#004: Design-Lead: Re-Imagining Our Experiences with Interactive Textiles with Despina Papadopoulos, CEO & Founder of Principled Design - Wearable Tech 2.0 is here!

In this week's episode of The IoClothes Podcast, we welcome Despina Papadopoulos, CEO and Founder of Principled Design to The IoClothes Podcast. Principled Design is a design and development studio based in New York city specializing in creative innovative solutions for connected experiences with emphasis on wearable technology and e-textiles. Despina is an absolute rock star in the interactive textiles world, and has a long list of accomplishments and keynotes. Most recently, her and her team were contributing members to the Ralph Lauren heated jacket Team USA will be wearing for the opening ceremonies in the 2018 Winter Olympics. We caught up with Despina at her studio in New York City and discussed her unique introduction into interactive textiles, what opportunities she's most excited about and get a glimpse into how she sees the future shaping up.

Show Notes:

• Despina started her career in philosophy and feels it's a driving force in the world interactive design, and smart textiles, that she has continued to have a significant impact in.
• Twenty years ago, Despina was working on creating interactive garments. Specifically: jackets that would communicate with one another via infrared.
• We are transition from brands and companies purely building integrated electronic garments for PR purposes, and are now starting to realize the potential and the new experiences that can be delivered with technology.
• There real opportunities to design and build user experiences, with our clothes, that augment the emotional experience we may be having with our environment or the people around us. This could mean amplifying our experiences, communicating with other or expressing ourselves in new and unique ways.
• Collaboration are great. Such as the Nike-Flex or Levi's-Google, but the key to making these work is educating and setting clear expectations as you venture into the unknown.
• Projects in this space must have a strong executive champion. Many great project and ideas have failed due to not having the proper top-cover and support that is needed.
• In 2016, Principled Design established the Open Innovation Group, which is composed of executives from 5 non-competing companies to discuss where the industry is headed to encourage synergies between them.
• Crystal ball question: 3 years out, it's tough. In 5 years, we'll start to see more and more companies releasing projects like Project Jacquard. We'll also start to see the effects of advanced manufacturing and customization creeping the industry. This will allow for less expensive manufacturing and getting control over the production process.

For more information on Principled Design, head over to their website at www.principled-design.com.

Support for this episode is brought to you by SKIIN. The world's most advanced textile computing platform. For more information, check out https://www.skiin.com, and reserve your set today!

For more on the podcast and the rapidly growing community we're building at IoClothes, check us out at www.ioclothes.com.

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Copyright © 2017-2018 IoClothes Consulting LLC. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast is for general information purposes only. In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage derived from the information provided.