Devendorf weaves computer science and craft to explore new possibilities for textile design
When we think about engineering and computer science, textiles may not come to mind first. Yet woven forms can be extremely complex and are useful in many scientific applications in addition to being aesthetically engaging.
Laura Devendorf, associate professor and director of theUnstable Design Lab, blends computer science and materials research through the lens of weaving and textiles.
She has nearly completed her 5-yearNSF CAREER award, which has supported her work in advancing e-textiles research while building a community of artists, artisans, engineers and designers dedicated to exploring new realms of textile technology.
In that time, Devendorf has created experimental woven forms that can record and replay sensory data, that behave in novel and useful ways, and that can even be programmed.
If e-textiles are to become part of our everyday lives, she believes they need to be more playful and soothing than typical smart devices generally feel—closer to a favorite sweater than a sleek smartphone.
Devendorf aims to change our minds about the importance of craft and expand where we consider solutions for challenges in everything from space suits to stents to treat coronary disease. She says, “It's not just a hobby for a lot of people. These practices of creativity have a lot of value professionally if you're an artist or if you're working in textiles or aeronautics.”
Software supporting soft goods
A key facet of Devendorf’s work has been the development of, “an experimental workspace that applies parametric design to the domain of weave drafting. It supports algorithmic and playful approaches to developing woven structures and cloth, for shaft, dobby and jacquard looms.”
As the only open-source software for many hobbyist and professional weavers, AdaCAD supports a growing community of craftspeople, engineers and designers—a group Devendorf has dubbed “experimental weavers.”
She explains that AdaCAD is designed to give “a new representation for” the incredibly complex designs many weavers create. “That representation affords different points of connection, relationships and possibilities. It's not figuring anything out for you, but it's representing what you're doing in a more flexible format.”
Transforming an image into a woven textile with AdaCAD
CHI retrospective
Laura Devendorf and colleagues at CHI 2025
Devendorf had a substantial presence at conference (Special Interest Group On Computer-Human Interaction) in Yokohama, Japan. The centerpiece was a demo booth where she created a sort of “lab in a box” showcasing over 7 years of research she and her colleagues conducted at the Unstable Design Lab.
Within the context of this engineering and science-focused audience, Devendorf notes the idea was to “promote weaving and weavers as an approach to doing interactive technology. We're highlighting our residency programs and we're highlighting some interactive demos that have emerged from these programs” including conductive yarns and textiles that enhance interactivity, along with resources designed for community building.
This bridging of seemingly disparate worlds—computer science and craft, lab research and community building—exemplifies Devendorf’s work. Creating visibility between craft and engineering is key for both worlds.
Devendorf observes, “If we're getting so jazzed up about 3D printing and fabrication, here's a fabrication method that has history, that has culture, that evolved in different spaces, that's multi-material.”
“Then that's where the residency programs and some of the resources come in to make complex textile design, not less hard, but to equip you with the right resources to navigate that difficulty so you can take advantage of the full potential of weaving looms and materials.”
“Your material range is huge and your ability to tune it is huge, so this idea of if we need to solve problems in the world and we're not using every available approach, we can't be getting the best solution. You have all these established materials and tools.” We don’t always need to invent a new polymer when we have textiles with centuries of history that could be adapted to the same properties.
While in Japan, she collaborated with master craftspeople who use historic Nishijin looms to make extremely complex and delicate silk kimonos. Together they are exploring ways to adapt AdaCAD software to support this craft steeped in centuries of tradition. She also toured a traditional indigo dyeing plant and other textiles facilities to further explore the interplay between legacies of craft and modern tools.
Devendorf and colleagues tour a weaving facility in Yokohama, Japan
Traditional indigo dyeing in Japan
Creating space
Building a community that bridges craft and engineering spaces means bringing new people into the lab setting.
“The people who gravitate to the research in my lab are not the same composition as the people who come to it through engineering and computer science. There's certainly overlap, but on a statistical level, people who would not typically pursue engineering and science are showing up for weaving and having their expertise validated as already worthwhile rather than having to prove that they matter—I think that's an important moment.”
She elaborates, “I could have made AdaCAD and not talked to anyone, and that wouldn’t have been unusual. It could have gotten published. But I think community-building was implicitly a goal the whole time. Also, even the lab itself, I want it to be a pleasant space. I don't want it to be a factory. I think it has a warmth to it, and it has people who care. And so it's well on its way” to becoming a community space.
Traditional machines, future possibilities
Weaving outside the context of craft is often misunderstood as an idle hobby that is prone to imperfection and unpredictability. Devendorf notes, “People have no idea that this is relevant to the extent I have to spend time in the grant explaining what weaving even is, how it works, and showing several examples that clearly demonstrate how useful it can be within engineering spaces.”
She concludes, “There's so much to explore in these machines, and I think the people who are the most capable of exploring it all are craftspeople. So there's a slightly propaganda piece of: I think these looms can give us better solutions than modeling something on a computer and printing.”
The Unstable Design Lab's demo booth at CHI 2025
Demo:
This demo showcased "experimental weaving" as it has been explored by researchers and experimental weavers in residence at the Unstable Design Lab. The demo featured interactive woven textiles, software to support complex woven structure design and instructional resources for visitors to explore in their research.
Workshop:
This workshop covered how stories are built, what narrative traditions they draw from, how they co-constitute research processes and what kind of knowledge can emerge from them. They explored the role of storytelling in HCI; the craft of writing stories; relations between fiction, truth and knowledge; and the risks, tensions and limitations of writing stories.
Workshop:
This workshop created a meeting place for CHI researchers engaging textiles in any capacity through a day of skill sharing and collective speculating grounded in the textiles techniques and histories of Japan.
Panel:
This panel brought together a diverse group of design researchers working hands-on with materials ranging from biological to algorithmic to discuss regenerative thinking, shifting the focus from merely mitigating environmental harm to actively fostering cohabitation within more-than-human ecosystems.