The objectives of this study were to 1) develop prototypes for Smart Clothing that supports MP3 playability for entertainment end-use 2) present an operational design for production of MP3 playing Smart Clothing 3) subject directions for market entry ...
The objectives of this study were to 1) develop prototypes for Smart Clothing that supports MP3 playability for entertainment end-use 2) present an operational design for production of MP3 playing Smart Clothing 3) subject directions for market entry strictly based on established research.The core factors and conditions that contributed towards the establishment of the MP3 playing Smart Clothing was drawn for entertainment purposes. Through early research a plan was put into place for a prototype to be designed, while three prototypes were produced based on different styles and designs. It was then determined that MP3 playing Smart Clothing should be limited to casual women’s clothing, specifically projecting women between the ages of 19 and 28 to be the major consumers. The research consisted of a questionnaire survey and interviews.The prototypes were evaluated based on seven different categories, such as wearability and usability, which included ‘appearance satisfaction’, ‘comfort’, ‘comfort of electronic attachments’, ‘function convenience’, ‘facility of management’, ‘risk recognition’, ‘commercial potential.’ Analysis showed that the sportive casual type was the most popular from the three prototypes. From an electronics standpoint, it was found that the preferred positioning of the MP3 player should be on the body and the fabric keypad placed on the forearm. The design standardization for the MP3 playing Smart Clothing was suggested to be categorized by clothing type. The optimized commercial prototype was also presented.In conclusion, the result of this study enhances the development of the textile and fashion industry, along with the successful breakthrough entry of the standardization for MP3 playing Smart Clothing, into a very competitive, high volume MP3 market.