The BB.Suit: High-Tech Garment Purifies Surrounding Air

 The BB.Suit evolved out of the pervasive wearable technology trend that has invaded the global marketplace. Dutch designers were eager to find a way to artfully integrate the electrical threads and sensors of their innovative, one-piece suit, enabling it to provide GPS, Wi-Fi and air-cleaning capabilities. The garment represents cold plasma technology intersecting with fashion at its creative best.

The BB.Suit: Source: Benoit Florencon-Dezeen.com

Recently displayed at China's Beijing Design Week, this suit  is a grand collaboration between Dutch textile developer, Borre Akkersdijk, designers Eva de Laat and Martin ten Bhomer from the Eindoven University of Technology, Daan Spangenberg Graphics, Studio Friso and the Dutch magazine, Want.

BB.Suit-Back view: Benoit Florencon-Dezeen.com

The BB.Suit and polllution

Tackling the crippling societal and environmental challenges of pollution in Beijing, the BB.Suit  has undergone serious alterations from its original manifestation. Its creators have expanded the functions of the garment, which was via embedded copper wires equipped with Bluetooth, GPS, Near Field Comunication (NFC, which is a wireless technology that allows for the transfer of data and WiFi, but not air-cleaning technologies.

The wearer of this garment is suddenly transformed into a mappable commodity equipped with mp3 streaming ability. Its pockets house batteries, processor boards and user interface (UI) actuators that make the suit seamless to the touch. Two layers of cotton disguise and protect the copper cables; they puff up when steamed.

How does the BB.Suit combat air pollution?

BB.Suit-front and back: Source: Ecouterre.com

Cold plasma technology creates a bubble of clean air around the wearer via a quality sensor implanted into the  suit. This mechanism keeps track of the carbon monoxide particles, methane and dust surrounding the body of the wearer. According to designer, Akkerdijk, "cold plasma technology is a really high voltage that splits up the particles in the air. It grabs the dust and then it drops, so all the bad particles go down to the ground...There are real issues about air pollution in Beijing..."

The long-sleeved garment with hood is constructed from conventional textiles, but electrical yarns are woven into the body and knee-length legs. A hidden platform chip  connected to the air quality sensor tracks and transmits the data. Located at chest level, the air quality sensor is also connected via the chip with a battery and a cold plasma node in the back of the suit.

Marketability and future of the BB.Suit

The mindset behind the creation of this special suit was to develop a connected wearable plaform rather than a marketable garment. Due to this factor, although safe and compeltely functional, the suit is too diffciult to wash to be considered for mass production sellable to the public-at-large. Still, its creation represents a significant first step towards integrating cold plasma technology with every day garments.

Conclusion

The BB.Suit is a move in the right direction. Who knows what clothing designers will come up with to combat global pollution  and other environmental challenges? Ideas are endless and only limited by the confines of the human imagination.

Final thoughts on pollution:

Oh, beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,

For strip-mined  mountain's majesty above the asphalt plain.

America, America, man sheds his waste on thee,

And hides thy pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea.~ George Carlin