Exploring dynamic expressions on soft wearables for physical exercises

Abstract

Recent design approaches of wearables for physical exercising are often alienating the data from its specific experiences and/or limited to conventional display modalities for presenting information. As an alternative perspective, the aim of this paper is to explore in-situ social and individual experiences that activity related dynamic changes on garment surfaces might evoke in the context of exercising at the gyms. To investigate these, we conducted a design workshop (N=11, 3 gymgoers, 5 interaction and 3 fashion designers). Our results provide design insights for further research on how dynamic expression could alter (1) wearer's sense of achievement via solidifying unobservable efforts & achievements and could (2) trigger social interactions.