AlterWear: Battery-Free Wearable Displays for Opportunistic Interactions
summary
Presents a concrete system that removes onboard power: an battery-free wearable architecture combining NFC-powered e-ink (electromagnetic induction) with a custom PCB and bistable displays that update in 2–4 seconds and then persist for months. Team builds six prototypes (hats, pocket tee, two shoes, false fingernail) that are fully encapsulable and waterproof and can animate when the coil sits near a power source. A 13-participant study finds 10/13 dislike wearable notifications and several cite batteries as a dealbreaker.
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chapters (15)
- 0:00Introduction to AlterWear
- 0:26Limitations of current wearables
- 1:28Vision for dynamic clothing
- 2:31How AlterWear works
- 3:33Demo of NFC-powered display
- 3:53Related work in dynamic displays
- 4:14Technical components overview
- 4:55Interaction modalities explained
- 6:03Prototypes and form factors
- 8:51User study insights
- 10:37Social interactions and privacy
- 11:39User reactions to style expression
- 12:01Usage scenarios demonstration
- 13:24Future of dynamic clothing
- 13:53Q&A session
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