AiDLab has won three accolades at the 2024 Just Style Excellence Awards. One of them is the artificial intelligence (AI)-based Interactive Design Assistant for Fashion, which is a winner in the Product Launches category. The product revolutionises the traditional design workflow with its rapid ideation capabilities.
Meanwhile, the lab’s WiseEye technology and its Intelligent Knitted Textile System won in the Innovation category, with their transformative approaches to textile inspection and interactive fabric technology, respectively.
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AiDLab’s AI-based Interactive Design Assistant for Fashion
AiDLab’s AI-based Interactive Design Assistant for Fashion (AiDA) has won an award in the Product Launches category, being the first-of-its-kind designer-led AI system, distinguishing itself from the conventional tools and AI technologies.
AiDA transcends the capabilities of standard fashion design software and CAD systems, which have traditionally been limited to drawing and visualisation functions. Unlike prevalent AI technologies such as GAN, DALLE-E, and Midjourney, which generate images based on prompts or digital inputs without adhering to the fashion design process, AiDA collaborates with designers to produce original fashion collections, including automatically generating designs for both men and womens’ wear based on designers’ creative inspirations.
AiDA builds on a cloud-based platform that can be easily accessed by fashion designers in different countries through mobile devices and desktop PCs at any time to create their designs. The tool significantly streamlines the conventional fashion design workflow, which is often a lengthy process. AiDA’s ability to instantly generate designs from mood boards and propose diverse ideas through AI expedites the design process, allowing designers to come out with the best designs before moving on to prototype production.
AiDA enables rapid ideation, producing eight outfits in just ten seconds, and cuts the design process time by over 60%.
Code-Create Limited, an AiDLab spinoff, markets AiDA to the global fashion industry. The product has already attracted subscriptions from fashion professionals in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, and the US.
WiseEye: AI-based textile material inspection technology
The WiseEye by AiDLab is a groundbreaking innovation in AI-based textile material inspection. The innovation addresses the challenge of automatic fabric defect detection, a task that has remained elusive for over two decades due to the complexity of fabric structures and the variety of defect types.
The intelligent system transcends the limitations of traditional manual inspection methods by harnessing the power of machine vision algorithms and deep learning techniques. It boasts an impressive accuracy rate of more than 95% and can conduct high-speed inspections at a rate exceeding 60 meters per minute.
The WiseEye system also automates the process of defect labelling and allows to inspect a wide array of fabric types, from finished woven fabrics like plain and twill to knitted fabrics such as single jersey and double jersey, encompassing solid colours and intricate patterns like stripes and checks. The system can identify over 40 common fabric defects.
WiseEye has been adeptly adapted to inspect other materials, including leather and nonwoven textiles. The technology has also been successfully applied in collaboration with the Hong Kong local brand Banitore, enhancing the quality control of facial masks and other personal care and hygiene products.
By addressing the industry’s shortage of highly skilled quality inspectors and reducing downstream wastage, WiseEye not only streamlines the inspection process but also contributes to sustainable practices within the fashion industry.
AiDLab’s spinoff, WiseEye Automation Limited, has been recently established with the goal of marketing WiseEye to the global textile and apparel industry.
AiDLab’s Intelligent knitted textile system for fashion and interiors
The Intelligent Knitted Textile System by AiDLab is the first illuminative knitted textile that can change colour illuminations via artificial intelligence empowered gesture recognition or mobile application.
The interactive technology transforms traditionally passive materials into vibrant, customisable entities. The system can be applied within fashion and interior design contexts, offering users the unprecedented ability to alter the colour of their attire or surroundings with a simple gesture or tap on their smartphone.
At the core of the innovation are two distinctive breakthroughs. Firstly, the world’s first patented knitted structure, which combines polymeric optical fibres with conventional textile yarns such as wool, cotton, or cashmere, to create an interactive textile that illuminates yet retaining the familiar hand feel of typical knitted fabrics. Secondly, the system offers dual interaction modes: an AI-driven contactless gesture recognition system that responds to intuitive movements, and a mobile application powered by a bespoke controller chip with integrated Bluetooth Low Energy technology, allowing for efficient synchronisation and control of the textile’s illumination.
The novelty of the Intelligent Knitted Textile System extends to its patented material structure and production process. The polymeric optical fibres are knitted with textile-based yarns with distinct surface treatment to ensure uniform lateral illumination. Moreover, it is the first illuminative photonic textile that can be produced on industrial flatbed knitting machines, paving the way for scalable manufacturing. The textile also boasts easy-care properties, having been tested to withstand multiple wash cycles without affecting its illuminative capabilities.
Key features of the interactive textile include its stretchability and comfortable tactility, alongside its ability to be knitted into diverse patterns, textures, and weights. The benefits are manifold, with inclusive interaction at the forefront, as the system is designed to be universally accessible, transcending abilities and cultural barriers. The sustainable production process only utilises required materials which minimises wastage. The potential for product longevity is significant, as it is instantly customisable and thus reduces the need for excessive consumption.
Company Profile
AiDLab is the first research platform that focuses on the integration of AI with design. It was jointly established by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and the Royal College of Art (RCA) in the UK, and is funded by the HKSAR Government under the InnoHK Research Clusters.
Located at the Hong Kong Science Park, AiDLab has established a new creative cluster of AI in design and is in a leading position internationally to conduct interdisciplinary research that drives innovation and sustainability and makes a positive impact on both industry and society. The lab houses advanced facilities, including the Fashion AI & Intelligent Textiles Inspection Lab, 4D Body & Foot Scanning Lab, Human-Centered AI Design Lab, and Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) at AI plug. These resources, along with shared research equipment and facilities with the PolyU and RCA, provide significant support to the approximately 120 researchers and research students working within AiDLab.
AiDLab brings together a diverse mix of leading researchers and practitioners from its founding institutions to conduct research in three thematic programmes: Ergonomic and Inclusive Design, Innovation in Product and Service Design, and Intelligent Fashion Design and Quality Control.
Contact details
Units 1613-1615, Building 19W
Hong Kong Science Park
Pak Shek Kok New Territories
Hong Kong
e-mail: info@aidlab.hk
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