License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives Unless otherwise stated, copyright owned by the author

Abstract Communication-Wear is a wearable technology clothing concept that augments the mobile phone by enabling expressive messages to be exchanged remotely, by conveying a sense of touch, and presence. It proposes to synthesise conventions and cultures of fashion with those of mobile communications, where there are shared attributes in terms of communication and expression. Using smart textiles in garment prototypes as research probes as part of an on-going iterative co-design process, we endeavoured to mobilise participants’ tacit knowledge in order to gauge user perceptions on touch communication in a lab-based trial. The aim of this study was to determine whether established sensory associations people have with the tactile qualities of textiles could be used as signs and metaphors for experiences, moods, social interactions and gestures, related to interpersonal touch. The findings are used to inspire new design ideas for textile actuators for use in touch communication in successive iterations