Chameleon-like clothing devised for Paris catwalk show

11 Oct 2023

Technology partners NTT and Imagica integrate “hyperspectral color control” into outfits designed by Anrealage.

Hyperspectral color control alters viewers’ perception of clothing while worn.

Global technology company NTT Corp., in collaboration with Imagica Group, deployed hyperspectral color control technology that enabled new fashion clothing colors and patterns to be altered live onstage at the Spring-Summer 2024 Paris Collection hosted by Anrealage on September 26th.

The hyperspectral color control technology represents the deployment of a new user experience created by NTT’s Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN), which it describes as “a communications infrastructure designed to enable a smarter world through the application of cutting-edge fields of study including photonics and advanced computing”.

Takahiro Matsumoto, a NTT research engineer, commented, “Through the IOWN initiative, NTT aims to foundationally improve the way human beings interact with their world and with each other—from global computing infrastructure to stage productions.

“We are proud to partner with Imagica and Anrealage to provide audiences with a first-hand look at how next-generation information and communications technologies can profoundly change the way we perceive the world around us.”

Two components

Hyperspectral color control technology, which changes the appearance of colors and patterns of objects by lighting control, consists of two key components: lighting simulation technology and light spectrum control technology.

In the simulation technology, the spectral characteristics – such as which wavelengths of light are reflected, absorbed, and fluoresced – of an object’s surface are obtained from a hyperspectral image and then used to accurately reproduce the appearance of the object under various lighting environments. By searching for and reproducing the conditions under which an object’s color and pattern appear to change, it becomes possible to design lighting conditions according to a director’s creative intention.

Meanwhile, the spectrum control technology combines multiple light sources based on the results of the lighting simulations to synthesize an optimal lighting spectrum. This enables the realization of metamerism, a phenomenon in which colors with different spectral reflections appear the same under a specific light source.

Thus, through the use of this technology, a viewer’s perception of color and pattern can be altered under specific light and color conditions as well as through the control of the target color’s vividness. This perception-altering technology was inspired by the ethological theory of Umwelt proposed by 19th and 20th century-biologist Jacob von Jüksschül, which states that each organism lives and acts as an agent of a species-specific perceptual world.

Going forward, NTT aims to improve the accuracy of lighting simulations and increase the variation of color control, with the aim of achieving even richer expression and presentation in the combined real-world and cyber space. It is considering the deployment of this technology in the retail industry, cultural arts and entertainment fields.