Fashioning and ageing population: smart non-woven textiles for adaptive insulation

他说：“全球人口老化为个人和社会带来重大机遇和挑战；设计干预措施，加上医疗和辅助科技的进步，可望为这群人口带来全面和积极的生活作出重大贡献。创意产业将在落实政府政策方面担当重要角色，为人口老化带来的人口转变作好准备。新的医疗保健系统和社会、物质、技术连接等战略优先事项在最广泛的意义上利用设计，通过解决吸收、敏感性和隐私方面的障碍，确保利用新技术带来的机会(来源：人口老龄化的未来，2016)。在这种背景下，建筑环境的设计旨在通过以人为本的设计方法和材料/数字技术的进步，最大限度地提高身体流动性，提高身体活动水平，改善健康和生活质量。例如，我们设想房间可以自动感知和改变其气候和物理条件，以响应居住者的需求，以确保舒适性和移动性等优先事项；该项目扩大了这一命题，将服装和时尚设计包括在内。这项工作解决了穿着者小气候中水分积累造成的生理不适，在这些小气候中，当前的气流和隔热调节行为策略(如在工作休息周期中增加或移除层数和处理紧固件)给因年龄或残疾而行动不便的个人带来了巨大挑战。传统服装系统的热和气流特性依赖穿戴者进行调整；我们的目标是创造一种新的智能非织造布，与电子纺织品明显不同，以增强身体活动的体验。该项目将开发一种新型非织造布，能够使用Inote kTM自主地、物理地适应热和空气流动阻力。Inote kTM是一种仿生吸湿短纤维，可以根据环境中湿气浓度的水平可逆地改变其长度。

"A global ageing population presents significant opportunities and challenges to individuals and society; design interventions coupled with advances in medical and assistive technologies are expected to make a significant contribution that will support full and active lives for this demographic.The creative industries are set to play a critical role in the implementation of government policy in preparation for the demographic shift brought about by a growing ageing population. Strategic priorities such as novel health care systems and social, physical, technological connectivity draw upon design, in its broadest sense, to ensure capitalisation of opportunities from new technologies by addressing barriers to uptake, sensitivity and privacy (source: Future of an Ageing Population, 2016).Within this context, design of the build environment is positioned to maximise physical mobility and lead to increased physical activity levels, better health and quality of life through the intersection of human centred design methods and advances in material/digital technologies. For example, we imagine rooms that can autonomously sense and alter their climatic and physical conditions in response to the needs of the occupants to ensure priorities such as comfort and mobility; this project widens this proposition to include garment and fashion design.This work addresses physiological discomfort caused by moisture buildup in the wearer's microclimate where current behavioural strategies for airflow and insulation adjustment (such as adding or remove layers and handling fasteners during work rest cycles) present significant challenges to individuals with limited mobility due to age or disability. Thermal and airflow properties of conventional clothing systems rely on the wearer for adjustment; the ambition is to create a new class of smart non-woven textile, significantly distinct from electronic textiles, to enhance the experience of physical activity.This project will develop a novel non woven textile capable of autonomous, physical adaptation of thermal and airflow resistance using InotekTM, a biomimetic hygroscopic staple fibre which reversibly alters its length in response to levels of moisture vapour concentration in the environment."