Peace Offer

Robotics | Interactive Wearables | Fashion

Peace Offer is an interactive mechanical dress that blooms in response to a handshake, symbolizing connection and mutual understanding through touch. This project is funded by Backslash at Cornell Tech and will debut at the Cornell Fashion Collective Spring 2025 Show.

2024

What if we could convey profound messages through our clothing? How might technology expand our understanding and influence of social interactions and dynamics? In what ways can technology bring us closer to each other as humans?

While growing up in Venezuela, I was captivated by a peaceful protest where civilians would offer white flowers to the military as a symbol of peace and hope. Twenty years later, that flower has yet to be received.

Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters

Peace Offer is an interactive dress inspired by this message: for peace to flourish, two sides must come together—at least two hands need to be shaken. Once they do, the white flower blooms. The dress is equipped with high-torque motors and a capacitive touch sensor, allowing the petals to open when the wearer's hand is shaken, lowering the barriers between two people.

This past year at university has been challenging, with protests on campuses across America—creating an atmosphere of division and hostility. Through Peace Offer, I want to send a message of unity instead of hate. This dress is my way of advocating for connection and understanding, reminding us that true peace requires mutual effort.

One major task was designing and fabricating custom horn extensions for each motor that were strong and long enough to support the petals while minimizing torque to prevent bending or cracking. At the same time, reducing torque was essential to lower the motors' current draw, simplifying the power requirements and allowing for a smaller, more efficient battery. To ensure precise control, the circuit incorporated a motor driver, enabling smooth operation of the motors. Additionally, the base of the dress was carefully chosen to be robust enough to support all electrical components and the battery, providing stability and durability throughout its use.

The goal of Peace Offer is to explore how wearables can transcend aesthetics to become tools for meaningful communication and connection. This dress serves as a metaphor for breaking down barriers and fostering unity through non-verbal interaction, emphasizing the importance of mutual effort in creating peace. By integrating advanced mechanical systems and capacitive touch sensing, the dress transforms a simple handshake into a profound gesture, using movement to express a message of harmony and hope. This innovation highlights the potential of wearable technology to influence not only how we interact with each other but also how we perceive and build relationships in a divided world.

Overall, this project is an attempt to explore the possibilities offered by wearable technology and interactive design. Peace Offer seeks to address the psychosocial challenges of division and disconnection by using movement as a medium for communication. The intention is to demonstrate how technology can foster social interaction, encouraging gestures of unity and mutual understanding in a world often divided.