Smart textiles can exhibit properties of traditional textiles like stretchability while maintaining electrical conductivity. Earlier smart textiles were not practical for wear due to wired connections and batteries but now can be comfortable, lightweight and easy to care for. Examples described include a musical jacket with an embroidered MIDI keyboard, a t-shirt that detects WiFi signal strength through animations, space suits that regulate temperature, and smart military uniforms that can detect injuries. Performance enhancing textiles like Speedo's "shark skin" fabric and properties of various smart fabrics are also summarized.
2. Smart textiles have been called e-textiles or intelligent textiles, electro
active textiles, wearable electronics, and textronic depending on the
approach.
Smart textiles need to be designed to exhibit physical properties similar to those of
traditional textiles such as bendable, stretchable, and washable while keeping good electrical
conductivity
Earlier smart textile clothing systems are not practically wearable because of wired with
cables crisscrossing all over and batteries or hard electronic devices.
Now days the concept of wearable textiles becomes more practical regarding comfort, light
weight, breathability, and especially to care and maintenance.
For Smart textile two important aspects of the human body must be considered:
I. body size
II. human motion
both will affect the sensor placement on the garment as well as its relative position with
human body.
Manufacturability of the e-textile must be considered starting from the process of
embedding sensors during weaving to alignment of embedded fabric for cutting patterns and
proper joining of patterns in garment.
4. After 1996 Olympic many sport analyst raised their eyebrows by
observing the unexpected results in the swimming events. By analyzing a
medalist a common found was, about 77% of the medalist use “Speedo”
fabric as their swimming suit.
Imagine, a trouser, which reminds you if you forgot your car keys
‘Smart Skin’ which warns you when you are exposed to a hazardous
chemical
A jogging suit, tunes to the climatic changes or the physical condition
after exercise and further advice the jogger for the balanced action.
a jacket, which is cooler in summer and warmer in winter, entertains
the wearer with TV channels or computer games. In addition, connect
with his friends on phone for a chat.
Do you know
6. The musical jacket was first developed in the fall of 1997.
It has a touch sensitive MIDI keyboard embroidered
directly into the fabric using conductive thread.
It contains stainless steel filaments, which makes it
conductive.
the keypad is polyphonic, thus several keys can be hit simultaneously.
Sound is generated by a single-chip General MIDI wavetable
synthesizer, and sequences are generated in a microcontroller.
Musical Jacket
The jacket is entirely battery operated, with powered speakers
in the pockets.
8. A shirt with a built-in Wi-Fi signal detector
Glowing animated shirt dynamically displays the current Wi-
Fi signal strength
Animated Decal is Removable (with hook and loop fasteners) for
Easy Washing
Battery Pack is Concealed in a Small Pocket Sewn Inside the Shirt
Wi-Fi detector t-shirt
10. A space suit is a garment worn to keep a human alive in the harsh environment of outer
space, vacuum and temperature extremes.
Advanced suits better regulate the astronaut's temperature with a Liquid Cooling and
Ventilation Garment (LCVG) in contact with the astronaut's skin, from which the heat is dumped
into space through an external radiator.
Another layer is composed of spandex, an elastic wearable polymer
The innermost layer is made up of a Nylon tricot material
Space-suit
Dacron—a type of polyester—is used for a pressure-restraining layer.
13. The uniform is equipped with optical fibers, which can detect an injury such as by bullet and
send information to the concerned center.
The signal’s magnitude would depend on the force applied on the fiber that can be considered
as the severity of the injury and priority of treatment can be decided by this information.
The US military’s land warrior program is arming soldiers with the uniform containing
protective gear and body armor and computer.
This would help also in reaching or locating injured soldiers in the battlefield or rescue
operation.
Smart Military Uniform
The headgear shows battle plans soldier position transmitted over a wireless LAN. It also
consists of a microphone.
The radio cum computer on the back or on the arms is powered by lithium battery. At chest,
another strap contains Solider Control Unit for interfacing with computer.
14. The goal will be to increase the "protection and survivability" of US soldiers with new
technologies
16. SPEEDO Intentional, Japan has developed mimic of sharkskin,
which ensures easy swimming
The fastest aquatic creatures have one thing in common:
sleek, durable skin that lets them slice through the water.
Following their lead, the speedo fabric has been developed.
In addition, this fabric is knitted with 3-dimenssional V-
shaped groove with 3-D knitting principal.
Speedo Fabric (Shark Skin)
The sharkskin is made from specially developed polyamide
and Lycra fibre coated with Teflon to prevent water penetration
With help of this V-shaped groove, the friction between water
and swimmer is negligible and drag up to zero.
This increases the efficiency of the swimmer by 8-10%.
19. This shirt is equipped with motion sensors; it can provide feedback about the wearer’s
movements or postures.
