Artículo general
lovewear
Haptic Clothing that Allows Intimate
Exploration for Movement-Impaired People
emA Nu e lA C o r tI, I v A N p ArA tI, An d C h rIs tI A N d Il s
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People with disabilities often face physical, political, and societal
barriers in expressing their sexuality. The lack of inclusivity in the sex
toy market does not support an autonomous experience for impaired
individuals who cannot operate toys without external assistance.
Lovewear is a collaborative art-science project that combines user-
centered design principles with soft robotics integrated into textiles.
The aim is to offer an autonomous experience through haptic
comentario, allowing self-exploration of intimate sensations and sexual
pleasure to females with motor impairments. A pillow interface
activates an underwear garment: While caressing and touching the
pillow, the wearer triggers the underwear’s inflatable i actuators. Este
transdisciplinary project used a mixed-methods research design; el
objective is to promote the embedment of technology into everyday
garments, to improve the wearer’s quality of life.
The Lovewear project has been partially funded by the Eu-
ropean Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation pro-
gram under ST ARTS and Re-FREAM, a research project
that invites artists and designers to connect with scientists on
common ground to rethink the manufacturing process of the
fashion industry. Selected artists and technologists commit
for nine months to a co-research and co-creation strategy
using Re-FREAM’s Art/Tech collaboration methodology;
this methodology builds a cross-sectorial common space,
an environment that enables a new mindset that strikes a
balance between art, diseño, and technology. Within this new
dimension of equality, the artist must reenvision their initial
idea together with a technologist [1]. Under Re-FREAM’s
estructura, the following partners came together for the
development of Lovewear: Wear It, Berlina (hub manager),
Fraunhofer IZM, Berlina (production of soft actuators), y
Emanuela Corti (designer), Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, 111 Ren’ai Road,
Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, PR China 215123. Correo electrónico: emanuela.corti@xjtlu.edu.cn.
ORCID: 0000-0002-1974-6107.
Ivan Parati (designer), Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, 111 Ren’ai Road,
Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, PR China 215123. Correo electrónico: Ivan.parati@xjtlu.edu.cn.
ORCID: 0000-0002-0356-3533.
Christian Dils (scientist), Fraunhofer IZM, Gustav-Meyer–Allee 25, 13355 Berlina,
Alemania. Correo electrónico: Christian.Dils@izm.fraunhofer.de. ORCID: 0000-0003-4533-2394.
Ver https://direct.mit.edu/leon/issue/56/2 for supplemental files associated with
this issue.
EMPA Laboratory for Biomimetic Membranes and Tex-
tiles, Calle. Gallen (material testing). The project has also seen
the support and collaboration of other professionals with a
transdisciplinary approach: a psychologist and sex therapist,
a biomedical engineer, and electrical engineers. This trans-
disciplinarity aims to develop true synergy between the dif-
ferent disciplinary perspectives [2].
Our contribution shows how technology development
and direct application can work hand in hand, conduciendo a
more comprehensive outcomes. Design has an essential role
in leading this transition, increasing the adoption and ac-
ceptance of robotics within different demographics. Soft ro-
botics have been recently widely experimented with [3]; este
project addresses them regarding the specific sex toys field
within a more comprehensive, inclusive scope. Through our
practice and with a focus on inclusivity, we are promoting
technology embedment in everyday garments to augment
their functionality, providing the wearer with a better qual-
ity of life.
The idea of bodies being spatially separated but electroni-
cally connected has long fascinated artists. “Our body is
obsolete,” as Australian performance artist Stelarc affirms.
The artist’s work is based on augmenting and amplifying the
human body’s capabilities; his posthumanist philosophy and
speculative thoughts are expressed through prosthetics, bio-
tecnología, and connected devices [4]. In his view, humano
beings are not well designed but flawed, with a certain degree
of disability, which somehow equalizes us all.
“I would like to believe that technology offers us opportu-
nities to break down and disrupt existing power structures.
Sex, género, and sexuality in particular could all be radically
re-evaluated through the framework of technology,” Sophia
Lawler-Dormer states while interviewing Stelarc, who agrees
and replies, “Technology standardises and equalises potential
between the physical elements of sexes” [5].
