Lattice Wrap is a tailored illuminated visibility vest, designed for cyclist and pedestrian safety with a touch of customizable whimsy.
This custom piece of wearable tech was meticulously handcrafted with weather resistant textiles and soft electronics during a pop-up E-Textile Tailor Shop at the Tabakfabrik in Linz, which invited commissions for custom “bike light jackets” from local bicyclists.
The pop-up was initiated by Mika and Hannah of KOBAKANT, a collective that
explores the use of textile crafts and electronics as a medium for commenting on technological aspects of today’s “high-tech” society.
KOBAKANT believes that “technology exists to be hacked, handmade and modified by everyone to better fit our personal needs and desires.”
Following a series of introductions to the tools, materials, and skills available, we were given two days to complete our commissioned pieces. Our piece for this pop-up was commissioned by Daniela, a local Linzer who travels by bicycle throughout the city. Following an afternoon of discussing her needs and issues with bike jackets that are currently available on the market, we came up with the idea of an adaptable visibility vest and Lattice Wrap was born.
Programmed using the Arduino IDE and an Adafruit Flora microcontroller, Lattice Wrap features a lightweight and hands-free design, which can be worn alone or on top of regular clothes as an accessory or as outerwear. Other features include:
• programmable LED lights with three preset modes (steady-on, twinkle, and SOS)
• rechargeable and removable battery
• weather-resistant and hand-washable (all non-washable components are equipped with an easy on-and-off button system)
• low-tech reflect to ensure low light visibility, even when batteries run out of charge
The use of Arduino for programming the vest and its light sequences was of utmost importance, being one of the most user-friendly and completely open-source electronics platforms out there. This enables the vest to be re-programmable and customizable to the user’s preferences. In addition to the three preset modes we had pre-programmed onto Lattice Wrap, the user can customize the light sequences, button behaviors, and light colors.
Watch this space for DIY tutorials on how to make your own visibility vest! Related DIY tutorials in the pipeline include turn signal bike gloves and custom textile light patches.