This short online guest lecture, as part of the course 05-499/899 Inclusive Tangible and Material Interfaces, welcomes the public to attend.

Ozgun Kilic Afsar, MIT Media Lab, Tangible Media Group, Research Affiliate & KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Ph.D. Candidate

Talk Title: Shaping and Being Shaped by Fabric Machines

Fiber, a primitive yet ubiquitous form of material – intertwines with our bodies and surroundings, from constructing our muscles that enable movement, to forming fabrics that interface with our skin. Advances in materials science and Human-Computer Interaction invite visions of a world where people interact with machines through clothing. My research program seeks to explore ‘fabrics as soft machines’ with a contextual focus on bidirectional kinetic learning, by creating an intimate relationship between the body and the fabric interface where both are prone to change, learn from, and adapt to one-another.

In this talk, I will present my work on high-pressure microfluidic fibers and fabrics as the building blocks of my kinesthetic wearables. I will also share a recent design case of my fluidic garments leveraged in an interactive Opera performance, where the audience’s experience is shaped by feeling the singer’s muscle movements through individual soft robotic corsets, as a new way of listening and experiencing voice."

Open to the public
Zoom link: https://cmu.zoom.us/j/98428936299?pwd=U2Q4ejlvTWxQckc3UlU2MXlnZ1BPUT09