The software company demoed a digital, interactive dress, titled Project Primrose, at Adobe MAX 2023 in Los Angeles during the “Sneaks” portion of the conference. Christine Dierk, the research scientist behind the dress, both introduced and modeled the garment on stage, calling it a “digital dress that brings fabric to life.”
“Unlike traditional clothing, which is static, Primrose allows me to refresh my look in a moment,” Dierk said while wearing the interactive garment, a strapless, knee-length dress comprising lots of small, scale-like screens.
As she said “moment,” the scientist triggered a change in the dress, switching the dress’s color from cream to metallic silver, a transformation that was met with gasps and cheers from the conference crowd. After the initial color change, the dress went through more iterations, its scales changing to form several different patterns, from a chevron-like stripe to a diamond design.
Dierk — who stitched the dress together herself — then revealed that its design can also be animated, activating a moving pattern, which was once again met with awe from the crowd. The Adobe researcher showed that in addition to a button, which activates changes in the dress, it also has a buttonless mode that relies on embedded sensors. “Fashion doesn’t have to be static, it can be dynamic and even interactive,” Dierk said. “And we’re excited for a future where there’s more ways to express yourself.”
The technology behind the interactive dress, “reflective light-diffuser modules for non-emissive flexible display systems,” was previewed on a smaller scale — on a canvas and a handbag — by Adobe last year, but it is still in its early stages.