Textiles
Intelligence
Press Release
September 5, 2005
For immediate release
Smart textiles will take care of us for life
Smart textiles and interactive fabrics are set to look after us at all stages of our lives.
Existing products and future developments will lead to clothing which is capable of
looking after itself and the wearer, according to the latest issue of Performance
Apparel Markets.
Smart and interactive textiles are new textiles which offer new functions through the
integration of technology into a fabric. New products and developments occur on a
regular basis moving ever nearer to clothes that will look after the wearer from cradle
to grave. From life monitoring vests to entertainment jackets, a whole range of smart
clothing products are already on the market or soon to be launched. Such products
include:

a sensory baby vest which monitors new-born babies in an effort to reduce the
incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS);

self-illuminating jackets to ensure the safety of school-aged children;

communication and entertainment jackets for work and pleasure; and

a shirt that monitors vital body data such as heart, lungs, skin and body
temperature and which can be used in the early detection and monitoring of
heart and circulatory illness.
Developments involving smart and interactive textiles are not just confined to
specialist garments. Consumers are demanding more from their everyday clothes too.
According to Performance Apparel Markets, clothes are expected to be multifunctional and adapt to changing surroundings. The production of such clothes is now
possible, thanks to the development of methods such as nanotechnology, phase change
materials, shape memory materials and wearable electronics.
Nanotechnology -- the science of structures less than 100 nanometres in size -- has led
to new ways of instilling a permanent capability into fabrics, whether it is anti-bacterial
or stain resistance. This permanence lasts through washing and wearing. In future,
smart clothes will need less cleaning and repairing because they can perform these
tasks for themselves.
Wearable electronics constitute a rapidly growing sector. Many products launched to
date have been in outdoor performance wear such as ski jackets or for the medical
monitoring of vulnerable individuals such as new-born babies and post-operative heart
patients.
Progress in electronic textiles has meant that it is now possible to produce a control
panel which is made entirely from fabrics and is washable too. Hard or plastic
components of computers can be replaced with fabric keypads, fabric joysticks and
fabric wireless controls. Some companies now offer “off the shelf” smart fabric
controls for manufacturers who are looking to launch wearable technology garments.
Using a variety of technologies, smart and interactive textiles have enabled clothes to
be designed with a wide range of capabilities, including anti-microbial, anti-odour,
anti-static, bullet-proof, colour changing, communication controls, entertainment
controls, insect repellency, moisture management, non-iron, non-tear, physiological
monitoring, stain-resistance, thermally-adaptive and wireless controls.
Combinations of capabilities are also becoming more commonplace. Technology is
enabling manufacturers to offer a mix and match of capabilities in a variety of fibres
and fabrics.
Although the smart and interactive textiles market is still in its infancy, it is set to grow
rapidly in the next few years. Many new developments are predicted in the military,
performance sportswear, healthcare and workwear sectors. Much current research
funding is coming from governments, notably in the field of military uniforms. But
developments in smart and interactive textiles have commercial uses too in the medical
and sportswear sectors including the monitoring of physiological functions, as well as
self-repair and self-clean capabilities.
Clothes of the future will have the functionality of a personal office or a hospital
monitoring system with built-in phones, computers and health monitoring devices.
They will let wearers know if they need to contact a doctor of if they have forgotten
their keys when they leave the house. Some of this technology is already on the
market, such as in garments which can monitor wellbeing. Some of it is still in
development. Nevertheless, it is predicted that smart textiles will be commonplace
within 20 years from now.
Ends.
“Smart and interactive textiles” was published in issue No 13 of Performance
Apparel Markets. Other reports in the same issue include: “Fast track: innovations at
Avantex and Techtextil 2005”; “Product developments and innovations”, “Profile of
Nano-Tex: a leader in nanotechnology-based textile treatments” and “Business
update”.
Performance Apparel Markets is a quarterly publication from Textiles Intelligence.
Each issue includes business information and analysis of the market for high
performance activewear and corporate apparel.
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536137; Email: info@textilesintelligence.com
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