Another great wearables piece from Pauline van Dongen! Via ecouterre.
Ruff is a new 3D printed responsive collar by Pauline van Dongen, who is pushing the forefront of wearables. Working with architect Behnaz Farahi, the two crafted flexible wearables that can move on their own with the help of nitinol and a small electric signal. Inspired by historic fashions of ruffled collars from 16th and 17th centuries, this 3D printed wearable is a look into how fashion can help us interact through movement.
Pauline van Dongen has completed a number of intriguing wearable technology projects in recent times including Vigour, a smart cardigan for those advancing in age, and she recently unveiled a chic solar panel shirt to charge your phone. Her latest project, Ruff debuted at the 2015 SXSW when van Dongen talked about the future of 3D printed wearables.
Ruff is a responsive collar designed by van Dongen and Farahi earlier this year in Las Angeles with the support of 3D Systems’ printing facilities at Will.i.am’s studioCrafting Wearables, USC Cinema School. Normal 3D printing produces rigid materials, so in order to print flexible wearables, the duo designed springlike shapes that could move with the wearer. Each spring is outfitted with a string of nitinol, a nickel titanium composite that exhibits shape memory. When heated to the correct temperature via electricity, the alloy returns to its original shape and also moves the spring like shapes resulting in a responsive flow of the wearable.
Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!