A moment of being : une utopie non cousue

This project merges art and technology to create a reality in which a swarm of unmanned air micro-vehicles (UAV) cooperatively dresses a human. The swarm manipulates clothing by interpreting the movements of the human subject; the actions of each UAV are determined independently by the collective consciousness of the swarm. To preserve the fluidity of the manipulations, the members of the swarm must be small and unobtrusive. Despite the limited carrying capacity and autonomy of UAVs, we have demonstrated that we can successfully use a swarm of micro-UAV to collaboratively transport pieces of fabric.

A swarm of UAV carrying textile materials allows us to produce autonomous and transformable clothing. The project is a platform for innovation in the areas of distributed intelligence, human-computer interaction, clothing design, and sensor networks. The solution lies in the development of a software system architecture and the creation of completely original clothes. The sensitivity of the micro-UAV, together with the transported textile materials, enables us to create clothing that is made and shaped by the user and the immediate environment.