Lovewear aims to empower humans and their bodies,
connecting the self and the body, and facilitating a dialogue
between people through their senses with the support of
©2023 ISAST
https://doi.org/10.1162/leon_a_02340
LEONARDO, volumen. 56, No. 2, páginas. 139–146, 2023 139
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tecnología. Disabilities are not the project’s core but a start-
ing point that allows everyone to interact at the same level;
the pleasure of people with disabilities is an objective but not
the mere purpose of Lovewear.
Artist and researcher Elena Redaelli describes Lovewear:
If these objects were thought [de] as single pieces, or like a
procedural performance, not meant for a large industrial
producción, they could have been framed in the contem-
porary art context. They would be considered functional
sculptures or relational, cross-disciplinary artworks that
could freely move into a hybrid space without needing to be
labelled while mixing textile materials, ciencia, tecnología,
and social activism. The boundary between art and design
is fluid: definitions shift their meaning taking many forms.
Just like the thread in the intertwining of weft and warp
speaks to us of material culture and can now convey digital
información, encoded through algorithms, about our most
basic physiological functions [6].
Lovewear could be considered a form of activism. This prac-
tice combines the creative power of the arts to move us with
the strategic planning of activism necessary for social change
[7]; the project uplifts the intimacy and sexuality of people
with disabilities, which can develop social inquiries, alto-
lighting challenges people are facing and empowering the
comunidad.
deFINING the problem: the stIGmA
oF dIsAbIlIty ANd sexuAlIty
Over a billion people worldwide are affected by disability,
which means about 15% of the world’s population [8]. En
least a fifth of these, about 110–190 million individuals,
are forced to cope with very considerable difficulties in
ordinary life; it is estimated that 75 million people need
a wheelchair on a daily basis, que representa 1% del
world’s population [9]. Además, the rates of disability
are growing due to the aging of populations. A disability
may be present from birth or occur during a person’s life-
time due to biological or non-biological reasons. A partial
or total loss of function of a body part is generally called
“motor impairment”; this can be caused by a traumatic
injury, a congenital condition, or disease onset correlated
with age. The target group for experimental evaluation
comprised motor-impaired users having spinal muscular
atrophy, spinal cord injury, or muscular dystrophy. Spinal
muscular atrophy is a rare genetic disorder that leads to
progressive muscle weakness and loss of muscle mass (en-
rophy) in the muscles closest to the trunk of the body, semejante
as the shoulders, hips, and back [10]; it occurs in about
eight out of every 100,000 live births and affects approxi-
mately one in 6,000 to one in 11,000 people worldwide.
Movements like walking, crawling, head and neck control,
swallowing, and breathing are compromised or impossible.
Spinal cord injury disrupts the normal functioning of the
spinal cord, and the communication between the body and
the brain is compromised or completely severed; trauma
is typically attributable to motor vehicle crashes, falls,
violence, work-related injuries, sports-related injuries, o
suicide attempts. Muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder
that results in progressive muscle loss and weakness, cual
initially manifests as difficulty in controlling movements
and gradually progresses to a complete loss of different
muscle functions.
Neuromuscular disorders and other motor impairments
may affect one’s social and sexual life. Disabling conditions
frequently include decreased sensory input, a neurogenic
bowel or bladder, impaired toilet use, and decreased geni-
tal sensation. An altered body image combined with over-
protective parenting and lack of independence may hinder
healthy social and sexual development in young adults [11].
Another important aspect of the sexuality of people with dis-
abilities is the lack of representation: media has restricted the
depiction of the human form to bodies that meet prevalent
aesthetic standards, and as a result, sexuality as a source of
pleasure and as an expression of love is not recognized for
populations that have been traditionally marginalized in so-
ciety [12]. Although sexuality is a human right, according
to the United Nations and the Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities, sex is still a taboo subject and the
privilege of the few individuals with supportive friends and
familias. In most cases, sexuality is neglected, avoided, o
punished. Además, the sex toy market does not consider
differently abled bodies. As Article 25 of the UN Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states [13], it is the
right of individuals with a disability to achieve the highest
standard of health care without discrimination. Article 25
also recognizes access to appropriate and affordable assistive
technology as a human right, which has resulted in increased
awareness and advocacy worldwide [14]. Assistive technolo-
gies are tools designed to help people with disabilities to be
as autonomous as possible, and recent years have been char-
acterized by research and innovation in the fields of design
and technology. In our perspective and practice, tecnología
should be embedded in everyday life into objects that can
improve aspects of a person’s daily routine, that blend into
products that anyone could use, and are accessible to users
with special needs.
