Second Skin - the Next Age Material
The clothing of the future might be grown in the lab, not sewn in a factory. A new set of clothes from MIT Media Lab's Tangible Media Group started life in a flask. By printing bacteria into fabric, it's possible to make clothes that are partially aliveāand that can respond to the outside world. It's smart clothing, but without any electronics.
In a prototype called Second Skin, researchers made bacteria-powered athletic wear that naturally opens and closes tiny flaps to help you cool off while you're running or doing yoga.
http://vimeo.com/142208383
Making of
http://vimeo.com/142212881
Read more about the process on http://tangible.media.mit.edu/project/biologic/