Design and Product Development

Thermal Energy Generating Activewear Designs for Millennials

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Abstract

The purpose of the study was to explore and propose thermal energy-generating upper body activewear design for Millennials. Specific objectives of this study included examining thermal energy from the human body to identify the best design placements for TEG integrated activewear, examining Millennials’ attitudes towards wearing TEG integrated activewear, and proposing design prototypes that provide wearers with great body management in their self-training while engaging in outdoor activities, running and biking. A design thinking process framework used by Scataglini et al. (2018) was adopted for this study. A total of ten male Millennials were recruited to collect their body heat data and conduct one-to-one interviews including a paper-based survey. Each participant engaged in 30 minutes of outdoor activities (15 minutes of running and 15 minutes of biking) at one of the large universities' outdoor tracks. A FLIR T420 thermal camera was used to collect the body heat data throughout 5 minutes intervals during the physical activities. The presentation of this study includes a complete body heat comparison chart, images of the design process that focuses on providing wearers with great body management, and 3D virtualization results of proposed TEG activewear.

How to Cite:

Wang, Y. & Hwang, C., (2022) “Thermal Energy Generating Activewear Designs for Millennials”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 78(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.13333