligent clothing assistants. For example, when the rain is fine, the robot monitors the temperature rise, it will automatically pull down the rope of the hoodie, saving the user's strength to raise their hands.

3. Realize the function of answering the phone. When the connected mobile phone comes in, the robot moves to the wearer's mouth to act as a microphone. When a message is pushed, it moves to the wrist to provide tactile feedback.

The design team is currently considering the development of a wearable robot as a personal assistant. In the future, artificial intelligence may be used to learn the wearer's dressing style and make tailored adjustments.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory

At this year's American Computer Society Interactive System Design Conference (ACM DIS'17), the team published a paper entitled "Exploration of Wearable Power Device Interaction and Sensing", detailing the principles and applications. The team is working with designers to enhance some features. After all, the team admits itself: "Many people think they are really weird."

Left: Movie "Metropolis"; Right: Balenciaga Spring/Summer 2007 Collection

Left: Thierry Mugler 1995 Fall Winter Collection; Right: Cindy Morgan in the film "Tron"

Like all avant-garde artists, such attempts mixed in the fashion industry, many people questioned the practicality of this design, but still can not deny the contribution of science and technology for fashion, it provides another thought, the history of the development so far, high Technology will inevitably reshape the aesthetics of mankind and change the direction of fashion.