The LilyPad Arduino: using computational textiles to investigate engagement, aesthetics, and diversity in computer science education

  • Authors:

  • Leah Buechley;Mike Eisenberg;Jaime Catchen;Ali Crockett

  • Affiliations:

  • University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA;University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA;University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA;University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
  • Year:
  • 2008

Quantified Score

Hi-index 0.01

Visualization

Abstract

The advent of novel materials (such as conductive fibers) combined with accessible embedded computing platforms have made it possible to re-imagine the landscapes of fabric and electronic crafts--extending these landscapes with the creative range of electronic/computational textiles or e-textiles. This paper describes the LilyPad Arduino, a fabric-based construction kit that enables novices to design and build their own soft wearables and other textile artifacts. The kit consists of a microcontroller and an assortment of sensors and actuators in stitch-able packages; these elements can be sewn to cloth substrates and each other with conductive thread to build e-textiles. This paper will introduce the latest version of the kit; reflect on its affordances; present the results of our most recent user studies; and discuss possible directions for future work in the area of personalized e-textile design and its relation to technology education.