>> Announcer: From San Fransico, it's TheCUBE. Covering Samsung Developer Conference 2017. Brought to you by Samsung. (light electronic music) >> Hi everyone, welcome to day two coverage of the Samsung Developer Conference, or SDC 2017. I'm John Furrier, co-host of TheCUBE, co-founder of siliconANGLE Media. I'm here with Anouk Wipprecht. Hard to say last name, but I have a hard time with my Rs. It's an east coast thing. Welcome to TheCUBE. >> Thank you so much! >> So I'm super excited to chat with you, because you're doing some really innovative things around fashion tech, which we think is going to be at the cusp of a whole new revolution of fashion embedding tech. Before we get started, I have some pointed questions, so to speak. >> Yeah. >> Talk about what you're working on. People might not know some of your dresses, the spider dress has been famous. Talk about your work, and we'll jump into it. >> Yeah, I work as my own self owned fashion and technology, so the combination of fashion and technology. Some of my dresses, they are bleeding in, they are serving cocktail shots, they are attacking, really, with mechanic spider legs on the shoulders. They are exploding in a layer of smoke, sort of. So I do a lot with animatronics and robotics, and what I want to do is that, fashion is augmenting us, you know? So creating an interaction. >> So you're designing dresses in a way that's integrating new elements... >> Yeah. >> With some tech, robotic arms, the spider dress is one that retracts and has some coolness to it. But there's also the smoke dress... >> Anouk: Yeah. >> How many dresses have you designed? Give us a taste of the flavors and the reactions. >> Yeah, so I have, in total, 37 dresses. So it's a really big family, and the family starts to expand more and more. For me, it's a lot about expression, and about investigating how, if you place these pieces of technology on the body, what they can do, you know? So, seeing fashion as an interface, because I always say garments are there to shelter us, to keep us comfortable in a way, and for me, fashion is something different. For me, fashion is about expression and about communication. And for me, this fashion is analog, our garments are analog, they're not digital, they're not interactive, you know? So I want to put computer boards, microcontrollers in everything, sensors in everything so they start to come alive and they can really express us. And by that, really interesting things come because, do you want to be always expressed? Or do you always want to emote yourself? Or, how does that go? That is, for me, my biggest fascination, researching this field. >> Yeah, and it's here, at the Samsung Developer Conference, so obviously front and center on the keynotes. You're hearing, you're seeing your work, and on the things displayed, they're calling smart things. >> Anouk: Yeah. >> Clothes can be smart. And you're kind of going down that road. Obviously, robotics was a first step, cause that's cool tech. >> Yeah. >> Digital displays are coming, right? >> Anouk: Correct. >> Imagine, like, >> Anouk: Oh yeah, oh yeah. >> My top tweed on my shirt, or you know, my Facebook posts, or my friends. >> Yeah. >> Using the data, how are you thinking about this as a designer? Most people will think geeky, okay, got the data, and a database, but as an artist, as a designer. >> Myself, I do this for about 12 to 15 years. So I started at the beginning of the 2000s, really trying to see how fashion can become this interface, and I think by me growing into this, technology got smaller and smaller, and it's got closer to the body, in a way, so it was able to emboss in your garments. I think that just opens up so many interesting possibilities that haven't been explored yet, except for only, like, the Fit Bits and the watches, the smart watches that are more bothering us. But they don't do anything with the data officialization. They don't do anything to officialize this data. It's only, basically, in the screen, and I want to get it out of the screen and into the real life. >> So one of the most popular dresses that I notice on Twitter and on Google Search was the spider dress. That's got mechanical arms, got like spider legs, and it comes out, it's this cool, cool experience. >> Anouk: Yeah. >> Also, you have the smoke dress. >> Mm-hmm. >> Talk about what they do differently. Talk about the spider dress, the smoke dress, and what was the one with the heartbeat? Share some of what the dresses personify. >> So the spider dress, I created or, I had the pleasure to create with the semiconductor company Intel, and this dress is really about personal space. There's proximity sensors under the chin, so they are measuring when people come into the personal space. And when people do, there's mechanic legs on the shoulders, and they are basically attacking. But they're not just in one way, it would be boring. So depending on how you walk into the space and where you're standing, it's reacting differently. So, somebody's walking up to you very fast, and your dress is reacting very fast. >> It's like a spider sense. It's like a spider sense and you can feel the expression. Whoa, stay back, or... >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> Be ready to engage. >> You can use this piece of technology which is host on your body in order to do something that we might not do, like defend yourself. An animal, if you come in the closeness of a cat, the cat will give you a claw, right? But we would say like, oh... We would choose to maybe feel uncomfortable this way. So I was thinking, if you have a system on the body that can do that for you, wow. That's technology helping you out, right? >> Certainly, if someone gets too close, uncomfortable, a little shock treatment might help. >> Yeah, correct. >> Help keep people away. That's a fun example, but I think this is kind of revolutionary, in my opinion. This is so kind of cool because you've got technology, you've got expression, you've got human interaction, all these things going on. Talk about the smoke dress, what is that about? >> Yeah, to just point out, I think, working with this, one of the main factors that I think is really interesting is that technology doesn't become a tool, it becomes a companion. It lives on your body, it lives with you, and it can maybe also listen to your body signals and it knows how you're doing, and that is sometimes not with handheld devices. They don't know how you feel, but as soon as it's on the body, it feels your heart, it can sense your brain, it can sense your pulse, your muscle contraction, and I think that makes it really interesting. These new technologies on the body can really listen to us. >> They're coming faster, too. You're seeing here, Samsung Health is the first step, obviously that's the sensors on the body. That's an internetive things device. >> Anouk: Yeah. >> And the phone is just a companion. But also, I would just say, that we had some guests yesterday, some influencers on. Validating that augmented reality is so much more advanced. It points to what you're doing. It's not something virtual, it's just augmenting what the human's doing. