Electronic textile research is still in its infancy, but we can clearly see several important research directions that suggest appealing near future applications. Some of the more important efforts include applications that (1) aid in patient health monitoring through sensor-embedded garments that track and record biometric data, (2) help improve athletic performance both by analyzing sensor data and by adapting to changing conditions so as to improve performance over time, (3) provide environmental sensing and communication technologies for military defense and other security personnel, and (4) present new structural and decorative solutions for fashion design. We are naturally most interested in this fourth direction and, since fashion is predominantly visual, we are particularly interested in developing technologies that will enable the construction of garments that have the ability to change color, texture, transparency, or shape over time. The field of textile design, (including weaving, felting and embroidering) which involves the creation of many complex patterns from different colored yarns, threads or fibers, is centuries old.
Today, efforts are being made to create flexible, fully addressable displays on fabric and textiles, which will allow a textile to display any pattern. Designers and consumers alike are quite excited by the future vision of a world populated with magical garments that can adapt and respond to various interaction parameters and change based on time of day, mood, or the designer’s whim. This vision is predicated on the technological development of visually animated materials that can be embedded or incorporated in a fabric. Existing materials for display usually “light up”: light emitting diodes (LEDs), electroluminescent (EL) material, or woven optical fibers transmitting the light of high brightness LEDs offer potential for wearable displays or animated fashion. Non-emissive materials such photochromic pigments (which change color when exposed to light) or thermochromic pigments (which change color when exposed to heat) are materials that simply change color and offer more interesting and more subtle possibilities for colorchange
textiles.
Today, efforts are being made to create flexible, fully addressable displays on fabric and textiles, which will allow a textile to display any pattern. Designers and consumers alike are quite excited by the future vision of a world populated with magical garments that can adapt and respond to various interaction parameters and change based on time of day, mood, or the designer’s whim. This vision is predicated on the technological development of visually animated materials that can be embedded or incorporated in a fabric. Existing materials for display usually “light up”: light emitting diodes (LEDs), electroluminescent (EL) material, or woven optical fibers transmitting the light of high brightness LEDs offer potential for wearable displays or animated fashion. Non-emissive materials such photochromic pigments (which change color when exposed to light) or thermochromic pigments (which change color when exposed to heat) are materials that simply change color and offer more interesting and more subtle possibilities for colorchange
textiles.
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