2021.08.09
Pioneering New Territories with a Playful Heart: Insights from Smart Textile Development
ZOZO Group's first textile development challenge, “Project Foil,” is a collaboration with HOSOO Co., Ltd. and the Yasuaki Kakehi Laboratory at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies. This joint research on “Developing New Textiles that Balance Functionality and Beauty” has produced works combining traditional crafts with advanced materials and interaction technologies. The currently ongoing exhibition "Ambient Weaving─Environment and Textile" features five works utilizing color changes due to environmental temperature, computer-controlled organic EL lighting, and UV curing.
How was this cutting-edge research and development project realized? What challenges and possibilities did the smart textile development reveal? We interviewed Kotaro Tajima and Satoshi Nakamaru from ZOZO Technologies' MATRIX, who led this project, to find out.
PROFILE
Kotaro Tajima
Director for new technology development and its commercialization at ZOZO Technologies' MATRIX division. Oversees smart textile development utilizing materials and devices and manages an owned media focused on Fashion Tech.
PROFILE
Satoshi Nakamaru
Researcher at ZOZO Technologies' MATRIX division, focused on new technology development and commercialization. Ph.D. in Policy and Media. Specializes in developing soft functional materials and devices and designing interactions and UX using these materials. Has exhibited works at events like Ars Electronica Festival and received awards such as ACM DIS 2019 Best Paper.
What to Do in an Environment Where You Can Challenge
First, tell us about your respective roles in this project.
NakamaruIn the collaborative research involving the three parties, ZOZO Technologies primarily managed the selection of devices and materials that would add functionality to textiles and handled negotiations with partner companies.
I have been involved in the R&D of electronic devices for about ten years and have developed materials and devices using them. During my doctoral course, I conducted research embedding various recognition and expression functions into soft materials like fabrics. Hirotaka Hosoo from HOSOO Co., Ltd. and Associate Professor Yasuaki Kakehi, the project members, and I have previously developed textiles with special functions together.
TajimaI played a director-like role, selecting partners and forming alliances.
In my previous job, I worked with Nakamaru at the same company, handling semiconductor manufacturing and production processes for about six years. When taking a closer look at the structure of textiles, you find similarities with electronic devices and semiconductors. When I first visited HOSOO Co., Ltd.’s workshop, we discussed with Hosoo how "textiles are the origin of programming." In that sense, my past experience was useful.
How did this project come about?
TajimaAs Nakamaru mentioned earlier, there was an existing project involving Hosoo and the University of Tokyo during his doctoral course, which led me to start considering “beautiful smart textiles” with our Chief Innovation Officer, Kanayama. Previously, smart textiles often focused on functionality, but when thinking about ZOZO Group-style smart textiles, focusing on design seemed like a new endeavor.
We had to consider the business perspective, how to expand the technology, and how to develop it as a business.
NakamaruThe smart textile market is already said to be worth about 600 billion yen, with expectations to reach 2 trillion yen in the future, according to market reports. While there are doubts about reaching such scales, ZOZO Technologies provides a platform that encourages taking risks in uncertain areas. If we have the chance to challenge, I thought it would be interesting to try something different from others.
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