Device miniaturization and new materials have enabled wearable technology to be integrated more seamlessly with the body, leveraging form factors such as clothing, jewelry, temporary tattoos, and beyond. While adopting familiar forms, many of these new technologies inherit interaction modalities and usage patterns from existing technologies (e.g. Smartphones), rather than being inspired by the rich cultural history and connotations of the form factor itself. In this thesis, I motivate the unique opportunities that arise when incorporating existing practices and cultural meaning into the design of wearable technologies.
I define a new class of wearable technologies that adopt existing form factors, leveraging well-established body practices and traditions -- Heirloom Wearables. I argue that this class of wearable technologies can foster meaningful relationships with technology on the body that more closely resemble experiences with traditional body-worn artifacts than modern wearable technologies. I present a lightweight framework to facilitate the design of Heirloom Wearable technologies, and detail five exemplar prototypes designed to operationalize the framework: fingernail-worn devices, interactive hair, dynamic clothing & accessories, interactive hats, and lotion interfaces. The concept of Heirloom Wearables, the framework, and the exemplar prototypes demonstrate how the limitations and constraints of body-based technologies can be transformed into opportunities for design, and highlight how body-centric practices can inform new and embodied wearable technologies.
As a result, this work contributes a design methodology towards a more diverse range of inclusive wearable technologies. This new landscape of devices blurs the distinction between modern wearable technologies and traditional body-worn artifacts, fostering meaningful and intimate relationships with technology on the body.