Wearable tech is one of the big buzzwords in fashion at the moment. Constantly evolving, the application of technology to clothing and jewellery has already resulted in bracelets that count steps, watches that read emails and handbags that can charge a mobile phone.
So it is probably no surprise that the next stage is clothing that actively responds to the person wearing it. Enter Anouk Wipprecht, a Dutch entrepreneur and designer who is quietly changing how people and technology interact. As an innovator, designer, creator and collaborator, Wipprecht has worked with brands such as Microsoft, Swarovski, Adidas, as well as Cirque du Soleil, the Super Bowl, Disney and even Britney Spears.
So what does she do, exactly? Using cutting-edge tech and a vivid imagination, she creates systems that work in direct response to the human body, in what she describes as "wearable couture" and "fashion as interface". Seemingly fascinated by the application of technology to the everyday, she has, for example, created the 3-D-printed Spider Dress, which features embedded sensors that monitor the space around the wearer, activating moveable arms to push away anyone who gets too close. The Pseudomorphs neck pieces, meanwhile, release ink via pneumatic control valves onto dresses, creating unique designs. The Smoke Dress, created in collaboration with Niccolo Casas, automatically creates a veil of smoke around the wearer, while the Synapse Dress gathers data from the wearer's brain. This may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but by looking at the very real possibilities of how technology can enhance our lives – she is adamant it must enhance, not control – Wipprecht is initiating approaches that may one day impact us all. She will be in Dubai sharing some of those insights on December 16, as part of the Echo festival of art, design and technology. We caught up with her to find out more.
The universes of technology and fashion seem to be very far apart. What first inspired you to combine them?
In the beginning of 2000, I saw technology crawling closer to the skin and realised fashion could function as a new kind of interface, connected to the body. Fashion for me was about expression and communication, and technology could bring it from an analog – normal garments – to a digital, electronic and interactive notion – electronic garments – that could act on your behalf. This was fascinating for me and I started researching these different kinds of body-worn interactions and what they could mean for us.
. Why is this mix Your Spider Dress is both beautiful and aggressiveintriguing for you?
The Spider Dress has something moody to it – a dress with mechanical spider legs on the shoulders equipped with proximity sensors. When you come into the personal space of the wearer, this dress attacks you, very literally, as the robotic system is grabbing out to get you. For me this is a statement dress – a dress that protects us to a certain degree by considering our personal space, and acts to defend us.
How are the body pieces made? What is the process?
I use a combination of 3-D modelling, architecture, design, circuit-building, programming, engineering, sewing and soldering. It’s a very fun process building these designs (I have 37 dresses in total at the moment) and they are all based on microcontrollers and sets of sensors. For me, the microcontrollers are the brain and the heartbeat of my designs, as they create the interactions and reactions towards the world.
Often 3-D printed, or with 3-D printed elements, they are a combination of architecture, design and robotics.
Your designs suggest a preoccupation with emotions and stress levels. Is that the case?
Technology came into our lives to help us, but at the moment it is more a compass for stress. When I open my mobile phone, I almost get a heart attack from the number of messages that I need to respond to. Our society has become heavy and fast, and our current technologies don’t really take us into consideration. Body-worn interfaces and fashion tech have the ability to sense us, and listen to our bodies. This is why I am interested in it. Fashion as interface.
The pieces are a blend of high-tech thinking and almost retro designs – one piece looks as if it is crochet. Is this a conscious blurring of lines?
Yes. My Smoke Dress – a dress equipped with sensors that starts to surround itself with a smoke screen the more people are around – is an example of a more poetic and friendly design. It is pear-shaped and looks very organic and, also, the interaction is very organic, too: a soft layer of smoke fills the immediate surroundings of the dress when the system is triggered.
The Spider Dress is a bit more eerie: it gives you an almost psychological thrill when you look at it and and also when you interact with it. This is important for me – that the design informs the interaction.
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
if you go
The flights
Etihad flies direct from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco from Dh5,760 return including taxes.
The car
Etihad Guest members get a 10 per cent worldwide discount when booking with Hertz, as well as earning miles on their rentals (more at www.hertz.com/etihad). A week's car hire costs from Dh1,500 including taxes.
The hotels
Along the route, Motel 6 (www.motel6.com) offers good value and comfort, with rooms from $55 (Dh202) per night including taxes. In Portland, the Jupiter Hotel (https://jupiterhotel.com/) has rooms from $165 (Dh606) per night including taxes. The Society Hotel https://thesocietyhotel.com/ has rooms from $130 (Dh478) per night including taxes.
More info
To keep up with constant developments in Portland, visit www.travelportland.com
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