Persons with disabilities have the same sexual and re-
productive health needs and desires as people without dis-
abilities, although ignorance and attitudes of society and
individuals can be a barrier [15].
Sex is one of the most stigmatized aspects of the life of
a person with a disability, and Lovewear aims to give back
sexual dignity and autonomy to those people.
sex toys
Until the beginning of the twentieth century, genital mas-
sage to orgasm by a physician or midwife was a standard
treatment for hysteria, considered at the time a common and
chronic disease in women rather than a condition. Physi-
cians legitimated the clinical production of orgasm in women
as a treatment, since female masturbation was considered
unchaste, and sexuality was seen as penetration by a male.
More recently, researchers such as Alfred Kinsey and Shere
140 Corti et al., Lovewear
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Higo. 1. Sex toys map. The map summarizes
the sex toys available on the market by
typology; the icons reflect the technology
or the shape of the toy. On the left side are
toys thought to be for the vagina; en el
middle are gender-neutral types; and on
the right side are those thought to be for
the penis. Further categories address the
usar: internal or external. Some products
are specifically aimed at improving
health and well-being, such as those
that strengthen the pelvic floor or ease
penetration in cases of painful sex.
(© Emanuela Corti and Ivan Parati)
Hite demonstrated that most women (más que 70%) do not
regularly reach orgasm by means of penetration alone [16].
The vibrator, intended as a massage technology, disap-
peared at the beginning of the twentieth century to reemerge
during the 1960s, marketed to consumers, and by the 1970s
it was openly sold as a sex aid.
The most recent technological innovations have changed
the way we interact, develop relationships, and embody
sexuality. Teledildonics, haptic bodysuits, and gynoids [17]
are now realities that have transformed human interactions
[18]. Teledildonics, or cyberdildonics, are sex toys that allow
people to have sexual encounters from remote locations [19].
En nuestra investigación, to better understand the user experience,
we mapped the sex toys currently on the market and listed
what we perceive as relevant for their function and use. Allá
is a variety of products, as shown in Fig. 1. We mapped prod-
ucts available for both genders.
Impaired mobility requires proper grip, comfort, y
adaptability to diverse holding postures, fortalezas, and ca-
pabilities. It is relevant to the present study to note that few
products can be used by a person with a disability.
For the study we used a methodological approach that
combined an online survey with expert interviews and focus
groups to evaluate people with disabilities’ perceptions of sex
toys in relation to sex, their view of pleasure and intimacy,
and their awareness of their own body and their partner’s
body. The data helped us define guidelines for the develop-
ment of the prototype.
The experts interviewed are Judith Glover, a lecturer in
industrial design at the RMIT University in Melbourne,
Australia, who specializes in social and sustainable design,
with particular expertise in gender and sexuality; Rafe Eric
grandes, the founder of Sexability, an organization committed
to improving sexuality and disability in the United States;
and a sex counselor and founder of an important associa-
tion for people with disabilities based in Spain, who prefers
to remain anonymous.
The experts gave us important feedback for evaluating the
available sex toys and helped us to set further requirements
for the development of Lovewear.
user eNGAGemeNt
The online survey was intended to provide understanding
of how the lack of autonomy of movement-impaired people
could affect their daily life, their body sensitivity, and their
opinions and attitudes toward sex. The survey was initially
proposed without any gender discrimination, although most
of the respondents to the survey identify as female (67%).
Almost all the survey respondents agreed that sex is funda-
mental in the human experience and people with disabilities
have the right to live it. Además, for most of them, sex cor-
responded to well-being, meaning both physical pleasure and
positive emotions; affectivity and relationships with others
were also stated as very important aspects of sex (Mesa 1,
supplemental material).
The data confirms that sexual arousal and desire are nor-
mally present among people with disabilities, contrary to
the dominant collective imagination that depicts people
with disabilities as infantilized, vulnerable, y ultimamente
asexual [20]. Disability does not affect sexual arousal. Bastante,
it can affect the possibility of accessing sexual experience.
Reduced mobility and limited genital sensitivity were the
most frequently mentioned difficulties negatively influenc-
ing the access to sexual experience, both for intercourse with
a partner (Mesa 2, supplemental material) and for practicing
self-eroticism (Mesa 3, supplemental material).
