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It’s the end of the year, and that means a look back and a look forward. In the interests of fitting this into a blog you’ll have time to read, we’re picked just a few choice innovations that have a “wow” factor worth noting.
In Dr. Marie O’Mahony’s article, ”Noteworthy innovations in healthcare textiles,” she specifically highlights the accomplishments of women in this field. Among the innovations, is the work of researchers at Aalto University in Finland to address the environmental impact of e-textiles by developing bio-based and biodegradable e-textile capacitive sensors. This matters because, as e-textile products grow in number, the issue of their environmental impact grows, too.
O’Mahony includes smart fabric veteran Cute Circuit, a London-based company, which has refined its SoundShirt™ for use by hearing impaired sports fans. Broadcast microphones capture the sound of the crowd, which is converted from analog to digital format. The software transforms the crowd noise into touch data that is wirelessly transmitted to the shirt.
A designer with the Interwoven Design Group is focusing on developing wearables “that are less intrusive and more intuitive,” and that will integrate seamlessly into daily life. The point being, no “wow” innovation is meaningful unless people are willing to use it.
Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar’s article takes a broad view of the industry, emphasizing the importance of collaborative work, and translational research, in particular. His article emphasizes the importance of cooperation and support from academic institutions, the government, organizations that represent the textile industry, and, of course, industry leadership is a key ingredient too.
But I can’t resist sharing a few more with you. Check out “NUS researchers develop multifunctional robotic fibers.” A team of interdisciplinary scientists at the National University of Singapore has made flexible fibers with self-healing, light-emitting and magnetic properties. The self-healing functionality, in particular, caught my eye. I’ve seen press releases about self-healing materials in the past, but I’ve heard less about them recently. Self-healing. Think about that.
Who isn’t fascinated with invisibility technology? Invisibility Shield Co. now has a “Megashield,” which is about six feet tall and can conceal a person. Waterproof, battery-free, and made from 100 percent recyclable materials, the shield, you see, is the invisible part. You don’t see it, or the person shielded behind it.
I’m also taken with kinetic energy technologies, so of course I had to run this story: “New kinetic energy harvesting material is in development.” Scientists are working on a new textile for the U.S. Navy Seals that will generate energy from movement and temperature changes to power communication systems and health monitoring devices.
As a participant in IARPA’s SMART ePANTS program, Nautilus Defense has demonstrated what it says is the world’s first direct die attach of chiplets to embroidered conductive yarns at a 180µm pitch, a space between yarns as thin as a single hair. This is an important step toward the scalable manufacture of sensor systems that look and feel like every-day fabrics.
And, of course, this doesn’t begin to cover this year’s breakthroughs, but we cover breakthroughs in textile technology pretty much every day. You won’t find stories aggregated in this way anyplace else, so enjoy a look back on 2024’s accomplishments by cruising through our website. I think you’ll be as impressed with industry accomplishments as I am.
Janet Preus is senior editor of Textile Technology Source. She can be reached at janet.preus@textiles.org.