Bridging the gap between apparel and computing industries

By Suzy Frisch

Lucy Dunne's work lies at the intersection of technology and apparel, where she develops ways for technology to expand and augment the function of clothing. Whether it's helping clothes perform better at their current job description--keeping us warm, protecting us from injury--or taking on new responsibilities such as watching over our health or monitoring body processes, Dunne is seeking to break new ground in the apparel industry.

She joins the College of Design this summer as an assistant professor of wearable technology and apparel design, helping to put the University of Minnesota at the forefront of a nascent industry. Dunne brings a background that is both low- and high-tech. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Cornell University in textiles and apparel design, as well as a Ph.D. in computer science from Ireland's University College Dublin.

Though many people have been working on creating wearable technology for years, a wide gap still remains between the computing and apparel industries. The obstacles are vast, including getting the scientists and the clothing designers to integrate their design processes, manufacturing, and markets to jointly develop wearable technology. Dunne hopes her teaching and research serves as a bridge between the two fields.

She sees enormous potential for more highly functioning clothes, such as apparel that can monitor a heart patient's condition or give athletes data about their performance. Another line of wearable technology could include devices that serve us better, such as apparel linked to your home's thermostat. When you are too warm, your clothes could notify the device. Or a cell phone might sense your surroundings and perform functions based on that information, vibrating instead of ringing, or sending a call to voicemail when you're in the middle of a presentation.

"The possibilities are somewhat endless. We all wear clothing, and we wear it in a huge range of activities and situations," she said. "It's a very new and under-explored field." With the addition of Dunne to the clothing design faculty, the University may very well make wearable technology as ubiquitous as blue jeans.