Personal Jacquard Weaving

Personal Jacquard Weaving
Lea Albaugh, James McCann, Lining Yao, Scott E Hudson

CHI '21: The 2021 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Session: Wearables, Tangibles, and Fabrics

Abstract
We present an inexpensive tabletop loom that offers fully computational patterning while maintaining the flexibility of handweaving. Our loom can be assembled for under US\$200 with 3D printed parts, and it can be controlled straightforwardly over USB. Our loom is explicitly a \emph{hand} loom: that is, a weaver is required to operate the weaving process and may mediate row-by-row patterning and material specifics like yarn tension. This approach combines the flexibility of fully analog handweaving with the computational affordances of digital fabrication: it enables the incorporation of special techniques and materials, as well as allowing for the possibility of computational and creative interventions in the weaving process itself -- for skill-building, for interactive design, or for creative reflection.

We describe the mechanical and electronic implementation of our loom and show examples of its use for personal fabrication.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445750
WEB:: https://chi2021.acm.org/

Pre-recorded Presentations for the ACM CHI Virtual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, May 8-13, 2021