Projects – Page 3 – Specialty Fabrics Review

Upward mobility: on-the-go hot air ballooning

January 1, 2019 | Projects

Who doesn’t wish they could just fly away once in a while—especially at the sight of hot air balloons gracing the horizon? But expense, equipment and accessibility can make hot air ballooning prohibitive for the average person. FlyDOO, a start-up company based in southeast France, is aiming to c…

Robotic fabric flowers react to people

January 1, 2019 | Projects

The natural world is constantly changing. Take a walk through a meadow and the view is different from one moment to the next. That’s the idea behind the kinetic sculpture called “Meadow,” on display at Dutch Design Week 2018 last October. Studio Drift, an Amsterdam-based design firm, created t…

Safety in style: the foldable bike helmet

January 1, 2019 | Projects

Reversible all-weather tent

January 1, 2019 | Projects

Cool in the summer, warm in the winter and waterproof in a rainstorm, the weatherHYDE tent is built for people who like to enjoy the great outdoors all year long. In fact, maker Billion Bricks Ltd., a Singapore-based nonprofit design and technology studio, also envisions the tent as a humanitarian r…

Sports bags double as life rafts

January 1, 2019 | Projects

Tough, waterproof, multi-purpose—that’s the standard for outdoor bags these days. Design company Subtech Sports has taken things to a new level with version 2.0 of its rugged Pro Drybags. Subtech Sports was founded by Eric Lyth after an experience with kayaking in Australia’s Sydney harbor. He…

Motorized shades for customer comfort

December 1, 2018 | Projects

People often agree that a meal tastes better outdoors. That’s why restaurant patios never go out of style. Not only is it enjoyable for patrons, the restaurant benefits from a larger service area with more tables. Princi Italia, a casual dining spot in West Plano, Texas, is one of three locations …

Washing bag fights plastic pollution

December 1, 2018 | Projects

The millions of tons of plastic pollution that end up in the oceans and other waterways each year is quickly becoming a global crisis. One of the culprits is clothing made from synthetic textiles. With each laundering, numerous small plastic fibers make their way from the washing machine down the dr…

Tuft love for natural carpets

December 1, 2018 | Projects

Industrial textile designer Liset van der Scheer enjoys the challenge of taking traditional materials and using them in an innovative way. For a recent collection of carpet and poufs for Casalis, a Belgian designer and producer of contemporary interior textiles, van der Sheer explored the idea of br…

Heat-conducting graphene jacket

December 1, 2018 | Projects

Part jacket. Part science experiment. That’s how the makers of a new graphene-coated jacket describe their garment. Only a single atom thick, graphene is invisible to the naked eye. It’s lightweight, highly conductive, and is the strongest material known to humankind. But graphene also comes wit…

Parachute system ensures safe landings for astronauts

December 1, 2018 | Projects

What does it take to get astronauts home safely from a deep-space mission as their crew module hits the earth’s atmosphere and slows from 20,000 mph to a mere 325 mph? A strong, agile parachute system. NASA has been testing such a system for the Orion spacecraft. It consists of 11 parachutes, incl…

Category: Projects

Upward mobility: on-the-go hot air ballooning

Robotic fabric flowers react to people

Safety in style: the foldable bike helmet

Reversible all-weather tent

Sports bags double as life rafts

Motorized shades for customer comfort

Washing bag fights plastic pollution

Tuft love for natural carpets

Heat-conducting graphene jacket

Parachute system ensures safe landings for astronauts