Digital Lace (colour changing, light emitting, digitally programmed table runner)

Digital Lace was a design collaboration by Sara Robertson Robertson and Sarah Taylor. Robertson and Taylor are design practitioners working in the area of smart, colour-change and light-emitting textiles. Their research interest focusses on the exploration of new aesthetics exploiting responsive materials within cloth using digital technologies to realize and control design effects. At the heart of their work lies a passion for material experimentation. Robertson's research in the area of smart materials for textiles focuses particularly on the application and aesthetic potential of chromic materials and has extensively explored thermochromic dye systems. Taylor's research lies in the exploration of light within cloth. Her work exploits the light-emitting properties of optical fibre within woven fabric and textile-based artwork in conjunction with digital technologies to create novel, time-based aesthetics. Digital Lace combines traditional (black Holland Linen) with cutting edge materials using (newly developed) white-scattering liquid crystal thermochromic dye and polymer optical fibres. The responsive materials are activated through the use of specially designed light-emitting diodes (LEDs) devices and heat control mechanisms and uses micro-controllers to sequence and activate light and colour-change in the following ways: using liquid crystal thermochromic dyes which change from opaque (white) to transparent (or coloured) on temperature change; using optical fibre to create light loss along the fibre length; and, using colour and lighting control to trigger a collision of light, colour and tonal effects within the material to create novel light and shadow interplay. The collaborative project was selected for an Expert Workshop as part of the experimental project, 'Rejuevnating Craft' funded by the European 'Crysalis Project' hosted at Plymouth College of Art in May 2014. The workshop presented an opportunity to develop a product through the use of new technologies and to explore hand craft processes alongside digital technologies