Anouk Wipprecht at World Maker Faire in NY, the Samsung Developer Conference in SF and as TED Resident

On September 23 and September 24 the World Maker Faire will take place in New York City. On September 24 Anouk Wipprecht and Tiffany Trenda will have a conversation about their work which explores the body and its relationship between inside and outside, between self and other, and between intimacy and technology. For more information about “Body Talk with Anouk Wipprecht and Tiffany Trenda” click here. Furthermore, Anouk Wipprecht is a Fall 2017 TED resident.

Furthermore, Anouk Wipprecht will speak at the Samsung Developer Conference on October 18-19 in San Francisco. 

About the World Maker Faire 

Maker Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth—a family-friendly festival of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker movement. 

Part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new, Maker Faire is an all-ages gathering of tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, science clubs, authors, artists, students, and commercial exhibitors. All of these “makers” come to Maker Faire to show what they have made and to share what they have learned.

The launch of Maker Faire in the Bay Area in 2006 demonstrated the popularity of making and interest among legions of aspiring makers to participate in hands-on activities and learn new skills at the event. 200,000 people annually attend the two flagship Maker Faires in the Bay Area and New York, with an average of 44% of attendees first timers at the Bay Area event, and 61% in New York. A family-friendly event, 50% attend the event with children. In 2017, over 190 independently-produced “Mini Maker Faires” plus over 30 larger-scale Featured Maker Faires will have taken place around the world, including Tokyo, Rome, Shenzhen, Taipei, Seoul, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Detroit, San Diego, Milwaukee, and Kansas City.

Maker Faire is primarily designed to be forward-looking, showcasing makers who are exploring new forms and new technologies. But it’s not just for the novel in technical fields; Maker Faire features innovation and experimentation across the spectrum of science, engineering, art, performance, and craft.

Maker Faire is a gathering of fascinating, curious people who enjoy learning and who love sharing what they can do. It’s a venue for makers to show examples of their work and interact with others about it. Many makers say they have no other place to share what they do. DIY (Do-It-Yourself) is often invisible in our communities, taking place in shops, garages and on kitchen tables. It’s typically out of the spotlight of traditional art or science or craft events. Maker Faire makes visible these projects and ideas that we don’t encounter every day.

About Samsung Developer Conference

The Samsung Developer Conference brings together thousands of developers, technologists, business leaders, innovators, designers, and content creators to network and learn about the next wave of intelligent technology. This two-day event is packed with technical talks, hands-on labs and thought leader panels that provide attendees of all skill levels with the training, practical advice and the inspiration they need to stay at the forefront of the industry. Experience new products, services and software from Samsung and its partners in both high impact and emerging categories such as mobile, IoT, cloud, wearables, enterprise, healthcare, VR.

“The Intersection of Fashion, Robotics and Technology”

Fashion that becomes interactive using technology has never before been as close to the skin – what kind of possibilities does this open up? Come learn from a FashionTech designer who works across disciplines in search of intelligent systems that interact with the body and environment of the wearer. Using machine learning and biomimicry coupled with sensors, smart devices, VR and animatronics to create wearables that belong on the runway was well as the high-tech showroom, these designs move, breathe, and react to the world around them. Learn about new ways we can interface — and micro-controlled garments designed to provoke.

TED Resident

On September 11, TED welcomed its latest class to the TED Residency program, an in-house incubator for breakthrough ideas. Residents spend four months in TED’s New York headquarters with other exceptional people from all over the map—including Anouk Wipprecht from the Netherlands. 

Anouk Wipprecht is a Dutch designer and engineer whose work combines fashion and technology in what she calls “technical couture.” Her garments augment everyday interactions, using sensors, machine learning, and animatronics; her designs move, breathe and react to the environment around them.

Anouk Wipprecht 

What does fashion lack? “Microcontrollers” according to Dutch-based Hi-Tech Fashion Designer and Innovator Anouk Wipprecht. As she is working in the emerging field of “FashionTech”; a rare combination of fashion design combined with engineering, science, and interaction/user experience design. Producing an impressive body of tech-enhanced designs bringing together fashion and technology in an unusual way: she creates technological couture; with systems around the body that tend towards artificial intelligence; projected as ‘host’ systems on the human body, her designs move, breath, and react to the environment around them. 

Strangely ahead of her time; Anouk combines the latest in science and technology to make fashion an experience that transcends mere appearances. Sensors embedded in the design monitor the space around the wearer, and body-sensors check in on stress levels as comfort or anxiety. Her Intel-Edison based ‘Spider Dress’ is a perfect example of this aesthetic, where sensors and moveable arms on the dress help to create a more defined boundary of personal space while employing a fierce style. “This robotic dress attacks when you come to close” she mentions. Facilitating and augmenting the interactions we have with ourselves and our surroundings in a bespoke manner. Other than handheld devices, Wipprecht researches how we can interface in new ways with the world around us through our wardrobe.