by helene.goedl -

03 | Digital Fashion – Topic Overview

Digital fashion refers to clothing and accessories that exist purely in the digital realm, created using computer-generated imagery (CGI) and 3D modelling techniques. It combines elements of fashion, technology, and art to create virtual garments that can be worn and showcased in digital spaces, such as virtual reality (VR) environments, online gaming platforms, and social media. Because of these factors, digital fashion holds great potential for an interdisciplinary case study in the field of media design. It combines factors from different disciplines and intersects in a way that presents both enormous potential and considerable challenges in the design process. Over the next blog entries, I will present several factors of digital fashion that are relevant and interesting to investigate in a further research project. This blog entry presents a brief topic overview to establish some of the main areas of the topic.

History

As an introductory entry, it will be interesting to take a closer look at the history of digital fashion. Arguably, the core concept of digital fashion has existed since the development of digital animation and computer games. These two areas have provided the most opportunities to showcase digitally designed and created garments. In a future blog entry, the history of digital fashion will be revisited in more detail. 

Digital Fashion for Avatars 

In the gaming and virtual reality space, digital fashion is gaining popularity as a way for users to customize the appearance of their avatars. Players can purchase or earn virtual clothing items to enhance the aesthetics of their digital personas.

Collaborations and Digital Fashion Brands

Traditional fashion brands are starting to collaborate with digital artists and designers to create limited-edition virtual collections. Some brands are also emerging specifically as digital fashion entities, focusing on creating unique and innovative digital clothing. Some of the collaboration projects also tie in with the previous topic as they have taken place in the video game sphere. Most notably, the 2021 collaboration between luxury fashion brand Balenciaga and the gaming studio Epic Games for the popular game Fortnite has made waves in the business. A future blog entry will explore said collaboration in more detail as a case study.

Virtual Fashion Shows

Designers are increasingly exploring the possibilities of presenting their collections through virtual fashion shows. These events take place in digital environments, allowing for unique and immersive presentations that go beyond the constraints of traditional runway shows. This has gained relevance especially in the pandemic years and will be looked at in more detail, with a special focus on differences in potential between real life and virtual fashion shows and what the introduction of the new possibilities could mean for the fashion industry in the future.

Sustainability

Digital fashion is often touted as a more sustainable alternative to traditional fashion. Since there is no physical production involved, there is no need for raw materials, manufacturing, or shipping, potentially reducing the environmental impact associated with the fashion industry. At the same time, the discussion around digital products and their sustainability is a point of contention on its own, since the ever growing need for larger server farms, computers and their energy consumption need to be weighed against traditional forms of production. 

NFTs and Digital Ownership

Some digital fashion items are being sold as NFTs, providing a sense of ownership and authenticity in the digital space. Buyers can use these NFTs to showcase and trade their virtual fashion items within specific platforms. This is especially interesting because it brings up discussions around the value of digital products in general, the merit of owning a purely virtual item and the relationship to the analogue equivalent of attributing value to fashion items. An intersting point of discussion for this topic is also the relationship between original fashion pieces and fake products or counterfeit items in the real world and in digital space.

Augmented Reality (AR) Fashion

AR technology allows users to superimpose digital clothing onto their real-world surroundings through smartphone apps or AR glasses. This enables users to experiment with different looks without physically trying on clothes. This also ties in with the previous topic of digital ownership and how this might be handled in AR spaces.

3D Modelling for Fashion Design

Digital fashion designers is mainly done in 3D modelling software to create detailed and realistic virtual garments. This process enables them to experiment with unconventional materials, shapes, and designs that may be challenging or impossible to produce in the physical world. A closer exploration of material qualities and possibilities in digital space will be continued in its own blog post. 

Digital fashion is a dynamic and evolving field that continues to push the boundaries of creativity and technology. As technology advances, we can expect to see even more integration of digital fashion into our virtual and augmented reality experiences.

by david.lasslberger -

#03 Input methods for people with disabilities

In this blog post i want to close off the topics I have had researched a bit before, before starting with completely new research. As the title says, this week’s theme is input methods for people with disabilities., meaning how they are able to use and interact with digital devices such as a PC or smartphone. Since this is a vast and deep topic, I want to focus on an area in which I already have some experience in – gaming. Since I went into the relevance of this particular use case in my first blog post I will not go into it further here. So let’s get right into it!

Depending on the disability, players may not need specialized equipment at all. As is the case with Street Fighter player BrolyLegs, who uses a normal controller to play the fast-paced, fighting game Street Fighter V. Instead of using the controller with his hands, he uses the controller with his mouth. Using this technique, he can go toe to toe with other pro players.

However, sometimes more specialized equipment may be needed. One option to help disabled gamers play their favorite games is to redesign the controller they are using. Both Sony and Microsoft have done just that and developed controllers for their respective consoles which are designed with disabled gamers in mind. In Sony’s case, they have developed the Access-Controller, as they call it. It features big, customizable buttons and a big joystick. Button remapping is supported in the PlayStation software, allowing players to customize as they see fit. It will release this December at a retail price of 89,99€. On the other hand, Microsoft developed the Xbox adaptive controller. It features two large pads which can receive input as well as a d-pad. Its strength lies in its customizability and ability to work with other devices, such as joy sticks or buttons, which is supported in the software. It is also sold for 89,99€.

Xbox Adaptive Controller
Sony Access Controller

One thing I came across in my research which I found interesting was eye tracking. As for a specific use case, I found EyeMine, a piece of software which can be used to control the popular video game Minecraft with your eyes. However, this software only supports specific devices such as the „Tobii Eye Tracker 5“ which, even on sale, is listed at 223€. This investment cost may serve as a potential barrier of entry for low income households. However, basic eye tracking is achievable at very low cost. Any webcam may be turned into an eye tracker using software like the open source software „Opentrack“. The problem then stems from the available software to utilize cameras. However, there already exist many (free) options and as these open source projects grow, it will become more and more easyily for end users to utilize such technology.

While I was doing my research I also stumbled upon this video by Great Big Story who interviewed streamer and psychologist Perrikaryal (her internet handle). Though not disabled herself, she found an input method which may be useful for disabled people. Using an EEG (ElectroEncephaloGram) she was able to pick up brain signals and translate them into usable input. This means that when thinking of an action, e.g. attack or jump, the input can be mapped so that the game character responds accordingly. However, this is not as easy as it may seem. It took her many hours of deliberate imagination practice for the EEG to be able to pick up the signals. Nevertheless, combining this brain tracking technology with eye tracking, she was able to beat Elden Ring, a game commonly known for its high difficulty. This input method may prove a valid option for people with disabilities.

Another form of input are voice commands. Utilizing any microphone and software, which in many cases is open source or even built into the operating system directly (as is the case with Microsoft’s Speech Recognition) users are able to use their voice to input commands or generate text. This may be very useful for slower paced games, such as turn based games, where the speed in which an input must be made is not that decisive. Speech commands may take longer to perform or take a while to be recognized, and may therefore hinder faster paced games. This does not mean that voice commands cannot be used for such games, but it is a problem to keep in mind.

In summary, there exist various input methods which may provide suitable solutions for disabled gamers. These input methods are not only applicable in the field of gaming, however. They may be used as input methods for digital devices in general. But even just in the field of gaming, the possibility for people to play games and connect to each other, regardless of disability, is of incredible value.