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. >> Alright, smoke dress, and what's that other dress, that does the heartbeat? >> Yeah. Smoke dress, basically, also based on sense. If more people are around, in the surroundings, the more smoke escapes. So, more the feeling of diving away, like shyness. So working with different emotions, I also created a series of dresses for Cirque du Soleil. We know, as the theater, they have a restaurant in Ibiza, and I created dresses that make cocktails. So a little push on the button, and then a peristaltic pump in the back, and it serves a little cocktail shot, and they are giving that. So looking at how this science can also be social, for example. How can they be personal? How can they be intimate? And I think that is the most interesting thing, to look at that that way while designing. >> Yeah, it's got to pretty interesting. People can take these into different social situations. >> Yeah. >> Parties or large crowds, the spider could be good for that. >> Yeah, but it's also, how can it help you? How can it help your shyness? How can it help you proceed in the world? How can it engage you? I think, like a lot of these things we don't understand yet, how technology can be this learning system. How can we work with technology hand in hand that way? >> So how did you get into all this? This is so cool. >> I started with fashion design myself. I was 14 years old, and again, the notion of these dresses. Expressive, communicative, but they were analog. So when I was 17 years old, I combined it with another love of mine, which is robots. I love robots, they're amazing. But I didn't want the robot to stand next to me, be modeled after a human. I wanted to place the robot on my body, or on the body, and be reacting and interacting like an animal. More intuitive, much more expressive, or maybe rebellious. And by that, it's open up a bos-khal of possibilities for what you can do regarding that, and how they can be interesting. >> Yeah, and I think this is going to be one of those fashion tech areas. What's the industry like right now on the fashion tech? For the folks that aren't following fashion tech. Where's the state of the industry? I mean, this is cutting edge you're doing, certainly. We love it. >> Anouk: Yeah. >> Where is the industry? >> Correct. Especially, like, the things that I'm doing are a little bit more about extremities, right? Really provoking this notion of what fashion can be as soon as it becomes interactive. But especially, like, the last five years, the technology industry... Again, I'm doing this for longer than 12 years. The last five years, really, the technology industry is really interested it. The last two to three years, the fashion industry starts to like, hey, look at it. But I think technology and fashion need to go, much more talking to each other in order to really make this field grow and all of that. That is where we come in, the creators, and the creatives, you know? We are the instigators of the ones that try to push these boundaries and try to bridge these gaps a little bit in order to make a melting pot regarding to that. >> Well, you're doing a great job, I'm super impressed. It's super inspiring to me, I mean, I'm just intrigued by the whole thing. I got to get your reaction to how the younger generation's responding. I have two daughters and two sons, but my daughters would probably be into this. What's the younger, I mean, younger people must be loving this. Older people are, oh get off my lawn, this is too crazy. But maybe the younger people might like it better? What's the reaction? >> First of all, I do a lot of it like animals. Children love animals. I do myself a lot, the maker fair, for example. The maker scene, I always say, builds cool stuff, but also see how a new generation can learn from this, so most of my designs are open source. I do a lot of lectures at maker spaces, workshops with children, kids in electronics, but also girls in programming, just to see how that goes. In a really playful way, you know? Or looking at certain topics, so robotics, or these things. So really also trying to engage that. I think, children growing up, they love this because there are so many things in the screen and as soon as that becomes physical, they really have an engagement with it. >> So the maker culture is really growing. It certainly has been one of those awesome phenomenons that we're seeing, kind of like open source decades ago. The creator culture, the maker culture, the builder culture, this is real deal. >> Yeah. >> You get consumer devices as good as the Samsung 8 here happening, >> Yeah, correct. >> Or the smart TVs, so how are you making that open? Just take one minute to describe to the folks out there who might be interested in getting involved. Is there any collaboration with universities? Is it fashion institutes? Is it on the web? >> Anouk: Yeah. >> Is it your own community share? >> Yeah, well one really big fan I am of open source. So basically, open sourcing, like sharing what you have. You can do this online at websites, you can put your codes online. And I think by sharing... >> That's your website? >> You can find on my website, there's websites like, for example, GitHub. If you have pieces of code, you put it on there, and it's free for the community to use. It's a lot about community, you know? If I would make something, I can publish online, and release step by step how to do it, where to cut the 3D printed model, where to cut the codes, and people can make an electronic ring, for example. And by seeing what kind of piece you can give away from you process, somebody else can learn from that. >> And build on top of it. >> Yeah, correct. So I grew up with, for example, Arduino, it's an open source platform board. And it's microcontroller boards that you can program. And it's open-source, sort of free for people to just work with, and it's really a big education part in there. Education can be expensive, so how can we open this up? How can we make it accessible? And I think that is really important to do. >> And this is great, because this could democratize the closed fashion industry, open up new design opportunities from anyone. