Textile surfaces for electrical supply, information technology communication and intuitive interaction with IoT devices in the smart home

The aim of ConText is to develop a user-friendly and intuitive system of smart textile surfaces that make walls and floors in living areas usable for IOT applications. The low-energy cable-based power supply and communication infrastructure is safe, environmentally friendly and has a low electromagnetivity. The flexible design allows intuitive and individual configuration of smart homes. Actuators and sensors can simply be placed based on the needs and requests of the users. Various haptic interaction patterns such as touching, stroking or stretching can be used to configure interactions, thus forming a basis for intelligent interactive assistants. In addition to spontaneous configurations, settings can also be personalized and activated by preset patches. ConText enables the connection to standard smart home protocols.

Team

Katharina Lorenz (design researcher, DFKI)
Bodo Pahlke (design researcher, DFKI)
Christian Pflug (design researcher, DFKI)
Kristina Müller (textile technician, DFKI)

Partner

DFKI GmbH – Forschungsbereich Cyber-Physical Systems, Bremen
Robert Bosch GmbH, Renningen
Deutsche Institute für Textil- und Faserforschung Denkendorf (DITF)
Fraunhofer-Institut für Fertigungstechnik und Angewandte Materialforschung (IFAM)
Bremen – Norafin Industries (Germany) GmbH,
Mildenau – Peppermint Holding GmbH Berlin
Innovative Living Institute GmbH & Co.KG, Essen (im Unterauftrag/subcontracted)

Link

ConText