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Corti et al., Lovewear 141
For the participants, the genitals were the most frequently
mentioned erogenous part of their body (Mesa 4, supple-
mental material). Sin embargo, neck, chest, and breasts are also
widely mentioned. This result seems to suggest that sexual
sensations can be transferred to other parts of the body when
the genitals’ sensitivity is reduced. As concerns the body
parts regarded as attractive in a sexual partner, the genitals,
the breasts/chest, and the buttocks were the most frequently
mentioned, in line with what is commonly associated with
sexual attraction among people regardless of ability.
Most respondents (86%) described sex toys as erotic toys
for adults, designed to stimulate a feeling of pleasure, mientras
very few of them (solo 14%) associated sex toys with devi-
ant and perverse erotism. Además, 85% de los encuestados
agreed that sex toys could be used alone and with a partner.
Despite the attitudes toward sex toys mostly being open and
positivo, less than half of the respondents (48%) had used
a ellos (Mesa 5, supplemental material) y 71% would like
to use them in the future (Mesa 6, supplemental material).
These findings suggest that the use of sex toys is widely
desired and practiced by people with disabilities. The top
three reasons participants stated for using sex toys were that
sex toys “enabled them to discover new ways of playing and
new sensations,” “amused them a lot,” and “enabled them to
experience very pleasant genital sensations that they would
not otherwise have been able to experience.” However, limi-
tations in genital sensitivity and difficulty in using sex toys
without assistance were the main factors that prevented some
respondents from using sex toys, even when they desired
a. These findings suggest that Lovewear can be a desirable
support in enhancing one’s well-being by building self-con-
fidence and awareness, without being a replacement for hu-
man contact.
Our focus groups helped us to gain insights about the sex-
uality of people with disabilities and data to integrate into
the survey. As Lovewear is intended for female wearers, solo
females with motor disabilities were recruited for the focus
grupos. Participants in the first group included two women
with spastic quadriplegia and one with osteogenesis imper-
fecta, while participants in the second group included two
women with spinal muscular atrophy and one with muscular
dystrophy. These focus groups also served as an opportunity
to engage with potential Lovewear users and were conducted
as part of a participatory co-design approach to define the
product requirements (Higo. 2) [21].
Following these focus groups, we defined the following
features as requirements for a sex toy targeted to people with
disabilities:
it must be easy to use without external help,
it must enable orgasm,
it must be easy to use with a partner, y
it must be remotely controlled.
Four user scenarios and four personas were identified
based on the data collected. Lovewear can be used individu-
ally or with a partner, by users with or without motor impair-
mentos, and eventually with the support of a caregiver.
Higo. 2. The prototype used during the focus group for the development and the
co-design phase. (© Emanuela Corti and Ivan Parati. Photo: Ivan Parati.)
Among our findings, we identified the need to consider
other erogenous body parts, voice control as an option for
further development, and the possibility of replacing the pil-
low with other kinds of interfaces.
loveweAr’s obJeCtIves
Lovewear (Higo. 3) is a cognitive and educational tool that
empowers movement-impaired people by giving them au-
tonomy to explore their own bodies through an interface
pillow that through rough gestures controls the underwear
with inflatable actuators, characterized by different patterns
that stimulate various erogenous zones of a female wearer.
Most people in the target group could operate rough cir-
cular gestures or pressure on the pillow with their hands,
which could also be pressed by the head or other body parts
(feet or knees) depending on the individual’s abilities (Higo. 4).
Others with fine movement abilities and lack of limb mobil-
ity might control the actuators with their fingers from their
mobile phone through an application (yet to be developed).
We aimed to create a wearable device that could be worn
with or without external help, activated and used indepen-
dently at any time. Lovewear is aimed at generating the
natural sensation of a tactile movement on the skin’s surface
through soft robotics. The effect is achieved through min-
iaturized pumps and solenoid valves to precisely direct and
control airflow through a matrix of isolated textile chambers.
The use of soft robotics provides several advantages over
conventional robotics, especially soft structures that are more
suited for safer human interaction and can potentially reduce
mechanical complexity [22]. Although pneumatics with a hy-
draulic system has been among the most utilized forms of ac-
tuation since the beginning of soft robotics in the 1990s [23],
their implementation with a textile-based solution is a recent
direction [24]; while actual manufacturing methodologies
still rely on elastomer materials there are clear indicators of
the advantages of textile-based pneumatic systems [25].
