CONTINUOUS PROJECT: DIGITAL HEALTH FASHION TECHNOLOGY
Week 1 (29/08/2022) - Week 14 (28/11/2022)
Faith Aimee Choong Jia Yi / 0345509
Innovative Industry Project [DST64604]
Continuous Project 01: Digital Health Fashion Technology
LECTURE [29/08]
In today's lecture, Ms Maria briefed us about our project for this semester. We were going to combine medical and engineering with fashion. We are to design garments for heart disease patients and the garment should function in a way that makes the patient feel comfortable and helpful in treating their heart disease.
PROJECT BRIEF
Conduct preliminary studies on the target market (heart disease patients-women), what's available in the market, and what consumers need.
PROCESS
[Week 1]
Ms Maria recommended researching more about this particular heart disease before getting into consumer needs. We borrowed a couple of books from the library to start our research.
I started by listing the symptoms, risks, stages and etc of heart disease. My main focus, in making these digital health garments, is for women to be physically active even when diagnosed with heart disease.
Ms Maria mentioned Airism, which is an engineered garment that provides comfort for the user in humid conditions. Factors of Airism: odor-free, quick-drying, stain-prove, cool to touch, stretchable, and moisturises. I was interested to find out more about Airism so I attended the Airism booth, where they explained briefly what is Airism.
To summarise the cotton fibers in Airism are similar in weight compared to human hair. This means that the fabric is lightweight and finer compared to normal cotton. When dust is in contact with Airism it easily brushes off compared to cotton, which makes it easier to wash and also prevents dust from sticking. Airism is also cool to the touch due to its quick drying because the lighter and finer the fiber the easier liquids can soak and dry faster compared to the normal cotton fiber.
[Week 2]
In our next class, Ms Maria asked us to draw out a mind map that lists the main keywords. In our mind map, we included the type of consumer, function, device, fabric choices, risk, and factors that affect.
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| Mindmap |
Ms Maria aid me in finalizing and reducing some of my points to help me focus on my main objectives.
I'm going to focus on CVD patients who are between the ages of24-55 years old. Since we have to focus on heart disease in Asia, the country I've chosen is Malaysia. Globally, heart disease is more common in the West because of its levels of cholesterol, unlike in Asia. When it comes to heart disease in Asia, it is often caused because of stroke, due to hypertension.
In a study, it shows that Europeans have higher cardiometabolic than Asia, which means they are fitter and are kin to exercise. Keeping physically active is important for CVD patients because it helps prevent blood, cholesterol, and sugar levels from rising. Due to the illness they face, they might feel de-motivated or fearful that moving around would cause their heart to fail.
This is why, I've chosen to do Activewear, to keep the user moving because moving your body or exercising keeps the heart pumped and reduces risks like chest pain. This is also a good way to prevent obesity from happening because we want to make the patients get back to their normal norms and prevent them from being hospitalized.
[Week 3]
We had some lectures from the Medical School in Taylors, with whom we had to present our slides too. We had a little feedback from them as well as Ms Maria.
FEEDBACK
By: Ms Maria
"Find a comfortable way to make the device embedded into the garment so that the user doesn't feel uncomfortable. But also don't forget to make it unique and specific. Make it as if it's representing your brand."
FEEDBACK
By: Dr Adeline
"You should consider how oversize the garment should be because as I know activewear is more fitted to the body. The device also shouldn't be too far from the body as well because it won't be able to detect otherwise."
FEEDBACK
By: Dr Looi
"There are a lot of focuses on devices, try focusing on one factor that you're aiming to prevent."
FEEDBACK
By: Dr Tang
"As Dr Looi has mentioned, there are a lot of devices happening here, try to focus on one factor."
Ms Maria paired us up with a group of engineering students who will aid us in designing the device for us. I had my first meeting with them on Friday, 16 September. We discussed what are the features needed for the device in order to act as a service to the user.
[Week 4]
My group suggested the idea of implementing the device onto a wristband. Or making a detector on the ear to monitor oxygen levels. It was a little tricky for them to implement all the features in which I wanted, (blood levels, oxygen, heart rates.
FEEDBACK
By: All Medical Dr & Ms Maria
"There are too many expectations in the device, try to focus on only one feature for the device and this feature must relate to your target market and purpose. The device on the wristband may not be a good idea as it is uncomfortable for the user, maybe try and put it somewhere on the chest that is closer to the heart."
We also had to fill in some details regarding our garment and the device in the Excel sheets. Functions, purpose, images (if have), etc.
After the feedback session with the doctors and Ms Maria, I relayed the message to the engineering students and told them that the focus feature is now on heart rates. They suggested me this device which is a heart strap that can monitor heart rates and is placed below the breast.
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| Heart Strap Monitor |
They suggested implementing the device into a bra, the band underneath that supports the breast from below. And they also mention that it is important that the device is stuck firmly onto the user's body as it guarantees the accuracy of results.
