Electronic textiles have their applications in a wide array of fields. On one end of the spectrum there are pragmatic applications such as military research into interactive camouflage or textiles with nanorobots that can heal wounded soldiers. On the other end of the spectrum, there is work being done by artists and designers in the area of reactive clothes - “second skins”, that can adapt to the environment and to the wearers and that can express aspects of their personalities, their needs and their desires, and represent aggregate social information.
Listed below listed are the various market segments for the application of Interactive wear, along with recent developments in each one of them.
| Games, Entertainment & Communication: |
• MP3 player controls, mainly iPod
• The speech-controlled MP3-player demonstrator system designed into a sports jacket
• Infineon Technologies, a major semiconductor product maker, has helped develop an experimental jacket with an integrated MP3 player. A flexible woven inch-wide ribbon carries sound to the MP3 player’s headphones.
• A more integrated MP3 version of the jacket is in the works. Such electronic ribbon may also be used for wireless communications, for example, to locate a hiker trapped under snow in an avalanche.
• The ‘Nike’+ line has launched a new ‘Nike’+SportBand wristwatch which links with a sensor in the ‘Nike’+ footwear, enabling runners to get real-time performance feedback with details such as distance, pace, time and calories burned. This allows the user to properly track their performance and adujust as per his/her requirements.
• Interactive camouflage fabric is used by the military but may also become a wearable electronic network to send and receive data. • Much of the smart-fabric, “soldier of the future” research
is centered at the US Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts. There, scientists and technologists are tackling a variety of textiles that can transport power and information. One example is a soldier sticking his or her intelligent glove finger into water to see if it is safe to drink. The soldier could communicate with others by a fabric keyboard that might be unrolled from the pocket of a uniform, or simply sewn or woven in as part of the uniform’s sleeve.
• The Soldier Systems Center has already collaborated with Foster-Miller Inc., a Waltham, Massachusetts, an engineering and technology company, to develop a fabric-based version of a Universal Serial Bus(USB) cable. |
• This is ongoing research for a future combat dress that might keep soldiers warm and fight off germs, and eventually detect and fight chemicals and other dangerous agents.
• Companies are working towards the adaptation where paper maps would be replaced with electronic systems. An example of this would be a Know Where Jacket (CeBIT, 2006) which would enable navigation and routing options for the wearer. This would help enable rescue operations and ensure safety.
• Various technological advances would make it further refined. With GPS for outdoor localization, GSM/GPRS for continuous data transmission, application like Google Maps and Google Earth would serve as data for outdoor activities.
• Biofeedback–Integrated pedometers, heart rate monitors or temperature sensors provide physiological information to the athlete • Intelligent trainer–System communicates to the athlete by audio feedback or display information (suggests, motivates, warns)
• Music pacing–Continuous adaptation of music speed to the
average steps per minute enhances the training effect
• Personal health monitoring–Sensing and pre-processing of heart beat, breath, temperature, motion, etc. signals for health care applications
• The College of Textiles at North Carolina State University, in Raleigh, has been working on a flame-retardant compound that could be used in children’s clothing or toys, as well as soldiers’ uniforms or even Formula One car racing suits.
• A team at University of Massachusetts is devising molecules that act in much the same way as cells in the human body to combat germs. Such molecules, called polymers and oligomers, can then be embedded into clothing.
• Philips Design, a diversified Health and Well-being company, focused on improving people’s lives through timely innovations, has developed a series of dynamic garments as part of their ongoing SKIN exploration research into the area known as ‘emotional sensing’. The garments, demonstrate the way electronics can be incorporated into fabrics and garments in order to express the emotions and personality of the wearer.
• Solar cells in bags and jackets to charge consumer devices
• In the more distant future it might be possible to change the color of pants from dark to white if, say you are traveling from cold to a hot climate. |
