Jane McCann based at the University of Wales and one of our wonderful speakers at the WTconference in Munich earlier this year, concludes her involvement with the ‘Wearable Futures: Inclusive Design’ conference series. She has been associated with leading design research in sportswear and wearables for several years focusing primarily on collaborative research in the New Dynamics of Ageing programme entitled Design for Ageing Well.
The main thrust of activity at her Smart Clothes and Wearable Technology research centre up to the end of March 2012 was dedicated to the Wearable Futures: Inclusive Design Conference. The conference brought together an international blend of academic and industry representatives with user-group communities engaged in the hybrid area of Smart Clothes and Wearable Technology, building on the success of the Wearable Futures Conference held at the University of Wales, Newport, in 2005.
The event comprised a one-day conference and promoted a design-led approach to cross-disciplinary research in addressing a significant identified gap in the design of contemporary clothing and textiles with the potential to enhance the autonomy, independence, and sense of enjoyment and wellbeing of the Active Ageing. Developed methodologies and research findings from the current ‘Design for Ageing Well’ project provided presentation topics to stimulate discussion that crossed the boundaries of the design, technology and socio/economic communities. Contributors looked at new strategies for innovative routes to a rapidly growing market. Older research participants, as end-users, were right at the heart of all discussions.
We congratulate Jane on her excellent achievements to date and look forward to her future projects and activities.
