Bodyscape

2017

Bodyscape is an interactive 3D printed fashion item inspired by the behavior of the human body. As the wearer moves and gyrates her body it lights up with LED lighting controlled by a gyroscope that tracks her shoulder movements. Not only a technologically advanced fashion item produced using 3D printing technology, it raises fashion to the poetic dance of light and human movement.

The aim here is twofold: firstly, Bodyscape is an attempt to explore the role of geometry in material engineering in order to create a dynamic 3D printed structure for the world of fashion using non-flexible 3D printed material of SLA printer. And, secondly, it is an attempt to create an interactive lighting system so as to amplify the performative qualities of human bodily movement, and to create an enchanting illuminated choreography of the bodily movement.

Consequently, Bodyscape was developed based on the Langer lines of the skin. Langer lines are the topological lines of skin tension, discovered initially in 1861 by the anatomist, Karl Langer. These are the lines of least tension that correspond to the natural orientation of collagen fibers in the dermis of the skin, which are generally parallel to the orientation of the underlying muscle fibers. For this reason surgeons use them to determine where to cut the skin during an operation especially for cosmetic surgery as they can heal better afterwards.

Bodyscape uses both the principles of the 2D spiral as a naturally flexible form and the logic of Langer lines to produce a flexible garment that moves in harmony with the human body. If the 3D printed materials are rigid and fragile but mapped to the least tension lines of skin, the maximum force will be added on the perpendicular direction allowing the parallel lines to flex with the movement of the human body.

Finally, Bodyscape is an attempt to create an interactive lighting system so as to amplify the performative qualities of human bodily movement. For this purpose, an interactive lighting system was integrated beneath the surface in order to enhance the dynamic performativity of the wearer’s movement. A small gyroscope capable of detecting and tracking the 9 axis shoulder movements of the wearer sends data to a small microcontroller that illuminates two addressable LED strips placed beneath the surface. As a result various lighting patterns emerge according to the forces being exerted by the body as it dances its way through space.