Such information is helpful in rehabilitation or sport
applications, where it is important that certain
movements are executed correctly.
The life shirt system is a comfortable garment that
can be worn under normal uniform and it can
automatically and continuously monitor over 40
physical signs such as respiratory rate, ventilation,
swallow counts, arterial pulse wave, and heart rate.
Smart Shirt
For example, rehabilitation exercises need to be
performed in clearly a defined motion sequence,
with the correct speed and a defined amount of
repetitions.
22. The Brussels, Belgium based research lab, Star Lab has developed a suit which monitors the
heart beat, and then plays certain type of music, adopting the rhythm to push the wearer faster
or slower.
A mobile phone in clothing can send the data by e-
mail to wearer’s club.
This suit has several layers with heat sensor and
microphones embedded in cuffs and collars to measure
light and sound.
Jogging suit
A microchip card inside the suit can sense when jogger is tired and suggest him to continue
or rest.
From outside it measures the weather and from inside
it monitors wearer’s biophysical state by analyzing this
internal and external characteristics, the jogging suit
can suggest the duration and intensity of exercise
In addition, if something dangerous does happen it can intimate a doctor.
24. These types of fabrics are used during trekking on mountain in windy weather.
Windproof clothing prevents convective heat
transfer. Convective heat loss is a significant factor
in causing discomfort.
In cool or cold, windy condition windproof
clothing keeps us warmer by preventing convective
heat loss (the wind chill effect) and the discomfort
associated with it.
Wind stopper fabric
Wind stopper products are typically coated with DWR (Durable Water Repellent), which
provides them with a modest degree of water resistance.
When wearing a windproof layer, we can maintain our warmth with less insulation in windy
conditions.
26. Cool Shirt is a company that make a neat refrigerated shirt.
This company offers many different solutions for
cooling from small scale to industrial solutions.
The cooling comes from a non-flammable CFC-Free
solution that flows through about 50 feet of tubing.
Cool shirt refrigerated t-shirt
It offers instant relief on hot days.
The fluid is stored in a replaceable 12oz Port-a-cool
can
28. Sun protective Tshirts are the best and most reliable protection
against the sun. They are recommended by both the World Health
Organization and the dermatologists.
It contains no chemicals that could harm the skin nor the
environment.
The protection from UV radiation that textiles provide is indicated
as a UV PROTECTION FACTOR(UPF) .
Sun Protective clothing
They are slightly extensible and do not loose their shape in time. They resist sand and chlorine
abrasion
Beyond the amazing UV protection (UPF50+), these t-shirts dry up really quickly and absorb
sweat
29. The standard for Sun Protective Clothing-
UPF Rating Protection Category % UV radiation Blocked
15,20 Good 93.3-95.9
25,30,35 Very Good 96.0-97.4
40,45,50,50+ Excellent 97.5 or more
31. Imagine a roll-up QWERTY keyboard, a jacket that interfaces with your mobile phone, a
television remote control sewn into the arm of a sofa or light switches embedded in curtains
and carpets.
A unique technology developed to enable textiles to function as interfaces to control any type
of electronic device also called SOFT Switch.
Essentially, this means that soft flexible fabrics can be used in place of conventional hard
switches, keypads, keyboards, buttons or knobs.
Touch Sensitive Fabrics
Soft switch fabrics can interface directly with any type of electronic device without the need
for signal processing or complex software.
33. This technique is developed by the use of electro chromic polymers
— a flexible material that changes colour when an electrical charge is
applied to it.
Electro chromic polymers have been around for a while, but they
were too small and fragile to be practical, but now developers have
found a way to make them long and flexible enough to be woven into
cloth.
Some people fear that the chromic materials will be a short boom.
Colour Changing Shirt /Chromic
Materials
However, the accuracy and endurance of the materials are all the
time being improved.
34. CHAMALEON FIBRE
Inspired by a fruit called MARGARITARIA NOBILIS (also known as
bastard hog berry)
How it is made-The fibre is made from two polymer materials layered
on top of each other and then rolled into cylinders tens of microns thick.
How it works -The top n bottom layers reflect light separately and the resulting beams
interfere in a way that produces bright colour , which changes when the fibre is stretched and
the angles at which the light waves are reflected are altered.
Where it can be used - sports clothes that change colours in the areas of muscle tension or
that sense when an object is placed under strain as a result of heat.
36. HearWear is a concept created by Younghui Kim and Milena Iossifova, uses the sound/noise
level of the environment to create active color patterns on clothing or bags.
These cool garments interact with ambient sounds and show the levels on the garment.
The microphone and processor converts the sound levels into light via LEDS and EL wire.
Hear wear Sound Activated Textiles
Despite its coolness, this may also have safety purposes too
