Oct. 24, 2006 — A coat that glows when it rains could make the prospect of walking in wet weather an opportunity for play and performance.
Elise Co, of the Los Angeles-based design and technology firm Aeolab, designed the luminescent, nylon raincoat and will be discussing the latest version of her Puddlejumper coat at a textiles show in France this month.
It's coated with PVC and has water sensors on its back and left sleeve.
The sensors are wired via interior electronics to electroluminescent panels on the front of the jacket.
When water hits one of the sensors, the corresponding lamp lights up on the front, creating a flickering pattern of illumination that mirrors the rhythm of rainfall, explained Co.
"You get a pattern of lights that really looks like water falling," she said.
Co says the electroluminescent panels are of the same kind of material used as backlighting for phones.
The material is usually purchased pre-manufactured as plastic sheets that are cut up and wired together.
But Co mixed up the chemicals that make the panels and silk-screened them onto the jacket by hand. Then she hand printed the water sensors onto the jacket.
Co will help facilitate a workshop on wearable technology in Canberra, Australia next year called reSkin, where she will discuss her work.
"Although technology has the bad rap of being dry or technical, at the very least, intimidating, it is great to illuminate how creative a process it is, and how doable," she said.
"I especially like the mixture of wearable plus technology because clothing and accessories on the body are so expressive and design oriented, not only visually but also in terms of materiality and usability and wearability."
Co says her raincoats are still prototypes but the fact they are made of industrial materials mean they could be developed for larger markets.
"There is no reason why they couldn't be made durable enough to be worn normally," she said.
"It would be a matter of doing tests and tweaking the construction process to make sure they're protected well."
