Smart textiles and wearable electronics: the future of clothing
“Smart” or “intelligent” clothing is part of an exciting technology that involves building computing, connectivity, and sensing capabilities into materials that people can wear comfortably. Some of the latest products in this area are very fashionable, lightweight and indistinguishable from other clothes. In some cases, the electronic circuits that make up the laptops’ brains and sensors are sewn together. In others, the circuitry and other components are literally built from the conductive thread and thread that makes up the clothes. The possibilities are amazing and limitless.
Right now, as devices get smaller and smaller, we often find ourselves with a different electronic device in each pocket. Each technological advance shrinks these devices and integrates them with each other. It stands to reason that as these wearable devices that connect us, give us information, and enable us to be mobile become smaller and more powerful, we may eventually find ways to integrate them directly into the clothes we wear. Right now the technology hasn’t progressed to that point, but this article will cover the currently available forms of smart fabrics or smart clothing.
There are actually three different types of smart clothing:
– Smart Passive: Where the clothes “read” or sense the environment or something about the person wearing the clothes. Wearable sensors fall into this category, with examples including built-in GPS, clothing-embedded baby breathing monitors, and clothing that provides information about possible changes in the weather.
– Active Smart: where clothing not only detects the environment, but also reacts to it. Examples include: clothing that changes density depending on the outside temperature, jackets that store solar energy that can be used to charge cell phones and cameras, and even built-in sensors that can guide a precise massage to a user that is regulated based on their o your stress level.
– Highly intelligent asset: Where the clothing has built-in computing or intelligent sensing capabilities. Examples include sleeves that double as keyboards for a small handheld device, clothing that can double as a powerful calculator or PDA, and t-shirts that can store information via a built-in cloth keyboard and send it via Bluetooth to a computer.
Other classifications of smart clothing include “phase change” and “shape memory” materials. Phase change materials literally change things like their density in reaction to the environment, to increase wearer comfort or functionality. These garments can become denser when it’s cold and more porous when it’s hot, for example. Shape memory materials can change from a temporary deformed shape to an original shape. They can retain a comfortable, loose fit regardless of changes in heat and humidity levels.
In the future, we may all wear smart clothing that detects when we have medical problems, gives us the ability to charge electronic devices on the go, and even enables basic computing. We may not need different clothes for different seasons due to phase change and shape memory technology. There may be means of communication and general connectivity built into our clothing. This emerging technology is exciting and will soon take over the consumer market.