Adaptive Clothing – design for women
- Date: Friday 9th October 2020 at 19:30 – 20:30 BST
- Key Topics: Diversity issue – the average and the reference man
So much of PPE and spacesuit design, as well as manufacturing, is about standardisation. However, the human body is not standard. To accommodate differences for customisation, one of the approaches that spacesuit makers utilise is modularisation of design. In this session, we are going to explore the challenges in designing equipment for a ‘non-standard’ workforce. To highlight the importance of diversity in design and manufacturing, we will discuss the following questions: In what ways can garments and equipment be designed to accommodate a diverse workforce in space as well as in operating theatres? By focusing on universal or standardised design, could we be excluding most of the population from the usage of such garments and equipment, rather than including? Could modular design, used in spacesuits, be a better approach to increase functionality across the population?
In this session, we invite a very exciting set of panellists (spacesuit maker, astronauts, medical and related professional – surgeon). As this event is going to take place in World Space Week, we are looking to do something provocative.