EDITOR MIKE HODDER THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCT. 23, 2014 5 —_——— : Suzi Webster is pushing the boundaries of digital media and her wearable designs are a comment on how technology shapes the human experience. Techno fashion shines a new light Langara fine arts instructor is creating interactive garments for the digital generation 66 Ive never seen any- body wear clothes that light up with their mood and heart beat. Zoya Kulejevic,18, general studies By SHANNON LYNCH magine if your body or mind could influence how your clothes looked with the aid of technology. Langara department of fine arts instructor, Suzi Webster, has designed interactive wearables that do just that. Webster’s interest in incorporating technol- ogy into clothing fuelled her inspiration for her latest project, Electric Heart, as well as previous pieces such as Electric Skin, Electric Dreams, and Barking Mad. Electric Heart, a three-year-long project, takes the wearer’s heartbeat and transforms it into pulses of light and colour. Webster said it’s “very complex,” but it essentially takes the pulse through an iPhone app and a pulse oxim- eter. This information is transmitted to the gar- ment, which then pulses. First-year general studies student Zoya Ku- zeljevic, 18, said, “I think high fashion has got- ten really dull. ’'ve never seen anybody wear clothes that light up with their mood and heart beat. So I think it’s new and interesting.” Through LED lights and sensors, Electric Skin transforms the wearer’s breath into puls- es of light. Electric Dreams does the same with the use of sensors and fibre optics that collect alpha waves generated by the wearer’s thoughts. “All of that work is looking at what’s inside the body, and making it visible,” Webster said. She added it’s a metaphor for how we use our technologies and what we use them for. “Whether they bring us closer to the body, closer to each other, or further apart.” The Barking Mad project, a jacket, was an idea that spawned from living in the crowded city of London, England, where Webster was doing her master of fine arts. “T wanted to make something that would create space, more personal space, without having to interact with people,” Webster said. It’s not a functional item though, just an art piece, Webster added. The jacket has sensors that detect proximi- ty and that input gets relayed to speakers in- side the coat. Depending on how close some- one is, the coat will yap like a poodle or bark loudly like a Rottweiler. “It was more about making a comment,” Webster said. Webster’s inspiration for these projects stems from her deep interest in “how technol- ogy is affecting us as humans at the moment.” Webster said she hopes to complete Electric Heart by November. “The idea was that two people who are sepa- rated, two lovers, could send each other their heartbeat as a kind of love message,” she said. SUZI WEBSTER photo SUZI WEBSTER Webster studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, and her work has been shown nationally and internationally CHARLOTTE DREWETT photo James Mornin fields questions at a booth for the Langara Business Association in the main foyer. By CHARLOTTE DREWETT dents under the impression that joining a school club or volunteer- ing will look good on a resume. While that is true, employers say it’s not enough to simply pad a resume with extracurricular experience; they want to know how volunteering or join- ing a club has improved the applicants skills and furthered them as a person. Mornin, a first-year bachelor of busi- ness administration student and mem- ber of the Langara Business Associa- tion, said he joined the club to have fun, make friends, and learn from other members. He also stressed the importance of volunteering for professional develop- ment. Ji: Mornin is one of many stu- “It’s more or less the equivalent of volunteering, because we plan events and that takes a lot of effort,” he said. “Tt’ll look good on a resume to say I was involved in planning this, or planning that.” Mornin has the right idea according to Tanya Sieffert, human resources manager at Great Little Box Company Ltd., one of B.C.’s top employers in 2014. Sieffert said including empty infor- mation on a resume isn’t impressive but an applicant may want to include experience to “showcase some of the skills that they have received or im- proved on or developed while being part of that club.” Denise Baker is the executive direc- tor of Vantage Point, a not-for-profit organization that pairs volunteers, or as Vantage Point calls them “knowl- edge philanthropists,” with other not- for-profit organizations. She said that simply volunteering to add it to your resume is not enough. “If you can’t articulate why you wanted to engage with that not-for- profit... that will show and that won’t be very impressive,” Baker said. She added that while joining a club could be educational, students should get off campus to volunteer. “Volunteering with an external orga- nization you’re going to be... getting exposed to all kinds of different people and different types of jobs,” Baker said. “Exposing yourself to a wide range of experiences it just good.” Sieffert said extracurricular experi- ences help students become ===well rounded, regardless of whether it’s vol- unteering or joining a club. Working for free could pay off big Employers say students need to choose organizations they personally connect to in order to stand out stared 1 Find a cause that you are passionate about 2 Determine how much time you can commit 3 Match your skills to the position 4 Be prepared for personal growth