Pneumatic artificial muscles and bellows are actuation
devices that convert fluid pressure into linear and unidirec-
142 Corti et al., Lovewear
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consistently developed over decades and are available in
commercial versions from several suppliers [26], they were
not considered for the actual project, in which we aimed to
achieve movement by exploiting the dynamics of nonstretch-
able fabrics’ geometric deformation and integrating the fab-
ric actuators as seamlessly as possible into the garment itself.
For those purposes, the heat press method was employed
to fabricate the actuators to minimize the thickness of the
device and explore embedded hinges to control motion [27].
Sin embargo, the general method is based on silicon molds,
which makes the process expensive and not appropriate
for industrial production. Within our collaboration with
Fraunhofer we simplified the manufacturing process through
thermoplastic coated and textile-based soft actuators to re-
duce the time and cost of production of the components and
therefore push the final product in a more sustainable, afford-
capaz, and democratic direction.
The inflatable components are positioned in the main body
of the underwear garment, which is produced with a warp
knitting technology that allows seamless pockets.
soFt ACtuA tor desIGN
The Lovewear project pursues a novel concept for imple-
menting haptic stimulation through the development and
use of soft actuators embedded in knitted underwear. El
further advantages of the textile-based approach are low
weight, extremely low profile at atmospheric pressure, alto
force/weight ratio, and simple, rapid production. Además,
the method enables sustainable manufacturing (through re-
duction of material waste, avoidance of chemical additives,
and reparability) as well as implementation within the ur-
ban manufacturing concept (local value chain from design
through production to integration and sales from batch size
1, with potential for scalability for mass production).
The key challenge in creating soft actuators is the develop-
ment of controllable soft bodies that require new materials,
designs, and processing technologies to exploit the full po-
tential of soft robotics [28].
Higo. 3. Lovewear prototype. At the top is the pillow interface, and at the
bottom is the underwear garment. (© Emanuela Corti and Ivan Parati. Photo:
Raoul XV.)
tional force and motion. There are many different methods
of fabricating pneumatic artificial muscles (also known as
Mc Kibben actuators) depending on the desired specifica-
tions and intended application. Although they have been
Higo. 4. Interaction of pillow and underwear: rough
gestures on the pillow activate different actuators in the
underwear. (© Emanuela Corti and Ivan Parati)
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Corti et al., Lovewear 143
which compressed air can flow and thus cause local defor-
formación. There are four options for structuring the cavities:
selective sealing by ultrasonic plastic welding; hot air seal-
En g [29]; laser welding [30]; or masked thermal bonding.
With a view to the broad availability of the technologies
and process transfer to the industry, we have focused our
experiments on ultrasonic plastic welding and the lami-
nation processes that are already widespread in the textile
manufacturing industry.
With continuous ultrasonic welding, heat is generated
at the joining zone by means of frictional energy, y el
thermoplastic materials are thereby locally converted into
a molten state. With application of a process pressure at
al mismo tiempo, the joining partners are brought closer and
quickly solidify again after the ultrasound is switched off.
The advantages of the process are the short process time and
solely local energy input, which means that elastic textiles
with lower melting temperatures can also be processed. Cómo-
alguna vez, in our experience, ultrasonic welding is only suitable
to a limited extent for the manufacture of textile-based soft
actuators. For one, the result of a weld seam depends strongly
on the skills of the operator, since it is carried out manually
in the same way as sewing a seam.
For these reasons, we switched to lamination during the
proyecto. During lamination, thermal energy is released over
the entire heating surface. To prevent the inflatable struc-
tures from sticking together after the lamination process,
we applied water-soluble polymer films made of polyvinyl
alcohol (PVAL) in the center of the material stack where the
air channels and cavities are located. Following Connolly
[31], our idea was to dissolve the PVAL films after lamination
by immersing them in water and thus to selectively struc-
ture the material composite. Desafortunadamente, in our experi-
mentos, the PVAL films could not be subsequently dissolved
in water. A problem here is the small area of water contact
due to the unfavorable ratio of thin film width to depth. Nosotros
Higo. 5. Digital models were made to pretest materials and inflation. (© Ivan Parati)
The recent emergence of virtual fashion commercial
software tools has given designers the chance to explore
fabrics’ inflation dynamics with sufficient reliability before
investing time and resources in physical prototypes, thereby
significantly decreasing the number of iterations required
(Higo. 5).
mAterIAl testING
Since fabrics are open-pored materials, they need an air-
impermeable coating, such as a thin film made of thermo-
plastic polyurethane (TPU). En nuestros experimentos (Higo. 6), nosotros
used textiles with pre-applied TPU coatings, but we also
laminated TPU films to fabrics that were up to 55% elastic.
