DIY Smart Sweater Workshop

[Berlin, 1.Feb.2020] The MYOW Project ran a second field test for the first MYOW-mini-toolkit at Berlin Open Lab. Wear It Berlin selected eleven applicants to gather for a full-day program to ‘make your own smart sweater’ at the University of the Arts Berlin’s Campus Charlottenburg.

The MYOW team focused on refining the toolkit’s user experience by adjusting the accompanying manual based on participants’ feedback. The third field test will integrate significant changes in technical guidance and troubleshooting to make the toolkit suitable for ages 13+ with parental supervision. Workshop participants were provided with the toolkit, an accompanying manual, and all the tools required for assembly, that are not provided in the toolkit (i.e. sewing machine, textile marker, iron, grid mat, etc.)

The MYOW Project is a German federally funded project by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research with the objective to connect designers, makers, service providers and manufacturers in a digital enriched service space in order to enable the creation of new products from private DIY concepts all the way through to the foundation of a start-up company. MYOW hosted the event with partners, Wear It Berlin and Berlin Open Lab.

Wear It Berlin plays an event management role in organizing the event, selecting participants from the applicant pool, and assisting the MYOW Team in gathering participant feedback from the field test.

The MYOW Project is housed at the Berlin Open Lab, an experimental space that combines artistic practice with scientific research for transdisciplinary projects at the intersection of technology, society, and arts. Berlin Open Lab is an initiative by the University of the Arts Berlin in cooperation with the Technische Universität Berlin, “Einstein Center for Digital Future,” “Weizenbaum Institute” and the research consortium “SHAPING SPACE.” Berlin Open Lab backs MYOW with a strong international research network – including universities, research institutes, governments, civil society and companies from the creative industries- and all the tools and services to enable the field tests for the MYOW-mini-toolkit. During the workshop, participants explored and tested the first MYOW-mini-toolkit in a fully-equipped facility with textile patterns, assembly tools, and electronic components.