Simultaneously Monitoring System Design for Infants’ Temperature: A Human-Centred Design (HCD) in Fashion Practice

Finding a convenient way to simultaneously monitor an infant’s temperature is a major concern in the domain of childcare. This study proposes a novel system for simultaneously monitoring the skin temperature of infants using a thermochromic textile in a modified garment design. Thermochromic materials use pigment activation to provide an easy to comprehend visual indication of an infant’s temperature change. They can detect signs of infants’ skin temperature change, making it possible to monitor a fever by simply watching garments and accessories change color. This paper presents a human-centered methodological approach towards thermochromic textile design for use with infants. It details the approaches taken to explore problems and find solutions, including in-depth semi-structured interviews, laboratory experiments and experimental prototyping. This interdisciplinary project seeks to achieve low-cost and convenient real-time monitoring of infants’ skin surface temperature via a smart textile design. The feedback collected after the textile experiments and design prototyping demonstrated positive potential when applying thermochromic textiles to manage infant health.