Surmountable challenges

October 28th, 2024

E-textile for Tapis Magique, developed by Irmandy Wicaksono with Don Derek Haddad and Joseph A. Paradiso. Photo: Irmandy Wicaksono. The smart fabric segment of the textile industry is poised to grow from $4.19 billion in 2024 to $15.21 billion by 2032, according to a Business Research Insights market report, but stumbling blocks remain that keep […]

Read More

Next generation smart textiles are in development

July 29th, 2024

The Loomia Electronic Layer (LEL) is an alternative to flex PCBs, printed ink on TPU and traditional e-textiles. The technology is used to create custom heating, cabling, lighting, and sensing components. Photo: Loomia. In May of 2022, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), the research and development arm of the U.S. Office of the […]

Read More

Preparing to say, “I told you so”

July 29th, 2024

It’s interesting to me how the smart fabric segment of the advanced textiles industry has found ways to maneuver around the limitations inherent in powering smart fabric products. In essence, a battery in the form of a puck, as it’s now called, provides the power—one way or another. Workarounds have been largely clever manipulations of […]

Read More

Machine learning used to create a fabric touch sensor

May 13th, 2024

A new study from NC State University combines three-dimensional embroidery techniques with machine learning to create a fabric-based sensor that can control electronic devices through touch. Integrated into the fabric of a piece of clothing, the sensor can activate and control electronic devices, such as mobile apps, entirely by touch. The device is made up of […]

Read More

Super-charged smart textile can multi-task

June 12th, 2023

Scientists have developed a simple metallic coating treatment for clothing or wearable textiles which can repair itself, repel bacteria from the wearer and even monitor a person’s electrocardiogram (ECG) heart signals.  The fabric becomes conductive when coated with a special 'breathable' metallic layer. Photo: Flinders University Researchers from North Carolina State University, South Korea and […]

Read More

The Smart Fabrics Conference 2023

May 8th, 2023

Air Force Research Laboratory scientists have discovered a unique stretchable conductor that uses a polymerized liquid metal network. Photo: Second Bay Studios. This year’s Smart Fabric Summit was again organized by the Advanced Textiles Association (ATA) and the Wilson College of Textiles, North Carolina State University (NC State) in Raleigh, N.C. The event took place […]

Read More

MIT researchers improve precision sensing in wearables

August 22nd, 2022

Using a novel fabrication process, MIT researchers have produced smart textiles that snugly conform to the body so they can sense the wearer’s posture and motions. Photo: Irmandy Wicaksono/ MIT Using a novel fabrication process, MIT researchers have produced smart textiles that snugly conform to the body so they can sense the wearer’s posture and […]

Read More

Washable, battery-free, wearable alternative developed at Purdue

July 26th, 2021

The fingertip of a wireless voltage detection glove illuminates when the wearer’s hand approaches a live cable.  Photo: Purdue University/Rebecca McElhoe.  Purdue University engineers have developed a new spray and sewing method that makes it possible to transform any conventional fabric items into battery-free wearables that can be cleaned in a washing machine. The Purdue News […]

Read More

Engineers create a programmable fiber

June 28th, 2021

Researchers at MIT have created the first fiber with digital capabilities, able to sense, store, analyze and infer activity after being sewn into a shirt. The digital fiber contains memory, temperature sensors and a trained neural network program for inferring physical activity, according to a report from the MIT news service.  Yoel Fink, professor of […]

Read More

Touch surfaces for interiors shown in concept car

February 8th, 2021

Photo: Leonhard Kurz Auto manufacturers’ concept vehicles increasingly exhibit car cockpits with no mechanical switches or buttons. The solid, seamless and gently curved surfaces are, instead, equipped with functions activated by touch. Concealed under the surface are control elements that only become visible when required, but this elegant appearance belies a complex underlying technology.  German […]

Read More