LilyPad Arduino: rethinking the materials and cultures of educational technology

The LilyPad Arduino is a construction kit that enables students to construct and program tangible interactive devices (Buechley, 2008). Similar to Lego Mindstorms, it consists of a set of controllable input and output pieces like temperature sensors, light sensors, motors, and LEDs, but users of the LilyPad build interactive textiles instead of robots. Soft, wearable artifacts are made by stitching sewable components together with silver-plated, electrically conductive thread. Figure 3 shows a picture of the kit and a sample design, a jacket with turn signals on its back that was designed for cycling.