Martina Motta

From 16/05/2024 to 15/08/2024

Paired Teams

Tangible Knit Privacy Structure

MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Media Lab

I am a researcher and professor in Design, focused on the textile and knitwear fields. My approach to technology is thus design driven and human centric, while a lot connected with the R&D progresses in manufacturing companies. Working on the convergence of advanced technology and traditional manufacturing, my research built a network of companies connected with the Politecnico Knitlab that work together with the academic team to pursue teaching and applied innovation results and improvements. I work to integrate technologies in the research activities and in the Fashion Design curricula of Politecnico di Milano.

The improper use of facial recognition technology (FRT) and the lack of legal design solutions to protect one’s biometric data and privacy are challenging human rights and ethical values. The project is developing garments and textiles that, thanks to the technologies embedded in the fabric pattern, prevent the collection of the wearer’s biometric data without the need to cover the face.

We are working on solutions to make our adversarial patterns dynamic and updatable to constantly respond to surveillance technology progress. We foresee in the technology developed at MIT Media Lab a great opportunity to boost several aspects of the project.

• First experiments towards dynamic adversarial knitted patterns.
• Improvement in the pattern generation process and in their elaboration with coding tools developed at MIT.
• Use of computer science and coding to generate communicative solutions for the project.
• Study and understanding of the TMG fibers and setting of parameters for knitted samples to be produced in Polimi KnitLab in Milan, after the fellowship.

• So far, the fellowship:
  • Implemented, by combining diverse expertise, the development of computational tools and provided new solutions and the technical expertise for their application in knitwear.
  • Selected the tools to be tested with adversarial knitted patterns
  • Implemented the fellow’s knowledge on computational knitting that can be exploited in several research and teaching activities, directly related to adversarial knitting but also other parallel research tracks.
  • Established connections and research collaboration between Knir Design research group at Polimi and Future Sketches research group at MIT Media Lab.
  • Set up a collaboration with Future Sketches to present the project at Cambridge Science festival in Cambridge, MA, September 2024.
  • Generated a research pathway shared by the two universities (Polimi and MIT Media Lab, with both Future Sketches and Tangible Media), that focuses on the broader concept of AI Camouflage. Here, the adversarial knitting represents a first pilot tangible experiment that generates knowledge for possible further developments in the domain of AI Camouflage.
  • The research pathway is generating the writing of a joint research project to be submitted to National Science Foundation (USA), to the Small project class of the CISE Core Programs, under a joint funding program they have with the Italian MUR (Ministery of University and Research).
  • Accelerated contacts/engagements with Future Sketches and Tangible Media Group at MIT and Politecnico di Milano that are generating mirrored fellowship of MIT researchers coming to Polimi in September.
  • Reinforced the integration between the aspects of the project related to social sciences and humanities (design, ethics, fashion culture, etc.) and the aspects related to computer science (computational calculation, AI, augmented reality) mastered at MIT.
  • Planning of a paper submission for further publication – jointly with the host organisation