ITC:
Immersive Technologies and Computation Lab

2022 - 2024

Development Project

TEKO Foundation

Co-Applicant

Summary

The ITC project aimed to establish a new competence environment at the University of Borås for research, education, and industry collaboration within the context of digital transformations of the textile and fashion field. Grounded in the emerging needs of academia and industry alike for a lab dedicated to digital and hybrid workflows, the project was funded by TEKO and the Vice Chancellor Grant Initiative to i) investigate and acquire state-of-the-art technologies relevant to the areas of Design, Textile Technology, and Textile Management and ii) to establish a physical space and computation platform that facilitate the use of such tools, devices, and software. Members from the departments that represent the targeted areas collaboratively developed the environment to be used by researchers, students, and industry partners alike.

Technologies

The project investigates the possibilities of implementing a data infrastructure with regards to the following activities:

Online Server:

A server with high computational power was established at the University with the funding from the TEKO Foundation. It facilitates streaming processing power for demanding tasks to i) computers located in the ITC Lab and ii) researcher's and student's individual computers, which allows for flexibility and increased accessibility of computational resources.

Three-Dimensional Immersive Prototyping and Interaction

Virtual reality and mixed reality headsets facilitate real-time full-body engagement with digital content. This allows to drape digitally similarly to physical draping, construct and experience immersive spaces, as in large-scale textile and fashion installations, and simulate customer experiences in various settings.

> The ITC Lab facilitates this via MS HoloLens2, MetaQuest 3, and MetaQuest 3S devices.

Digital Construction and Modelling

A variety of three-dimensional computer-aided software allows users to create complex garments and construction patterns digitally, simulate material properties, create responsive and interactive digital environments for gamified and immersive design experiences, and visualise products for marketing and presentation purposes.

> The ITC Lab facilitates this via CLO, Blender, Rhino, Adobe Substance, and Unity.

Digital Fabrication

Three-dimensional printers allow users to translate previously created digital three-dimensional models into physical objects via fabrication principles.

> The ITC Lab facilitates this via: Prusa MK3S and Sigma printers.

Three-Dimensional Body Scanning

Mobile and stationary three-dimensional scanning systems facilitate the digitisation of bodies, garments, and objects for faithful and realistic garment prototyping and accurate design processes.

> The ITC Lab facilitates this via: Shining 3D EinScan Rigil and PolyCam.

Motion Capture

Body motions can be translated into the digital in real time using motion-capturing systems. The captured data are useful for creating digital body and garment animations, as well as study motion patterns and translate them into robotic movements. > The ITC Lab facilitates this via Perception Neuron Pro, Axis Neuron Studio, and iPad Pro devices.

AI-assisted Workflows

Streaming computational power to local computers allows users to configure and use locally-run Generative-Adversarial Network (GAN) systems for creating complex imagery, patterns, 3D models, material simulations, animations, and data analysis and curation.

> The ITC Lab facilitates this via an online computation system to stream computation power to other devices.