How is AI speeding up the design process? Which tried and tested pro-cesses have already been introduced in the home textiles sector? What measures are necessary to prevent copyright infringements? Experts discussed a variety of ideas and solutions - from tool combinations to integration in corporate guidelines.

At the opening press conference, panel participants Anja Bisgaard Gaede, founder of the Spott trends & business agency, Danny Richman, AI consultant and inventor of the AI-based Fabric Genie design app, and Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textiles & Textile Technologies of Messe Frankfurt, discussed the potential of artificial intelligence for textile product design. The discussion was chaired by Alexandra Bohn, Style Content Director of F.A.Z. Quarterly.

Artificial intelligence in textile product design

ChatGPT, Midjourney, Dallee: powerful tools for text, image and design generation have been very easily accessible for companies and private individuals since 2023. Today, they are a fixed part of everyday life and are leading to enduring changes in working processes. The panel discussion focused on how artificial intelligence is speeding up creative processes, enabling the rapid production of designs and transcending time?consuming drawing processes on computers. Moreover, AI offers recommendations for material choices – based on specific criteria and the desired properties of the final product, whether for sustainability or in the contract business.

Heimtextil 2024: trade fairs as aids to transformation

One of the key roles played by Heimtextil is the investment in knowledge and the exchange of information with the aim of bringing transformations to life. Olaf Schmidt underscored the rapid growth of AI and explained why Messe Frankfurt is actively focusing on AI and bringing together international experts in this edition of Heimtextil, with a panel discussion and workshops in the Heimtextil Trend Space: “AI is fundamentally redefining the economy, markets and industries. As trade-fair experts, we know how to aid transformation efforts and reduce levels of complexity. With the global home textiles industry at Heimtextil in Frankfurt, now is the optimum time to spotlight the potential of artificial intelligence”, said Olaf Schmidt. The strength of the global Texpertise Network is also evident in this context: the Network embraces over 50 textile trade fairs in 12 countries and aids the exchange of information about artificial intelligence between many different markets along the textile value chain.

Increasing the potential of AI in textile design: easy and inexpensive

In his keynote address, Danny Richman presented a tried and tested aid: Fabric Genie, an AI design application for online shops. Users upload images of their room and describe their design requirements. The AI then generates proposals from which users can choose the design wanted. In his address, Richman also referred to the public’s reaction to the ability of AI to produce unique textile designs. “AI is superior to humans in terms of its ability to spot patterns in data. At the same time, this potential is easy and inexpensive for companies to take advantage of. Thanks to AI, it is not difficult to generate backend codes or to integrate custom-made applications via APIs”, said Danny Richman.

Artificial intelligence at the Heimtextil Trend Space

Anja Bisgaard Gaede looked at how companies can get started with AI and which aspects they should take account of during implementation. In this connection, she discussed not only technical questions but also the composition of corporate guidelines and protection against copyright infringements. Attention was also paid to ways in which AI is being used for textile design, as well as its limits. Gaede explained the importance of suitable prompts and distinguished between effective and less effective commands. Another focus was on combining the AI tools currently available. “It is time to forge ahead with KI. But with caution and with an eye to what is required to be successful in this. Hybrid machine and human interaction as well as collective intelligence are component parts of tomorrow’s workflows”, said Anja Bisgaard Gaede.

She also offered a preview of the AI applications and workshops in the Heimtextil Trend Space where visitors can experience and test artificial intelligence and augmented reality up close. Thanks to the AI-Image-Creator, they have the opportunity to generate unique textile works of art using a variety of prompts. Parallel to this, another tool offers valuable factual knowledge in the field of text-based learning.