KnittedKeyboard: Digital Knitting of Electronic Textile Musical Controllers

In this work, we have developed a textile-based interactive surface fabricated through digital knitting technology. Our prototype explores intarsia, interlock patterning, and a collection of functional and non-functional fibers to create a piano-pattern textile for expressive and virtuosic sonic interaction. We combined conductive, thermochromic, and composite yarns with high-flex polyester yarns to develop KnittedKeyboard, both with its soft physical properties and responsive sensing and display capabilities. The individual and combinations of keys could simultaneously sense discrete touch, as well as continuous proximity and pressure. The KnittedKeyboard enables performers to experience fabric-based multimodal interaction as they explore the seamless texture and materiality of the electronic textile.