Nomination
BETAlight is a flexible light source that can be worn on the body and allows the user to adjust its shape, orientation, brightness, and light temperature according to his or her needs. BETAlight is not only a wearable light source. It is a concept that allows the user to use light as a material to create personal illuminated spaces—individual room situations can be achieved by placing it somewhere in the room or by wearing it on the body.
Creating a personal light space allows a non-physical space definition that is adaptable and changeable to required lighting situations. It is weightless, only the light source is a physical object. The use of light as a space-defining material is far more subtle than a physically closed space, it provides the opportunity to create a space of retreat by less ’loud’ means. A personal light space can create positive effects of light on the body by especially selected cold or warm light.
In the device, implemented sensors are used to turn the light on and off, to control the brightness and adjust the light temperature to switch between different light scenarios. The fully textile circuit makes the light source completely flexible, thin, and lightweight. The shell is designed of a textile monomaterial, to allow easy recycling. BETAlight combines the best available materials and methods after testing and considering different production and recycling methods. The project was a multidisciplinary collaboration with a strong focus on criteria of sustainability and ethics. Skills from textile-, fashion- and interaction design, computer science, and production expertise were brought together to create a sustainable e-textile light application with natural interaction.
Credits
Film: Tarvo Tammeoks
Mentor: Kristi Kuusk
Illustration and print layout: Tatiana van Beelen
This project has received funding in Wearsustain Call2, from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 732098, was supported by Kreativgesellschaft Hamburg, practical support by Fablab Wismar and Fablab St.Pauli Hamburg.
Barbro Scholz (DE) is a textile designer researching the physical and digital materiality of e-textiles design. Esther Holsten-Stühmer (DE) is a textile designer interested in clothing as a shell, space, and interaction. Together they are Stühmer|Scholz designoffice working for industry, education and research. Axel Sylvester (DE) is a tech enthusiast realizing cross-disciplinary innovation for human needs. Tanja Döring (DE) is a researcher in Human-Computer Interaction working at the intersection of materiality and computing.