SWAG, short for Self-Wearing Adaptive Garments, could soon change the way many of us dress on a daily basis. Just like self-driving cars will soon render human driving obsolete, these ingenious robotic clothes could make dressing a thing of the past.
Most of us out God-given mobility for granted until we start to lose this gift either to old age or to various medical conditions. That’s when we realize that simple acts like pulling on a sleeve or undoing a button suddenly require a great deal of effort and coordination. But that’s where SWAG comes in. Powered by robotic vines, this futuristic clothing puts itself so you don’t have to.
The secret behind SWAG is the vine robot developed by Stanford’s Allison Okamura. They are designed to creep forward by everting from their tip, the way a party horn unrolls, and have so far been used to explore hard-to-reach places like rubble or even the inside of the human body. But researcher Kim Nam Gyun decided that the design was perfect for clothing that people could put on without using their hands.
“When I was riding a bicycle, it started to rain … and I thought it would be helpful if a raincoat could be put on automatically (as I ride),” Kim told Reuters. “The vine robot stays close to the person and dresses them by turning the clothing inside out as it moves, allowing it to climb stably along the shape of the body.”
Inspired by garden ivy, the vine robot advances by growing at its tip and adapting to the shape of its surrounding environment. It inflates and extends along the wearer’s body, turning the fabric inside-out as it advances. Depending on the air pressure used to extend the vines inside the clothing, it can take up to 10 seconds to put on a suit.
The clever unfurling robot has been used to create a series of garment prototypes, from simple sleeves, to pants and full-body suits, and the results are nothing short of impressive. Although the vines are still very visible within the clothes, they are extremely efficient and could make a world of difference for people with low mobility.
In a moment in time when AI is being advertised as the solution to virtually any problem, SWAG is proof that mechanical engineering doesn’t always need software to solve important issues.
