Social
Spaces

On Thursday 11th of March the workshop ‘Stof tot Zorg’, organized by the research groups Social Spaces (Media & Design Academy), IMEC and IBBT-SMIT (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), took place. Together with several representatives of the caretakers sector (e.g. In-HAM, Wit-Gele Kruis, Thuiszorgwinkel Limburg, Arion ) and the artist collective Constant vzw, we engaged in a brainstorm, mainly discussing the possibilities of technological integration in textile and the significance of these technologies for the care sector. Important questions that were asked that day concerned the future of medical tools, the development of new technologies for patients with special and specific needs and the role that aesthetics (can and should) play in such medical technologies.

After a warm welcome four, short presentations introduced the topic of the workshop. First, Liesbeth Huybrechts (Social Spaces, MDA) shortly summarized the theme of the workshop and used examples of discomforts in public spaces to present the motives of the ‘Stof tot Zorg’-project, e.g. by showing the Diabetes Neckpiece developed by artist Leah Heiss (see: http://www.elasticfield.com/).

Second, An Jacobs (IBBT-SMIT) gave a presentation on assistive and augmenting technology. Normal consumer electronics, she stated, are developed for a target group who has very special and specific needs. However, Assistive technology can break through the stigmatization of the ill and limited and Augmenting superable technology, Jacobs continued, is focused on presenting a handicap or illness as an opportunity instead of a limitation.

Next, Frederick Bossuyt (IMEC) in his presentation elaborated on the Centre for MicroSystems Technology (CMST) and its activities. Affiliated with IMEC, the centre focuses on design as well as technology research in five domains, i.e. high density interconnection, large area electronics, optical interconnects and sensors, display systems and smart power ASIC design.

Finally, Niels Hendriks’ (Social Spaces, MDA) presentation was all about fashionable, smart and social textiles. He elaborated on the tensions between functionality and aesthetics and showed several examples of wearable computing and embedded technologies. Hendriks concluded his presentation by stating that the possibilities of the integration of technology in textile are endless.

After a short break, the actual workshop commenced and the crowd was divided into three groups (of approximately six persons), which all are introduced to a topic (in the form of a pair – or trio – of concepts): safety and attractiveness (1), intimacy and communication (2) and self-control, adjustability and protection (3). The brainstorm took place in three, separate rounds.

First, a group had forty minutes to come up with a specific patient and pathology matching with one of the pairs of concepts. For example, in the case of intimacy and communication one of the groups introduced a patient who had one or more of his limbs amputated. In the second round, the groups handed over their concepts and the patient and pathology they had come up with to another group. This next group had thirty minutes to find matching needs, wishes and problems for the patient and his/her illness. In the case of the concepts of safety and communication, the first group introduced a patient with cognitive problems. The second group ascribed several needs, wishes and problems to this patient, such as: the localisation of the patient, difficulties with communication (aphasia) and problems with recognizing family or the social workers. In the final round, which lasted only ten minutes, the poster was handed over again to the last group which had to find a technological solution for the patient and his/her needs, wishes and problems. The group who had to tackle the concepts of self-control, adjustability and protection, and had to think of a solution for the problems of a diabetes patient, introduced a module, which not only measures the levels of the blood, but also injects insulin when it’s needed.

After finishing the workshop the three pairs of concepts were discussed and we found that in all the cases it was not hard to find invasive technologies as solutions to the patients’ needs, wishes and problems. However, in order to get round ethical issues, some of the participants put forward the idea of technological integration in textile as a more mild solution to this problem. Clothing, for example, is not as drastic as invasive technologies but still can be provided with GPS chips to track lost patients that suffer from dementia. The workshop concluded by several participants who commented that clothing – although integrated with technology – still had to feel like a second skin.

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