The world of fashion doesn’t get its fair share of credit. Clothes do so much more than just cover our bodies and indicate cultures/styles. They help regulate our inner temperature, armors help protect against harm, camo-wear helps reduce visibility, safety vests help increase visibility, sports clothing boost your physical abilities, the list goes on… and in the near future, the clothes you wear may be able to prematurely detect and prevent heart attacks.

The Viscero vest by Ireland-based Design Partners is a wearable ECG device that looks like the iconic plain white tee shirt. Designed to do away with those incredibly clunky Holter monitors (that can often increase patient discomfort), the Viscero is simply a white vest you wear underneath your clothing. Unlike the Holter which involves sticking ‘wet’ electrodes to your body and having them connected to a walkie-talkie-sized device that’s perpetually strapped to your chest, Viscero is as easy and freeing as wearing any t-shirt or garment. The body-hugging vest comes with dry electrodes integrated into the tee shirt’s design, placed at strategic points to accurately capture medical data, while the data itself is sent to a compact smart wearable device that attaches to the side of the tee, right above the pocket.

An arrhythmia is an abnormal heartbeat that can be harmless or life-threatening. The most common type is atrial fibrillation (AFib), where the upper heart chambers contract irregularly, increasing the likelihood of blood clots, stroke, heart failure, and other heart-related complications. According to the CDC, it’s estimated that by 2030 as many as 12.1 million people in the United States will annually have AFib.

Detecting Afib isn’t particularly swift or easy either. Unlike an ECG, which just captures data over a short window, checking for Afib requires gathering hours or even days’ worth of heart behavior to check for anomalies. The Apple Watch, which can perform basic ECGs, isn’t designed to continuously check for Afib, which means its accuracy rate falls to around 34% in most adults, according to research. Doctors commonly rely on Holter monitors for shorter monitoring windows (roughly 24 hours), or on invasive methods like implantable loop recorders (ILRs) for long-term capturing. While the Holter seems like the most convenient option, a traditional Holter is uncomfortable to wear and inhibits natural movement, often making the data it collects unrepresentative and unhelpful. This led to Design Partners asking themselves, “How might we create an accurate, unintrusive, and non-invasive solution that could monitor you for weeks or even months?”

Viscero’s biggest innovation is the fact that it contains a carefully designed ECG circuit system right into the fabric. The tee uses a series of dry electrodes that are positioned away from the chest to more peripheral locations while maintaining consistent compression points. This allows the Viscero to sit on your torso as comfortably as a tee would, while in fact, being a medical-grade, 6-lead ECG monitoring system. “Now you can run for the bus, walk your dog, hug your children and unwind on the sofa, without giving Viscero a second thought”, say the team at Design Partners.

Heart rate signals are captured via printed electrodes, situated beneath tailored compression points in the arms and waist. These maintain electrical contact between the garment and the skin, to ensure continuous, accurate data monitoring. The “brain” of the device, meanwhile, is a small, matchbox-sized wearable that has been specifically designed to sit in a small pocket on the shirt to enable further discretion. This can be easily removed for charging or washing.

Inside this tiny wearable is an onboard accelerometer and gyroscope, which provides extra metadata along with the recorded heart signals to present the clinician with a fuller picture of the circumstances surrounding specific events, such as a change in heart rate due to exercise, climbing stairs, etc.

“Separating the electronic and fabric elements allows for a more affordable, conventional textile printing process”, said Cormac Ó Conaire, Chief Design Officer at Design Partners. “The printed electronics can last approximately 30 wash cycles, which is far better than conventional electrodes. When the vest eventually needs to be replaced, the brain can simply be transferred to the new garment.”

Data collected by the Viscero tee gets shared with both the patient as well as the clinician. A smartphone app makes it easy for the patient to access and understand the data and correspondingly, their own body… while the doctor benefits from having comprehensive information to form an accurate diagnosis. Design Partners mentioned that leading cardiologists have described the signal quality of Viscero’s ECG waveforms as “diagnostic quality data” and Viscero has the potential to drive a more connected and positive healthcare experience for both doctors and patients alike.

What the Viscero does is quite literally ground-breaking, although it isn’t the first instance of having sensors woven into garments. Google’s own project Jacquard (and a collaboration with Levis) aimed at turning clothes into wearables that could control tech devices like being able to answer calls, play/pause music, while the BMW Motorrad Concept Link scooter also floated the idea of having a special connected jacket that allowed the rider to control aspects of the scooter like opening or closing its cargo door. KnitX, a project by a student at the MIT Media Lab aimed at exploring fabrics that could respond to stimuli. A finalist at the Lexus Design Award, KnitX demonstrated the potential of having clothes that could respond to temperature, touch, and even light, and subsequently transform in color or shape!

Designer: Design Partners

The New York office of architecture firm OMA has designed galleries and a studio inside Gio Ponti‘s Denver Art Museum, which recently underwent a major redevelopment.