We had an industry talk with the Nanotextile suppliers, explaining what is nanoparticles a nanotextile and discussing what properties to be added to the garment.
DISCUSSION:
- UV Protection
- Heat Regulating
- Odor Control
- Anti-Bacterial
- Stretchable (slightly)
I requested water-resistant however the supplier advised me to make the device water-resistant instead because if I were to choose cotton it isn't water-resistant instead polyester fabric is. The factors of cotton fabric are that its comfortable, heat resistant, and light.
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| Industry Talk: Nanotextile |
[Week 5]
In our next class, Ms Maria asked us to get samples of fabric for our designs so that we have a clearer idea in terms of the texture. I got two separate fabric samples for both activewear and workwear as I'm combining the two of these.
I asked Ms Maria for her feedback on my designs.
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Ms Maria liked the microfiber and the cotton lycra fabric.
As for the workwear samples, she prefers dark blue cotton fabric.
We had another meeting with the engineering students, to finalize the device idea. Ms Maria requested to view a prototype or image of the device to have a clearer idea. She also advised me to take note of the measurements as they will be useful when making the garments.
In the following days, my group alert me saying that the device has to be changed as the previous device they suggested which is the heart strap monitor was difficult to produce. So they suggested me this substitute monitor which is an ECG machine. This device has three circle monitors which are placed above the breast [two] whilst the last one is placed on the right side of the belly.
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| Placement of Device |
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| Device Sketch |
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| Device (ECG) |
Measurements:
Screen: 2.67cm x1.93cm
Big Chip: 6.86cm x5.34cm
Small Chip: 0.4cm x0.4cm
Circle Monitor: 0.24 diameter
Placement:
Two above the bust
One on the right side of the belly
[Week 6]
The following week, we had another presentation in front of Ms Maria and Mr JR. I presented my finalized device which was the ECG machine. I only created 5 designs so far, which had a combination of both active and work-wear.
FEEDBACK
By: Mr JR & Ms Maria
"I think you should play around with silhouette, and focus on making different types of blazers. It's better to focus on workwear for now. Make two separate pieces, one is the inner layer where the device will be placed inside, and the outer layer is the blazer. I suggest getting at least 10 blazers at most for the next class, and we will try and deconstruct it."
There was a special guest from the industry, Kit Woo. Ms Maria informed us that we were free to ask him feedback for on our project. Here was my feedback from Kit Woo about my designs.
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| Kit Woo |
FEEDBACK
By: Kit Woo
"What you're missing is research because from what I see in your designs, the research stage is lacking. Research is important as you can get a clearer idea of the upcoming and ongoing trends around it. Also try and research more on tech fashion, because your project is 'Digital Health Fashion Technology."
[Week 7]
*The Prophet Muhammad's Birthday Holiday*
Since Monday was a holiday, I decided to use that week to play and experiment around with the thrift blazers which I got in Week 6.
[Week 8]
*Independent Learning Week*
I completed my 10 initial designs, using my blazer manipulation as the starting base for my top.
FEEDBACK
By: Ms Maria
"I would really like for you to play around more with the 2 colors for the inner part. Should be2 neon shocking colors combined with black. More futuristic."
Design 1: "I like the whole vibe but from behind, design something backless, make it more curvy and unexpected."
Design 2: "The top is fantastic, but the2 strap on the top isn't very practical, perhaps you could add some movement like making some of the strap going in and out of the garment. For the bottom please do pants."
Design 3: "Inner could be made into tight body dress design."
Design 4: "Change bottom wear to pants."
Ms Maria said that the next step is the technical drawing.
SUBMISSION
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Designs:
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Technical Drawing:
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| Inner Top |
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| Inner Dress |
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| Design 01 |
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| Design 02 |
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| Design 03 |
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| Design 04 |
Moodboard:
Device:
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| Top |
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| Inside the Device |
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| Front |
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| Side |
Final Presentation Slides:
Progress:
Lookbook:
*tbm*
REFLECTION
Overall this semester, was quite hectic as I dealt with two big projects on my hand. However, I can say that this project was rather interesting the more I progress with my work. At first, I didn't really like this project because it restricts our creativity since our target market and everything else was already stated and we couldn't change it. But through this project, I got to learn more about other categories of fashion and how I can turn them into something unique for heart disease patients to wear. The device embedded in the garment was pretty cool, it almost seems like this project leans toward futuristic fashion. And I love the idea and concept of futuristic because the more I search for Pins and inspiration from futuristic garments, the more I'm enthusiastic in my garment-making. I also enjoyed the garment-making progress a little because I'm free to drape according to the silhouette, which I have sketched, and also be creative in adding extra features like buckles, straps and etc. Techwear has left an impact on me this semester, and I was so glad and happy that I got to experience techwear designs.
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