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and also, a company. You don't have to open-source, but what is that little piece that you can open-source? That you can give away, that you can give to the community, or to developers, or people to play with? >> So TheCUBE team can build some Cube clothes? >> Oh yeah. (laughter) >> Lenny's like, he wants that. >> Very cute. >> So I got to ask, on the community side. Love this, love this vision, because this is kind of an open source model. >> Yeah. >> You building on the shoulders of others, you're one of the pioneers. What do you see as critical things that need to happen to continue the accelerated growth or more momentum? What would you wish to see? >> Can you give an example? >> Like, what needs to happen to continue the momentum? More people participating? More designs? >> I think... >> More contributions from donors? More academic? >> I think what happens now, for example, like a Samsung developer conferencing part of the creative trek, me and also san-lee, who gave the keynote this morning. And I think inviting more people into each other's disciplines. Samsung here is inviting the creatives into the trek. How can the fashion industry invite technology in there? The technology industry invites fashion? And all of this stuff, you know? So you can really get this melting pot of creative, to architects, to designers, to engineers, and all of that together, you know? I think that is a wonderful world that I love, and that I see much more happening. The instigation of those different disciplines together. >> I love how you have the robotics love as a kid, and you brought your fashion love together. Two disciplines, two amazing things. Advice for young girls out there today who are, maybe feeling that, you know, it's a male dominated world, or who might have an interest in robotics. Robotics clubs are hot right now. Go to all the elementary schools and high schools in America you're seeing robotics become a big deal. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> What's your advice for young girls out there who want to develop their passion? >> One thing is always follow your dream. If you want to have something... If you have something in mind, hey, I want to build an octopus dress, and it might be too far away, how can you get there? Set your goal and go towards there, find it out, be curious, see how you can build these things. And especially if people would say no? You go there to prove them wrong. So that is something that I learned. >> Don't say take no for an answer, always follow your path. >> Yeah, my ideas are very far out, very far. So I always got, oh, this and that, and I always said no. And it's always about following your passion. If there's something that's really stirring you, go find it because that is, in the end, what is driving you. It is not the money, it's not anything of that. It is your passion and something that you want to fight for. >> Find that itch to scratch, always go after what you want. Okay, so final question for you, is, in your experience with your cutting edge designs and all the work you're doing, which is phenomenal, how have you observed the user experience of the general world these days? Because certainly, mobile's out there. We see mobile, but as you start to push the boundaries in clothing that's an expression, it's a human thing, the user experience is becoming integrated. The fabric. What have you learned and observed about user's expectations for future user interfaces? >> I think haptic feedback is really interesting. Also, as soon as you have garments with things in there, the feedback that you can get from that, notifications, or you can think of different ways regarding to that, really the way we interface now with the screen, how can that be more embodied? And to embody that experience, for example, is very interesting but it's also, how can an embodied experience become an epidermis which goes into your house? How can your living accessories react to you or your moods or emotions? I think moods and emotion are a really interesting topic, which also can be much more explored regarding to interaction design and user experiences. >> It's interesting, and I'm also visualizing coolness around an automatic QR code that could tell you how I'm feeling. Stay away from me today, QR code. >> And people still need to scan you. >> We'll have an automatic scanner on there, a little Samsung scanner with facial recognition. No, this is pretty cool, so... >> But these garments are QR codes, but they are surrounding the body, they are not... They have a broader bandwidth to broadcast. >> The personal network is coming. Your personal clothing network. And thank you very much for coming on, we really appreciate it. You're doing some really amazing work and the creative boundaries you're pushing, it's really phenomenal. We're going to share the links for all your stuff with our audience, and great to see Intel helping you out and getting that spider design going. Intel's always doing cutting edge work, so it's good to see that. >> Yeah, they're awesome. >> Thanks for coming on TheCUBE, we appreciate it. Good luck with all your endeavors, appreciate it. This is TheCUBE here, breaking down the fashion tech at the edge of the network. That's the new edge, is your clothes. Be ready for disruption, it's a maker culture. Get involved, check out Anouk's website. This is TheCUBE, more live coverage from Samsung Developer Conference 2017 after this short break. (light electronic music)