As part of the project OMA designed 11,500 square feet (1,068 square metres) of new and renovated galleries inside Ponti’s 1971 Martin Building, as well as a studio space.

The spaces form part of a wider overhaul and extension of the campus, carried out by Machado Silvetti Architects and Fentress Architects and completed in September 2021.

The three spaces by OMA, which the firm first unveiled plans for in January 2020, include the Design Gallery, Mezzanine Gallery and Design Studio – all distinct yet interconnected.

“It was an exciting exercise, designing within the historic Gio Ponti building and drawing from his extensive, multi-faceted body of work,” said OMA partner Shohei Shigematsu.

“Much like his design philosophy, the role of design seems to grow and diversify exponentially,” he continued. “A direct consequence of design ubiquity is accessibility and literacy, and we wanted the galleries to react to these changes.”

The 7,750-square-foot (720-square-metre) Design Gallery is laid out around a central “piazza” surrounded by an alternating sequence of rooms and islands.

For the opening exhibition, titled By Design: Stories and Ideas Behind Objects, the displays are formed from a variety of modular, flexible platforms that can be viewed simultaneously from different vantage points.

Made from a range of materials, including plywood and resin, the plinths and podiums are aligned with a grid but can be rearranged for future shows.

Reflective surfaces wrap a curved wall at the entrance to the gallery, which echoes the shape of the building, and line one of the display rooms.

Meanwhile in the smaller Mezzanine Gallery, which measures 1,900 square feet (177 square metres), a series of ceiling-mounted mirrors run through the exhibit.

Aptly presenting a retrospective of work by Ponti to coincide with the reopening, the gallery features display structures, platforms and signage are intended to mimic the shifted volumes in the famed architect’s work.

In the Design Studio, visitors are encouraged to freely explore the creative processes, and engage with objects and materials left for their use.

The flexible and interactive space has hinged walls, which shift with the studio’s requirements and also double as both displays and storage.

“The three spaces pose new ways of seeing as well as interacting with objects and materials—they present different spatial and programmatic identities,” said Shigematsu, “but work collectively as a platform for shifting the discourse beyond mere consumption of design, by incorporating movement, odd perspectives, and intimacy.”

OMA’s work with the Denver Art Museum (DAM) follows its exhibition design for Dior: From Paris to the World, staged at the museum in 2018 before moving to the Dallas Art Museum the following year.

“Working with the Denver Art Museum team on the architecture and design galleries and studio was a particularly meaningful way for us to continue our collaboration with the museum,” said OMA associate Christy Cheng.

“Architectural and design objects are ones that people encounter every day, and we loved working with DAM to consider how to best tell the stories behind those objects so that the visitor understands design as a process.”

The firm’s New York office also created the scenography for Manus x Machina, a showcase of fashion and technology at The Met’s Costume Institute in 2016.

The photography is by James Florio.

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Dezeen promotion: registration is now open for the inaugural Build for Life conference, organised by window manufacturer Velux to address climate-related challenges for the construction industry.

Taking place 15 to 17 November 2021, the free, fully digital conference will see 90 speakers from around the world present on sustainable building practices and potential resolutions to climate issues.

Velux developed the concept for the conference with Danish architecture studio EFFEKT, which is currently exhibiting its Ego to Eco installation at the Venice Biennale under the theme of How Will We Live Together.

The three-day series of talks aims to bring together architects, engineers, developers, housebuilders, students, researchers, and other opinion leaders to discuss some of the key challenges and opportunities facing the building industry today, and in the future.

“The key question at the centre of the conference is: How can we create well-being for people and the planet through building design?” said the organisers.

Remote presentations will be delivered from two main event stages: the Compass stage and the Daylight Symposium stage.

Speakers on the Compass stage will focus on the seven biggest challenges and opportunities in the building industry, including the need for flexibility in design, the shifting role of buildings in our communities, and new demands for healthier and more sustainable living spaces.

A series of keynote presentations on the Compass stage will include Lidia Morawska’s talk about the impact of air quality in buildings in a post-pandemic world, as well as Joseph Allen and John Macomber’s business case for how indoor spaces can drive performance and wellbeing. ​

The Daylight Symposium, which has explored how daylight can create healthy and resilient buildings since 2005, will bring together 40 leaders in daylight research and practice as part of Build for Life.

Interactive dialogues and panel discussions will also feature in the conference line-up.

Build for Life forms part of Velux’s wider sustainability strategy, which involves “taking measurable steps toward positive change while focusing on how buildings can help to resolve global challenges with sustainable solutions and practical action”.

For more information on the Build for Life conference and to register for free to attend, visit the Velux website.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for Velux as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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The 15 best entries for Dezeen’s Redesign the World competition powered by Twinmotion will be revealed during our Dezeen 15 festival, which starts next week.

The Redesign the World competition, which we launched earlier this year with Epic Games, called for radical new ideas to rethink the future of planet Earth.

