USE SILVER-COATED THREAD AND
A MICROPROCESSOR TO MAKE
PROGRAMMABLE LED CLOTHING

» The Westin Shanghai has a majestic LED staircase complete with its own sound and light show created by Color Kinetics.

I built this shirt to experiment with
wearable computing and electronic
technology, and realized along the way
that the basic materials were actually » For the last 30 million years,

butterflies have used the same

quite easy to work with. method as LEDs for emitting light.

There’s lots of room for creativity
at all levels, so I was inspired to write
this do-it-yourself guide. Although chal-
lenging, everyone should play with this
stuff! It’s great fun for both geeks and » For Star Wars: Episode II,

Attack of the Clones (2002),

divas — build a sparkly fashion accessory ^{the LED lights on the back of} _{the clone troopers helmets}
displayed “THX 1138,” paying
and program it with hacker animations. ^{homage to director George}

Lucas’ famous student movie.

Even better, make it a group project.
The code I wrote starts a “glider”
(a figure in the Game of Life universe)
that marches around your garment

forever. Play with the code to get other » In the early 1970s, red LEDs were used in the first digital

Illustrations by Tim Lillis

life patterns. You’re guaranteed to turn ^{watches like this Hamilton Pulsar.}
heads whenever you’re out on the town. ^{For links to these and other} _{elated stories, check out}
craftzine.com/01/led.

Leah Buechley is a Ph.D. student in computer science and a member of the Craft Technology Group at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she has found a place that she can unite all her interests. “I get to play with computers and sewing machines, electronics, fabrics, and beads: heaven!”