While at Superflex as a product designer, we hired fuseproject to reimagine the Echo suit (the first physical aesthetic concept suit of Superflex) and create ‘Aura’ - another concept suit that aspired to be one step further removed from Echo and the tether of our technology and one step closer to an aspirational vision of our future product. Fuseproject created Aura and delivered a design expressed in a series of realistically rendered images.  The public release of the Aura images were essentially the unveiling of Superflex and of our product, after which the London Design Museum offered Superflex a featured display in their “The New Old” exhibit to display Powered Clothing™ featuring Aura. To further expand upon the momentum of our public unveiling, we accepted the London Design Museum’s offer and began the challenge of building Aura.

The biggest obstacle was the Aura suit was not designed to be built in the physical world. Fuseproject’s vision must be translated into a cut and sewn suit complete with integrated power patches. A full scale looks-like concept model needed to be built, shipped and displayed in less than one month - and had to be finished to the highest level of quality as the viewer would be in close proximity to the suit during the exhibit.

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I collaborated with two of my colleagues in translating and redesigning the rendered Aura image into a buildable concept suit, after which we established our project timeline and component deliverables.  I then focused on my individual responsibilities which were material research and sourcing, building all hard goods components (thigh power patches, thoracic power patch, transmission lines and anchors) and the interaction between hard goods and soft goods.

Our shared vision of Aura was successfully executed and was shipped to London in time for the exhibit opening and was featured in the book “Designing for Our Future Selves”. We also participated in several more museum exhibits all over the globe, with the help of an external prototyping company who were able to replicate our build for these multiple displays. The momentum from the launch of Aura led to new PR and investor opportunities, both local and overseas. The rapid build of this project helped inform our future process of designing and project management, while improving our collaborative design methods.

EXHIBITS

• V&A Museum
  The Future Starts Here
  London

• Cooper Hewitt
  Access + Ability
  New York City

• Kennedy Center
  Artful Innovation: Inclusive Design and Technology
  Washington DC
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• Lodz Art Centre
  New Old Tour
  Łódź, Poland

• London Design Museum
  The New Old
  London
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