This unique symposium served to highlight the emerging climate of ‘smartness’, encompassing intelligent textiles, textile technology, wearable technologies and design. The event match-made cutting edge innovative development with on-the-pulse market opportunities, here in London and beyond. This event brought together a diverse range of speakers and key issues addressed were; the real needs of consumers, the opportunities for brands and developers, the social and environmental impact of smartness.
The four main sessions tackled a different dimension of smartness.
Smart Climate introduced the spectrum of trends and drivers, technology and textiles convergence, the consumer and environmental perspective. Keynote speaker James Woodhuysen took a typically polemical, but humanist view and challenged any complacency about our smartness
Smart Talk explored in more detail the divergence of practice and terminology that can create barriers to multidisciplinary work. A short documentary film and work from Central St. Martin’s were presented as methodologies to break through these challenges.
Smart Endeavour looked at an exciting range of cutting edge brands and companies experiencing the commercial realities of bringing products to the market place across a range of sectors, levels of innovation and scales of business.
Smart Impact—as well as highlighting the potential commercial opportunities with our second keynote speaker, this session concluded with a panel discussion that mapped out the smart terrain for the future; from the perspective of real users, the environment, technology, economics and the working methods that will lead to success.
The symposium ended with a Smart parade, networking, drinks and the Smart Materials Bazaar range of materials and technologies. This collection was assembled by Smart.mat KTN and the speakers, to give a hands-on experience to delegates.
It’s a hot subject for debate. How smart are we?
