Helaku Jacket
Wearable Technology // solar jacket - portable sleeping bag
Materials: Fabric, beads and Arduino LilyPad.
Featured in a wearable technology exhibition Sense & Sensuality in Singapore, 2014.
The detail of which can be found here: https://blogs.ntu.edu.sg/wearables/ss/helaku-jacket/
Helaku (Native American name meaning “full of sun”) Jacket is a solar jacket and convertible sleeping bag designed with the Native American culture and the desert environment in mind. It's also equipped with USB charger and heating pads powered by solar energy captured by a piece of flexible solar panel. It was made with collaboration with Simon Koh, fellow NTU student from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
For the traditional Native American people, the sun is respected as a one of the most important life sustaining entities. Whilst spiritual peace of mind is very important for them, Native American traditional nomadic tribes also display experimental and open minded attitudes to new techniques when it comes to their craftwork. By adapting various aspects of the Native American culture and their respect towards the sun and nature, Project Helaku aims to bridge the virtues found in old traditions, the needs of present-day humans and the flexibility we need to adapt in order to prepare for the future.
Special thanks to NTU School of Art, Design & Media for their immense support in the process of the whole process, and Taliesin West, Arizona, for allowing us to document the project in one of their beautiful shelters.
Water and weather resistant Arduino Lilypad is used to control the heating pads in the jacket/sleeping bag, together with beads that represent traditional crafts of the people. Shaped like a sun, the main icon of Helaku Jacket represents the integration of tradition and technology in one piece, designed for both aesthetic and function.
