After the successful organization of the first TEI Swatch Exchange as part of the SDC (Student Design Challenge) in 2021, we would like to propose Swatches as a new and physical publication format to TEI, the Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction. We believe TEI should take initiative in exploring possibilities of broadening how academic publishing can look like, and what novel publication formats could be inclusive towards new knowledges and new participants in order to advance academic practice. The focus and nature of the work presented at TEI is uniquely fitted to explore physical publication formats as a novel way to advance, communicate, and cite work that embeds and embodies computing in the physical world. However, we are aware that a physical publication format also poses very specific challenges, including questions of dissemination, accessibility, and citation, to name a few. We propose a Studio to deeply engage with the possibilities and potentials, as well as potential problems of physical publications. We see such discussion as a crucial first step in defining plausible submission processes, publication forms, and means of archiving of new academic formats.

We present a method for enabling arbitrary textiles to sense pressure and deformation: In-situ polymerization supports integration of piezoresistive properties at the material level, preserving a textile's haptic and mechanical characteristics. We demonstrate how to enhance a wide set of fabrics and yarns using only readily available tools. To further support customisation by the designer, we present methods for patterning, as needed to create circuits and sensors, and demonstrate how to combine areas of different conductance in one material. Technical evaluation results demonstrate the performance of sensors created using our method is comparable to off-the-shelf piezoresistive textiles. As application examples, we demonstrate rapid manufacturing of on-body interfaces, tie-dyed motion-capture clothing, and zippers that act as potentiometers.

Embedded programming is typically made accessible through modular electronics toolkits. In this paper, we explore an alternative approach, combining microcontrollers with craft materials and processes as a means of bringing new groups of people and skills to technology production. We have developed simple and robust techniques for drawing circuits with conductive ink on paper, enabling off-the-shelf electronic components to be embedded directly into interactive artifacts. We have also developed an set of hardware and software tools -- an instance of what we call an "untoolkit" -- to provide an accessible toolchain for the programming of microcontrollers. We evaluated our techniques in a number of workshops, one of which is detailed in the paper. Four broader themes emerge: accessibility and appeal, the integration of craft and technology, microcontrollers vs. electronic toolkits, and the relationship between programming and physical artifacts. We also expand more generally on the idea of an untoolkit, offering a definition and some design principles, as well as suggest potential areas of future research.

This article examines the practice of electronics building in the context of other crafts. We compare the experience of making electronics with the experiences of carving, sewing, and painting. Our investigation is grounded in a survey of 40 practicing craftspeople who are working in each of these disciplines. We then use this survey as a foundation for a discussion of hybrid craft—integrations of electronics with carving, sewing, and painting. We present examples of hybrid craft and discuss the ways in which blended practices can enrich and diversify technology.

This paper explores the idea of handcrafted electronics. We introduce a kit-of-no-parts approach to building electronics from a diverse palette of craft materials, which we argue is more personal, understandable and accessible than the construction of technology from a kit of pre-determined components. We illustrate our approach by describing the design, construction, and dissemination of a collection of textile sensors, and detailing a website and a series of workshops through which we share our approach.

As technologies, finely bound books are compact, durable forms that get passed from one generation to the next. As handcrafted objects, they exemplify manual control and dexterity, patience and care, and continuity with the past. Paper-based electronic books, by contrast, are relatively new objects that enable novel interactions with material. Here we explore connections between centuries-old and contemporary building techniques by adding electronics to traditional binding. What kinds of details would be interesting to learn about the past? How could we use conductive fibers to talk to the future? What could gilded edges tell us about our interactions with books? In this studio, participants will build basic bookbinding and e-textiles skills to enable new material explorations.

This workshop will explore the use of low-cost materials and tools to build textile-based interfaces that replace the current hard-shell computer mice or laptop touchpads that you use to navigate your screen. We will introduce a range of methods for handcrafting textile input devices. Participants will learn techniques developed by the workshop leaders and will also be encouraged to use our materials library to design their own custom mice. The goal of the workshop is to familiarize participants with available electronic textile materials, to introduce them to a variety of sensor and circuitry construction techniques and get people thinking about different interfaces that allow you interact differently with everyday technology.

The Living Wall project explores the construction and application of interactive wallpaper. Using conductive, resistive, and magnetic paints we produced wallpaper that enables us to create dynamic, reconfigurable, programmable spaces. The wallpaper consists of circuitry that is painted onto a sheet of paper and a set of electronic modules that are attached to it with magnets. The wallpaper can be used for a multitude of functional and fanciful applications involving lighting, environmental sensing, appliance control, and ambient information display.

This workshop will explore the use of low-cost materials and tools to build textile-based interfaces. We will introduce a range of methods for handcrafting textile sensors and circuitry. Participants will learn techniques developed by the workshop leaders and will also be encouraged to use our material library to design their own custom sensors. The goal of the workshop is to familiarize participants with available electronic textile materials and introduce them to a variety of sensor and circuitry construction techniques.