Video // The Unseen Air by Lauren Bowker.

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London-based material exploration studio The Unseen, led by artist Lauren Bowker, have spent 10 years on developing a wind-reactive ink that changes colour according to different fluctuations in the air and the body. Demonstrated in an ‘Air’ couture capsule collection for Swarovski presented during London Fashion Week 2014, the biological and chemical technology is infused into the layers of the tiered leather jacket, morphing it’s RGB values in response to pressure change. Similar to how the Formula 1 visualises aerodynamics – through strands of colour surrounding the car – ‘Air’ is able to translate an environmental force into a graphic display.

The nano compounds, inks and dyes are capable of sensing up-to seven stimuli in the environment such as heat, UV, pollution, moisture, chemicals, friction and sound. Each of these stimuli have a different colour changing effect on a given surface. “My alchemy is searching to reveal what we don’t see, feel, hear, or know around us and making it seen,” says Bowker. Such a clever concept to use design as a means for sensing our otherwise invisible environments.

[Video and images courtesy of Unseen.]