Beyond the second skin: An experimental approach to addressing garment style and fit variables in the design of sensing garments

Garment-integrated body sensing is a crucial element for many compelling ubiquitous computing and pervasive health care monitoring applications. However, the trade-off between garment comfort and sensor accuracy often poses a significant obstacle to successful application design. This article describes the development and implementation of a hybrid experimental approach for design and evaluation of a garment-integrated spinal posture sensor. The design variables of garment ease and style are assessed in two experimental evaluations, and the results of these tests are implemented as design parameters for a final prototype. The resulting prototype is evaluated on the initial performance criteria and demonstrates the requisite sensor accuracy in a garment that is more socially acceptable and usable than the original laboratory garment.