The Zipper as Sensor is an enhanced common metal zipper that acts as a sensor. We have taken the common metal zipper found in everyday clothing and designed a way to have it control an array of LED lights when the zipper is moved.

Clothing, one of the basic human needs, has not undergone a major change since Gideon Sundback patented his version of the zipper or the “Separable Fastener” in 1917. The zipper is a technology that has become ubiquitous. People have learned how to use the zipper so well they don’t consciously consider how to use it.

Using the zipper, and other common clothing, as sensors are ideal because of the zipper’s perceived and actual properties that determine how it is to be used, or its affordance. We are interested in creating a new class of sensors that are built out of and into common clothing. We believe technology should conform to the person, not the person conforming to the technology.