Creative Technologies by BTSDI merge tradition with design innovation

Milanese design innovation firm BTSDI presents the concept of Creative Technologies and their application to develop original products combining traditional materials with technology.

After opening their doors to introduce us to the work of a design innovation firm, BTSDI walks us through their experimentation and research around the so-called ‘Creative Technologies’.

Looking ahead in our future, products will increasingly integrate technology among materials, serving purposes with a digital and data-based world in mind. As a result, design innovation must embrace wider fields of knowledge and expertise, up to date with the fast advancements of the tech sector. Following this direction, BTSDI commits to constantly develop its know-how and competences through experimentation.

The link between the physical and digital world is stronger each day: blurring the boundary between these realms contributes to creating completely new experiences and levels of performance for new product concepts.

What are Creative Technologies for BTSDI?

BTSDI’s experimental approach is focused on finding new creative combinations and opportunities for existing and future technologies, constantly monitoring and studying emerging applications in electronics, sensors and digital experiences. This is the Creative Technology approach.

Such spirit of BTSDI turns into a process to develop suitable solutions for its clients, leading them first to a “proof of concept” stage and, subsequently, to prototyping, testing and validating stage.

In practice, BTSDI experiments to add electronic components and a resulting “digital layer” to physical matter such as fabric, leather, natural or synthetic materials. New problems and challenges are tackled generating unexplored product experiences while creating original opportunities for customers. 

It is now time to discover some practical applications of Creative Technologies developed by BTSDI.

Application #1 – Sensors and tech-responsive interfaces

Thanks to industrial advancements, layers of small-scale sensors can now be integrated within a material, transforming them into actual interfaces for unique applications and mass production.

Combining the use of ultraslim sensors with the processing of specific materials solutions and the development of custom-made electronic components is key to the creation of responsive interfaces with unrevealed potential.

Curious to discover what happens behind the scenes of a design innovation firm?
Marco Rosetti and Duccio Mauri from BTSDI walks us through the workflows and mindsets used to develop new design solutions.

Application #2 – Smart textile and wearable

In certain applications, materials become a sensor or tool for data detection. It is the case of smart textiles, where digital components and electronics are embedded in fabrics, creating “sensorial products”, receptive to physical stimuli such as pressure and stretching.

These peculiar materials are implied to develop smart products ensuring comfort, for instance in wearable technologies and applications where the product is in close contact with the user.

Over time, BTSDI has developed innovative solutions combining existing weaving and knitting techniques with conductive materials to create smart fabrics for a wide range of product types. 

Through the development of products for specific customers and an iterative trial and error process, BTSDI perfected highly performative implementations, focusing on the signal’s quality and repeatability.

Application #3 – Backlighting

Light shapes objects and gives life to colors: a powerful tool of communication and interaction to create new product experiences for a vast number of industries, from fashion to automotive.

A well-thought light design can play a crucial role in achieving product differentiation, for example leveraging on the full control of light’s presence or absence on the surface of a product, as a non-invasive mean of communication.

Using natural materials or traditional processing techniques, such as micro-drilling, combined with new lighting technologies, like flexible LED, can generate great solutions for a large range of industries and use cases.

BTSDI is currently experimenting with innovative fiber technologies and optical materials to further develop existing solutions and create groundbreaking product opportunities.

The next challenge for BTSDI – Data harvesting

For BTSDI, the next step of development for Creative Technologies involves the collection and processing of data generated through products.

Each electronic and digital interaction generates data. Seizing this information with effective data harvesting processes, and subsequently processing it through machine learning and artificial intelligence will lead to groundbreaking developments and product interactions.

But we will explore this in the next article….

What is sustainability for a design innovation firm?
Read how BTSDI develops a comprehensive sustainable design process for its clients, integrating environmental and social aspects.