Haptic acts of making: A surface imaging design practice using digital and virtual tools. By Miranda Smitheram, Auckland University of Technology This paper introduces a project that uses Motion Capture (mo-cap), 3D modelling and visualisation tools to design morphing dresses and surfaces, to speculate on a future where dress could become a digital canvas. The project seeks to extend the researcher’s tacit knowledge of surface design and material knowledge through experimental modes of practice and the use of digital tools and technologies. The discussion provides an overview of a process that emerged from reimagining textile and fashion surfaces with digital and three-dimensional (3D) methods. This process integrates transference from physical to digital design, incorporating the researcher’s fashion perspective. In particular key insights are drawn from the comparisons of material knowledge across different states. In fashion design practice, the ‘hand of the cloth’ with its various material properties of weight, structure, fabrication, texture, drape and stretch, etc. dictates design possibilities. In this project the fashion researcher considers the ‘hand of the digital’ and what the aesthetic implications may be from engaging with the material properties of the digital itself. Examining the design process in depth, the research utilises a hybrid methodology from the merging of physical and haptic approaches with digital materials. Outlining one speciic design development process that is central to this remediated methodology, this paper addresses how a particular aesthetic emerged through recursive material engagement with physical, virtual and digital interfaces. Introduction Haptic acts of making Making Futures Journal Vol 4 Making Futures