Make: Wearable Electronics

What if your clothing could change color to complement your skin tone, respond to your racing heartbeat, or connect you with a loved one from afar?

Welcome to the world of shoes that can dynamically shift your height, jackets that display when the next bus is coming, and neckties that can nudge your business partner from across the room. Whether it be for fashion, function, or human connectedness, wearable electronics can be used to design interactive systems that are intimate and engaging.

Make: Wearable Electronics is intended for those with an interest in physical computing who are looking to create interfaces or systems that live on the body. Perfect for makers new to wearable tech, this book introduces you to the tools, materials, and techniques for creating interactive electronic circuits and embedding them in clothing and other things you can wear.

Each chapter features experiments to get you comfortable with the technology and then invites you to build upon that knowledge with your own projects. Fully illustrated with step-by-step instructions and images of amazing creations made by artists and professional designers, this book offers a concrete understanding of electronic circuits and how you can use them to bring your wearable projects from concept to prototype.

Kate Hartman is an artist, technologist, and educator whose work spans the fields of physical computing, wearable electronics, and conceptual art. Her work is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Hartman is based in Toronto at OCAD University where she is the Associate Professor of Wearable and Mobile Technology in the Digital Futures program. Hartman enjoys bicycles, rock climbing, and someday hopes to work in Antarctica.