Themes of Work

Our research centres around the body and how technology can be used to improve how that body exists and interacts with the surrounding environment. We focus on haptic and aural modalities, using textiles as the physical medium for building wearable computational systems. Some of the research projects we undertake focus exclusively on textile sensing and interfaces whilst other focus solely on how auditory displays can be improved for users. A growing area of our work is looking towards how these two complementary technologies can be brought together in novel applications.

Below is an non-exhaustive list of some of the research we have undertaken.

Current EU Funded Projects

SONICOM

SONICOM is a research project that aims to revolutionise the way we interact socially within augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) environments and applications, from online meetings to VR gaming.

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STELEC

STELEC, short for Sustainable Textile ELECtronics, is an interdisciplinary research project funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC) under the Pathfinder programmes in the responsible electronics topic seeking cutting-edge innovation with an end goal at TRL 2-3. The project is a multinational collaboration of research institutes, universities and companies across Europe. It aims at developing next generation textile-based electronics in applications from sensing, processing to AI, with a commitment to full lifecycle sustainability.

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Citation

BibTex format

@inproceedings{Wang:2024:10.1145/3656156.3663700,
author = {Wang, M and Zhou, Y and Stewart, R},
doi = {10.1145/3656156.3663700},
pages = {234--238},
publisher = {ACM},
title = {Soft wearable robotics: innovative knitting-integrated approaches for pneumatic actuators design},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3656156.3663700},
year = {2024}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Soft wearable robotics presents an opportunity to bridge robotics and textiles, offering lightweight, flexible, and ergonomic solutions for human-robot interaction, but previous studies on wearable soft robotics primarily focus on actuator performance without also considering wearability and interactivity. A rudimentary attachment method is usually adopted using external fixation devices such as straps to attach actuators to the user’s body, resulting in a poor wearing experience. This study focus on compatible and compact textile architectures to support actuators to be seamlessly integrated into daily wearing. It presents a research-through-design method to propose innovative knitting-integrated approaches for pneumatic actuator design to provide soft wearable robots with both aesthetic and functional values. Through a series of tests in which various knitting techniques and parameters are used to create sleeves that house silicone actuators, it explores design possibilities and understands the complex relationships between textiles and actuators. The findings contribute to advancing soft wearable robotics by offering practical solutions for integrating pneumatic actuators seamlessly into wearable textiles, thereby unlocking new possibilities for human-centered robotic systems.
AU  - Wang,M
AU  - Zhou,Y
AU  - Stewart,R
DO  - 10.1145/3656156.3663700
EP  - 238
PB  - ACM
PY  - 2024///
SP  - 234
TI  - Soft wearable robotics: innovative knitting-integrated approaches for pneumatic actuators design
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3656156.3663700
ER  -
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