Imagine lying on a massage table inside a colourful, whimsical tent. You glance up and look out of the hand-painted fabric surrounding you, in which interesting shapes have been cut to let in light. Woven into the tent's fabric are small LED lights with tiny computer clips attached, telling them to respond and change colour according to your body's heat.

This magical tent, which is actually a collapsible massage enclosure, is the creation of professor Robin Muller at NSCAD University and professor Sarah Bonnemaison of the School of Architecture at Dalhousie University. It's one of several prototypes for a collaborative project seeking to develop "smart" textiles for architectural uses. "The only way we're ever going to come up with something new is to collaborate," says Muller, who is also a weaver.

Aiming to interweave lights and sensors into fabrics that respond to sound, sunlight, and touch, ACOA's Atlantic Innovation Fund has committed more than $1 million to the project. Some of the other prototypes in development include curtains, theatrical backdrops, and acoustical ceilings that could be used in large-event venues.

In the project's next phase, Muller and Bonnemaison will work with Maria Osende, the founder and artistic director of the Halifax-based Flamenco Festival Atlantic, to develop a lightweight backdrop for her stage performances. Sound sensors could follow Osende's feet as she dances and, in turn, change elements in the backdrop, including light. They'll also work with Igor Dobrovolskiy, the artistic director of the Moncton-based Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada, to construct a stage set with cameras that track the dancers and change the set according to their movement.

Based in a new lab next to NSCAD's port campus, Muller and Bonnemaison have used their ACOA funding to buy high-tech equipment such as a 3-D printer and a laser cutter, and they have hired several collaborators on their projects. "That's the beauty of this lab," says Bonnemaison. "You have time to work out things. This is a unique situation, to have so much freedom and time to experiment."

Now that the prototype for the collapsible massage enclosure is close to completion, Muller says they plan to invite representatives from the Halifax-based MacFarlands tool-and-equipment-rental company to view it. The company is interested in the idea of having the team create an imaginative ceiling for a rental tent. "My hope is that we could come up with products that could be made in mills here in Atlantic Canada," says Muller.