衣服會開口呼吸！設計靈感來自1千多年前的「納豆菌」
運動員都喜歡吸濕排汗的衣服來維持皮膚舒爽，而立陶宛的服裝設計師卻用來自日本的「納豆菌」製作成會呼吸的衣服，而且每件都有鱗片狀的「排氣孔」！生物科技無可限量，一位來自立陶宛的服裝設計師與麻省理工學院的研究員共同開發，將發酵黃豆用的「納豆菌」運用在布料上，形成一種智慧型布料，讓大量流汗的運動員或是舞者可以感受到穿著衣物的透氣感。
納豆的傳統製法，是在一千多年前的日本，由一位日本武士發現用一種名為「枯草芽孢桿菌」的稻草菌發酵出來，從那時候起納豆菌就被用來發酵食物。
「納豆菌」具有一種特性，隨著「濕度」變化產生「吸水膨脹」或「排水收縮」的獨有動作，而且就算枯草菌死亡，細胞中的物質仍然在運作，因此獲得2015年歐洲新銳設計師的──安妮拉尼塔，想將此生物技術結合在創新布料上，並將納豆菌化為奈米的生物膜，以特殊的列印機將膠狀物塗料印刷在萊卡布料上，不僅可以貼身剪裁，而納豆菌的特性也變成了布料開闔的「制動器」。
藉著「吸水膨脹」的特性，加上鱗片般的布面就會捲曲，將納豆菌做不同的排列，布料則會有不同的伸縮程度，當濕度增加（持續流汗）就布料一捲曲，身體就像出現很多排氣孔一般，幫助透氣排汗，並且結合電腦監測後，針對排汗多的部位做此設計。這種布料確實讓人們感受到生物科技的應用竟可以如此寬廣，「智慧型裝置」不再局限於「機械」上，智慧型衣物確實打開了人們對服裝設計的眼界。
新聞來源：東森新聞雲
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This Living Clothing Morphs When You Sweat
HUMANS HAVE BEEN bending electronics to our will for more than a century. Biology, on the other hand, has always been a little harder to tame. A new project from the MIT Media Lab’s Tangible Media Group called BioLogic is exploring how we might gain a little more control over the biological side of things.The investigation, led by Lining Yao of MIT, focuses on how we can grow actuators that control the interfaces around us instead of manufacturing them in a factory. In other words: Yao and her team want to use the natural behavior of certain microorganisms to power objects and interfaces, the same way a motor might.
To power its inventions, BioLogic relies on Bacillus subtilis natto—a bacterium, commonly used in Japanese cooking, that reacts to atmospheric moisture. Like pinecones, these hydromorphic “natto cells” will expand and contract depending on the amount of humidity in the air—the more humidity present, the bigger the bacteria get (the size of an individual cell can change up to 50 percent). With this behavior in mind, Yao partnered with New Balance and designers from the Royal College of Art to create a new type of clothing called Second Skin that becomes more breathable as the wearer’s body heat and humidity increase.
In the video below, we see two dancers wearing tight-fitting spandex suits with built-in flaps on the back, atop the dancers’ trapezius muscles. As the dancers perspire, the triangular flaps curl up from their flat, resting state, like pieces of paper that have been sprinkled with water.
Biologic from Tangible Media Group on Vimeo.
To make this transformation happen, Yao and her team turned the natto cells into a biofilm that was then printed in layers on pieces of spandex. Printing the biofilm in different patterns gives rise to different behaviors. For example, to make a piece of fabric curl up, biofilm is applied uniformly across the material; to make the fabric bend more sharply, the film is printed in lines. Yao explains that the cells react to all levels of humidity—as soon as humidity begins to rise, the flaps begin to curl. At 100 percent humidity, the flaps are completely open, allowing for maximum breathability.
Yao and the Tangible Media Group aren’t the only ones investigating this idea. MIT’s Skylar Tibbits has also been exploring the concept of “programmable matter,” albeit with synthetic materials, rather than biological ones. In both cases, the focus is on controlling the behavior of objects and interfaces with materials that are cheaper and more dynamic that traditional motors. Yao says biology, in particular, is a promising new discipline for designers to work with because of its adaptability. “With biology you can start to imagine functions that aren’t available for electronics,” she says. Living matter, unlike electronics, can grow, evolve, duplicate, divide, and die. It’s an incredibly powerful medium—if you can control it.
Making of Biologic from Tangible Media Group on Vimeo.
In the case of BioLogic, the MIT team has been using natural natto cells, which means they haven’t been modified to do anything beyond their natural expansion and contraction behavior. But as Yao peers into the future, she imagines how designers might be able to modify a cell’s DNA structure to perform more complex functions. Things like adding bioluminescence to make a fabric or plant glow, or weaving pollution-eating bacteria into a piece of clothing that can then consume and digest dirty air. All of that is still ahead of us—“We’re just at the beginning,” she admits—but it’s a future that’s certainly wild to think about.
Original Article: Wired