The worlds of Art and Science are becoming increasingly intertwined; we are in a collective movement towards hybrid disciplines. The Maker community is a really good example of this. Increasingly, programs across universities are creating hybrid courses that infuse engineering with design or vice versa. Because the world is getting smaller, and we are so interconnected, we are inevitably sharing our processes and practices across our disciplines. There is a need to bridge together the Yin and Yang of thought; where both hemispheres of the brain are actively engaged to create new holistic solutions. Fashion technology and wearables is a great example of where this hybrid thinking is starting to happen.

- Adapted from a conversation with Asta Roseway

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Asta Roseway is a Senior Research Designer, at Microsoft Research, whose work focuses around Human Computing Interaction (HCI), Affective Computing, and Wearables. She is a Parsons School of Design alumni with a background in Graphic Design. In 1997, she joined the MSR Virtual Worlds Group designing online gaming and social experiences. In 2000, she worked primarily with researchers to explore new methods of interaction around next generation media experiences including WebTV/and other broadband enabled content.  In 2004, she left Research to help ship synchronous content sharing software for teens which eventually merged into MSN. After years of product experience including Messenger, Windows Live and Advanced Search/Bing, she returned to MSR excited to explore the next wave of computing. Roseway’s highly regarded ‘Printing Dress’ (2011) is a combination of fashion and technology designed to provoke questions around wearable displays, privacy, and social impact. She continues to explore these questions but more specifically focuses on experiences in the health and wellness sector.