Authors:
Brett Halperin
Airbrush Hyperfabric is interactive storytelling fabric that connects garments to AR/VR/3D digital experiences of motion graphics and music to amplify countercultural voices. The project investigates how the style of streetwear originated in defiance of social norms such as formalwear, a style inaccessible to many people. Mainstream cultural appropriation and mass production of streetwear, however, has increasingly contributed to the erasure of its socioeconomic and racial origins. To address this dynamic, the Airbrush application allows users to custom create interactive storytelling fabric both physically (e.g., embroidering QR codes) and digitally (e.g., creating 3D filters to overlay on garments). On the backend, the mobile application links audiovisual 3D/AR/VR environments to QR codes embroidered on archetypal hooded sweatshirts. This exploratory design of enhancing the expressivity and sensory experience of fabric through interactive narrative suggests a promising opportunity to put storytelling power back into the hands of the creative counterculture.
The application allows users to custom create interactive storytelling fabric.
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Depicted are visual mockups of the Airbrush prototype. Users first encounter the splash screen, which demonstrates how animated AR/VR/3D digital objects can connect to hooded sweatshirts. After entering the application, users are taken to the home screen, containing the four main functions of the application: the design studio, the shop, the "hype" section for browsing among others' designs, and the camera that allows for scanning QR codes embroidered onto the garments. When clicking on "menu" in the top right corner of the home screen, users can also access additional functional settings. The other visuals show the studio for custom-designing hyperfabric with interactive options to change the color of the hooded sweatshirt, add geometric shapes, write text, and upload graphics with the choice to screen-print or embroider them onto the garment. |
Author
Brett A. Halperin is a researcher, designer, and Ph.D. student in human-centered design and engineering at the University of Washington. Previously, he studied at Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design. [email protected]
Copyright held by author
The Digital Library is published by the Association for Computing Machinery. Copyright © 2022 ACM, Inc.
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