The contest received over 100 entries from more than 30 different countries around the world.

These were assessed by a judging panel comprising White Arkitekter CEO Alexandra Hagen, structural engineer Hanif Kara, speculative architect Liam Young, Twinmotion product marketing manager Belinda Ercan and Dezeen founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs, which selected 15 proposals as finalists to be published on Dezeen.

Competition received “mind-blowing” proposals

“Entrants really grappled with the challenge set down by the contest and we were very impressed by the quality of entries,” said Fairs.

“There was a wide variety of ideas, from elevated cities to underground habitats, and lots of imaginative solutions for solving the climate crisis. This made it difficult to judge, but the 15 selected proposals all present interesting ideas that will provoke lots of discussion about the future of our planet.”

“While the sheer number of creative solutions is impressive, it is the unbounded imagination of the winners and their ability to use technology to think and build at planetary scale – for a better world – that we find to be truly humbling,” said Ercan.

“This experience has been nothing short of inspiring and mind-blowing for the Twinmotion team, and we would like to thank everyone who contributed to its success.”

Fifteen best proposals to be published during Dezeen 15

From the 15 finalists, the judges have also selected an overall winner, a runner-up, two joint third-placed entries and one highly commended entry.

Dezeen will be publishing one finalist a day from 1 November, culminating in the announcement of the winner on 19 November.

The winner will receive a top prize of £5,000. The runner-up will get £2,500, the two third-placed entrants will receive £1,000 each and the remaining 11 finalists will each receive £500.

Competition powered by Twinmotion

The Redesign the World competition, which was free to enter, called for new ideas to redesign planet Earth to ensure it remains habitable long into the future.

Entrants were tasked with creating a 3D visualisation of their proposal using real-time architectural visualisation tool Twinmotion.

For each finalist, Dezeen will publish a still render and a short video created in Twinmotion to showcase their proposal.

Finalists revealed during Dezeen 15

The Redesign the World competition ties in with Dezeen 15, a three-week festival to celebrate Dezeen’s 15th birthday.

The festival will see 15 creatives including Es Devlin, Winy Maas and Neri Oxman propose ideas that could make the world a better place over the next 15 years.

Each contributor has prepared a written manifesto and we’ll publish one of these each day for the 15-day duration of the festival.

In addition, we’ll conduct a live interview with each contributor, in which they’ll present their idea and discuss it with Dezeen founder and editor-in-chief Fairs. View the schedule here.

The post Redesign the World winners to be announced during Dezeen 15 appeared first on Dezeen.

For her graduate project at the University of New South Wales, Industrial Design student Karen Kong designed an impressive work chair with an unusual target market: Professional orchestra members.

“Due to the high physiological demands that orchestral musicians face, 50% out of 245 musicians in Sydney’s leading orchestras experience musculoskeletal injuries,” writes Kong, who is herself a violinist. “In order to reduce the chances of injuries occurring, a crucial area to look into are the chairs that orchestral musicians sit on as it can have a high impact on their physiological health.”

“All musicians come in different shapes and sizes. They all have different areas of their body that need to be supported and based on which instrument they play, they need to be supported by the chair differently.”

Kong designed her elegant Sesura Chair to be adjustable in multiple ways:

Seat Height

“On the right side of the chair, the front handle will change the height of the front two legs, the back handle will do the same to the back two legs.”

“The right side handles are connected to a main thread which is internally housed in the seat frame. The main thread has two nylon dies which connect to a spring-type part, the spring part connects directly to the internal leg.”

“As you turn the handle, the rotating thread causes the nylon die to move left and right, pushing out the internal leg which then raises and lowers the chair legs.”

Backrest Depth

“Some musicians are taller, some musicians prefer to sit further back in their seats. You can easily adjust the depth of the backrest up to 8cm to suit everyone’s seating preference.”

“The backrest is attached to two aluminium bent rods which are inserted into a rack. This rack is the one moving part of the three components working with the pinion and worm drive gears that allow the rotational movement of the turning handle to translate directly to linear motion of the back rest. Each full rotation you make with the handle will change the backrest depth by one cm.”

Backrest Height

“The backrest height can easily be adjusted with one hand. Simply push the centre lower panel to release and lock it to your selected height.

“Musicians can increase the backrest height up to 8cm.”

“SESURA is designed with as few components as possible. The backrest height mechanism operates similarly to the adjustment of a car seat headrest. Simply push the lower bar to unlock, lift up or down to selected height and release the push bar to lock in place.”

On top of that, Kong designed the Sesura Chair to stack, and it’s slimmer than the incumbent market-leading design.

It’s also far less clunky looking, as you can see by comparing the two chairs’ adjustment handles. Kong’s design also allows you to adjust the Sesura one-handed, so you can keep ahold of your instrument with the other; the incumbent design requires two hands to adjust.

Kong won a Good Design Award for her efforts, and is now a freshly-minted industrial designer. Bravo!