The largest wearable display in the world, the Galaxy Dress from CuteCircuit is embroidered with 24,000 full colour pixels.

The dress incorporates the smallest full-colour pixels available, which have a thickness comparable to paper and dimensions of 2mm x 2mm. Meanwhile, the circuits are flexible, super-thin and hand embroidered onto a layer of silk to give the material stretch. To diffuse light, 4 layers of silk chiffon that moves fluidly is used as well.

The Galaxy Dress is designed to work with a number of iPOD batteries so that the wearer can walk around. According to its designers, the dress does not overheat and consumes very little electricity as a result of the technology used.

Extremely lightweight, the heaviest part of the dress is not actually the technology, but rather the 40 layers of pleated organza crinoline that gives the skirt its volume. The areas without lights are embroidered with 4000 hand-applied Swarovski crystals to create a gradient from clear crystal to bright pink. As a result, the dress also looks impressive when it is switched off!

The Galaxy Dress is the centre piece of the “Fast Forward: Inventing the Future” exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago where it was commissioned by the museum for their permanent collection as part of celebrating the museum’s 75th anniversary.

Founded by Ryan Genz and Francesca Rosella, London-based CuteCircuit produce garments and accessories that merge the fields of wearable computing and telecommunication technology, thus creating exciting new interfaces. More of their works can be explored here and more about their latest venture, illuminated uniforms for easyJet crew and engineers, here.

Photos by JB Spector, Museum of Science and Industry Chicago.