MUSHTARI from Mediated Matter Group on Vimeo.

Neri Oxman's latest project is redefining the function of fashion

One of the most exciting contemporary architects and designers Neri Oxman began her latest project with a question: ‘How can we design relationships between the most primitive and the most sophisticated life forms?’

The solution was Mushtari, a 3D printed piece of wearable tech Oxman and MIT's Mediated Matter Group are developing in collaboration with Stratasys; it can change colours, emit scents, grow its own food, and charge your phone.

The futuristic garment, measuring 58 meters of usable microbe-infested tubing, functions as a microbial factory — it absorbs sunlight and converts it to a sugar which is then consumed by the microbes and turned into energy for materials such as fuel and scent.  The Mediated Matter Group have just 3D printed the first prototype of Mushtari which will be just one part of the Wanderers Collection, four items of wearable technology that blur the boundaries between the environment and the body.

The Digestive Car is another example of how 3D printing has the potential to completely transform how we think of materials and the function of products.