Originally clothing was used to protect us from snow, rain the wind and other forces of nature. Later, fashion came into play. Colours were added, prints and schemes were developed which were often related to; a family, clan or culture. Nowadays, we can buy any print in any colour whenever we want. However, the past 100 years we have seen the world change. Airplanes did not exist 150 years ago and already 52 years ago a first human walked on the moon. In the meantime fashion has changed and yes, a highend jacket will keep you warm and dry like no other jacket has done before. Nonetheless, has clothing really seen such a dramatic change over the years? When I look around in Rotterdam, I do not think so. However, a new generation of textiles has seen daylight; smart and interactive textiles.
What is smart textile
Smart textiles are defined as textiles that can sense and react to environmental conditions or stimuli, from mechanical, thermal, magnetic, chemical, electrical, or other sources (Syduzzaman, 2015). Smart textiles are smart, because they have incorporated materials and (electronic) sensors or other means of communication, enabling them to react according to their environment.
Smart textiles can be divided into three categories (Langenhove & Hertleer, 2007):
• passive smart textiles: which can only sense the environment
• active smart textiles: which can sense and react based on the environment
• Ultra-smart textiles: takes it even a step further, with the ability to not only sense and react, but also to adapt on the circumstances.
Application
These smart textiles can have various applications. For example; an already available technology is colour changing fabrics. This can be achieved by adding certain materials to clothing which have the ability to change colours, when exposed to certain stimuli; heat, friction, pressure or light. This could be very useful for military purposes for example. A more high-tech application is a pulse monitoring fabric, which capable of measuring the rhythmic stretching of cotton at for example your wrist, where it can measure your pulse (Trisha, 2020).
As you can imagine the options are countless. Especially with regard to healthcare, imagine that your clothes keep a check on you and keep you informed on your health! Or imagine having one jacket that changing the structure of the fabric the keep wind and rain out on Monday and can change again to let a breeze keep you cool in the afternoon sun on Tuesday.
Personally I was surprised that after looking into the subject, that these developments are not already mainstream and easily available. I mean, think back. In a 100 years’ time we went from not flying at all to walking on the moon. We went from no internet, to internet on every street corner. I think that it is smart textiles are promising, but still have a long way to go before becoming truly relevant in day to day life. However, I do also see problems arise. Do you really want to wear a t-shirt which is loaded with sensors and electric devices? What about privacy? Also on a side note; not sure if wearing electric t-shirts is a great idea in the wet Dutch winter months. Nonetheless, we shall see what the future holds!
Sources
- Langenhove, L. V., & Hertleer, C. (2007). Smart Textiles for Medicine and Healthcare. Woodhead Publishing.
- Syduzzaman, P. (2015). Smart Textiles and Nano-Technology: A General Overview. Textile Science & Engineering, 1-7.
- Trisha, L. (2020). The Future of Smart Textiles: User Interfaces and Health Monitors. Matter, 794-804.
