Say Yes To The Robotic Dress

Would you like to wear a dress that makes you look and move like a high-tech sea creature adjusting your delicate exoskeleton to the gentle movements of the ocean?

Well, you’re in luck. Fashion designer Ying Gao has created two interactive dresses that move when you change facial expressions. Part of an interactive project called “Neutralité,” the “Can’t” dress and the “Won’t” dress are each made of Super Organza, the world’s thinnest fabric.

Facial sensor systems are embedded into the portion of the dress that drapes over your head and is connected to what are called “robotic actuators.” Move your face, and parts of the delicate Super Organza folds move with you.

Gao’s dresses combine a few trends we’re following, including Biomimicry, or design that copies nature or is inspired by natural patterns and behaviors and Mixed Reality, or the mashup of the digital and analog worlds. You could also say the dresses are an example of Moodgeisting, or using technology to read moods. In the future, your dress might give away your inner states.