Tactile virtual textiles

A spin-out company from Heriot-Watt University is one of seven organisations to reach the final of the Research Councils’ Business Plan Competition.

Totallytextures is developing a computer-based tool that will make it easier for clothes designers and interior designers to choose the right fabrics for their creations.

The tool enables materials or wallpapers, for example, to be scanned and their textures to be depicted as 3D images. Using the computer’s mouse, the images can then be moved around, manipulated or even wobbled, as if the fabric was in the user’s hands.

This system is said to provide much clearer ideas of what a texture is like - such as in terms of how the light plays on it and its suitability for a particular use - than can be obtained by looking at photos in a brochure or catalogue.

Currently, the only alternative to brochures/catalogues is the use of swatches, which have the major drawback of being expensive to produce.

The final judging and awards ceremony will take place on Thursday 7 December.