Work / Driver firmware and visuals for LED wearables and fashion-tech pieces, from the driver board to the runway.Light-emitting wearables
Photo: Andreas Waldschuetz for ElektroCouture.
Context
I worked on contract with ElektroCouture, the Berlin fashion-tech studio, on and off between 2016 and 2018. I led design and development of its light-emitting garments and was the main developer of the driver firmware. The LED wearables had to work while being worn and danced in, and when photographed on stage.
The pieces included FireFly, Nuit Blanche and Marlene during a two-year stretch of shows and commissions. Later work included Norma at the Greek National Opera in 2019, and long-exposure light-painting fashion photography with the designer Anja Dragan.
The problem
The electronics have to fit inside fabric, run from a small battery and keep working as the wearer moves. A dropped frame can show up on camera. The driver hardware needs to stay cool and close to the size of a coin, while its firmware drives many LEDs at a stable refresh rate.
The tools also have to support designers making visual changes in the studio, sometimes only hours before a show.
What I did
- Led design and development of the wearable products themselves, hardware and firmware together.
- Wrote and maintained the wearable driver firmware for LED driving, sensor input and the animation pipeline.
- Worked alongside designers and textile technologists on pieces that had to survive being worn, including the Forster Rohner LED textile work behind Marlene.
- Mentored on fashion-tech projects and workshops.
Stack & notes
Microcontrollers · embedded systems · C++.
Related repositories: NUIT-BLANCHE, MarleneGlows, NormaLedDresses, LightPainting, SymaLine.