In addition to canvas fabrics based on polyamide and poly-
ester, we also examined slightly stretchable jersey fabrics as
textile substrates.
Two or more layers of thermoplastic-coated textiles are
built up in such a way that a bubble is formed through
Higo. 6. Welding tests. Various shapes
and structures have been considered
to support pressure and movement.
(© Emanuela Corti and Ivan Parati.
Photo: Raoul XV.)
144 Corti et al., Lovewear
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Higo. 7. Final lamination tools and sample produced. (© Emanuela Corti and Ivan Parati. Photo: Raoul XV.)
therefore switched to using a template for masked thermal
bonding. A tool made of 6-cm-thick aluminum sheet was
therefore structured by a water jet cutting process to create
a lamination mask. The tool was placed between the heating
plate and the stack of material so that the areas where the
material is in direct contact with the aluminum mask would
adhere to one another during lamination, but no adhesion
would occur where there were openings in the mask. Con
this approach, we were ultimately able to manufacture the
textile soft actuators.
By searching for lamination parameters, we found suit-
able heating temperatures, process times, and process
pressures with which complex patterns with a minimum
distance of up to 2 mm can be reliably produced for all
kinds of coated textiles. The soft actuators produced in this
way were then qualified with a compressed air test of 8 bar.
Cifra 7 shows several samples produced for the actual pro-
totype with their lamination tools while Fig. 8 se centra en
the central pad.
whAt we hAve leArNed
Soft robotics is still finding its way to commercial applica-
ciones, and one of the main barriers is to be found in the gap
between prototyping and mass manufacturing techniques.
The mass production of these devices poses several limita-
tions in terms of design complexity. Inflatable commercial
products are generally mass manufactured by high fre-
quency, ultrasound, or hot welding using metal templates
as tools and woven or nonwoven thermoplastic sheets as
principal materials. While the equipment constitutes a con-
sistent investment, the price per piece is relatively low. El
techniques refined during our research fill this gap between
prototyping and actual manufacturing in such a way that
the prototype is very near to the commercial object at a
fraction of the cost per unit. Además, virtual prototyp-
ing can significantly shorten development costs and time.
These findings help contain the final product cost, making it
more accessible to a wider audience and giving a chance to
produce small prototype batches that can be tested during
the development phases.
The final prototype hasn’t been tested yet. The aim is to
collect more funds to produce multiple models to be tested
with the support of some focus group participants who al-
ready gave their availability. While the project is focused on
female users, further exploration will consider the complex
dynamics of male genital stimulation.
Higo. 8. Central pad. (© Emanuela Corti and Ivan Parati. Photo: Raoul XV.)
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Corti et al., Lovewear 145
acknowledgments
This research was partly funded by the European Union Horizon 2020
research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 825647.
The authors would like to thank Paola Tommasello; research assis-
tants Valeria Serra and Aesun Kim; Lars Stagun for 3D printing of the
pneumatic connectors; and Martin Haubenreißer for the manufacturing
of the lamination tools.
18 j. Owsianik, R. Dawson, y B. Col, “Future of Sex Report” (2018):
www.futureofsex.net (accedido 15 Enero 2019).
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20 Tepper [12].
21 mi. Corti and I. Parati [15]
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Manuscrito recibido 30 Junio 2021.
EMANUELA CORTI is associate professor at Xi’an Jiaotong-
Liverpool University, Porcelana. Her research focuses on inclusiv-
idad, textile innovation, and wearables.
IVAN PARATI is associate professor at Xi’an Jiaotong-
Liverpool University, Porcelana. His research focuses on modular-
idad, geometric tessellation, and digital fabrication.
En 2017, they co-founded Witsense, intending to develop sen-
sible innovative products and services, and design elements
that can improve living conditions, favoring social inclusion
through the promotion of independence. Their work received
international recognition and several European grants.
CHRISTIAN DILS joined the Systems on Flex group at
Fraunhofer IZM, Berlina, en 2007 and now works as a researcher
and project manager, as well as head of the TexLab labora-
conservador. His research focuses on the development of stretchable and
textile-integrated electronics, particularly concerning substrate
manufacturing and interconnection technologies.
146 Corti et al., Lovewear
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