Intelligent Textiles in Medical

The fashion industry is facing new challenges: “intelligent textiles”, “smart clothes”,“i-wear” and “fashion engineering” are only a few of the keywords which will revolutionize new and old industry within the next 5 to 10 years. The integration of high-technology into textiles, e.g. modern communication or monitoring systems or the development of new materials with new functions, has just started with timidity, but the branch already propagates an enormous boom for this sector. Especially applications for the health sector, e.g. clothes with extern monitoring systems, are already today anticipating a great demand . Developments in telecommunication, information technology and computers are the main technical tools for Telemedicine (Telecare, Telehealth, e-health) now being introduced in health care. Telemedicine - medicine at a distance - provides among the many possibilities offered the tools for doctors to more easily consult each other. For individuals, e.g. with chronic diseases, “Telemedicine” means, the possibility to stay in contact with their health care provider for medical advice or even to be alerted if something begins to go wrong with their health. This opens up new possibilities for personalized health and health care. In line with this, ongoing cutting edge research in fields such as textiles, medical sensors and mobile communication could pave the way to a better life for a large number of patients. The results of the researches will indeed make a positive impact on the quality of life for individuals in the real world.
In this review, recent developments on smart garments, designed for medical usage owing to their electronic functions are introduced. The products that appear in the market and application areas are also reviewed.

Medical Aspects of Smart Clothes
"Intelligent Clothing" is made from fabrics that are wireless and washable that integrate computing fibers and materials into the structure of the fabrics. This technology represents a quantum leap in healthcare monitoring, producing accurate, real-time result. A garment can have some functions like a computer by using optical and conductive fibers,

When incorporated into the design of clothing, the technology could quietly monitor the wearer's heart rate, respiration, temperature, and a host of vital functions, alerting the wearer or physician if there is a problem. Judging from the number of inquiries that have been received from parents, physicians and caregivers from all over the world, there is a critical need for the medical smart clothing and this need will be met in the near future.

Smart-Shirt
Georgia Institute of Technology is a university, which conducts research in the area of "intelligent fabric". Georgia Tech developed a "Wearable Motherboard" (GTWM), which was initially intended for use in combat conditions. GTWM is shown on Figure 2. Figure 2. Georgia Tech Wearable Motherboard GTWM is currently being manufactured for commercial use under the name "Smart Shirt" by Sensatex.
The commercial applications for the "Smart Shirt" are as follows:
• Medical Monitoring Disease Monitoring Clinical Trials Monitoring
• Obstetrics Monitoring Infant Monitor Biofeedback
• Athletics Military Uses
The SmartShirt System incorporates advances in textile engineering, wearable computing, and wireless data transfer to permit the convenient collection, transmission, and analysis of personal health and lifestyle data. Described as "the shirt that thinks," the SmartShirt allows the comfortable measuring and/or monitoring of individual biometric data, such as heart rate, respiration rate, body temperature, caloric burn, and provides readouts via a wristwatch, PDA, or voice. Biometric information is wirelessly transmitted to a personal computer and ultimately, the Internet. The "Smart Shirt," a T-shirt wired with optical and conductive fibers, is a garment that functions like a
computer. It uses electro-optical fibers embedded in the fabric to collect biomedical information. There are no discontinuities in the smart shirt. The smart shirt is one piece of fabric, without seams. Because the sensors are detachable from the smart shirt, they can be placed at any location, and is therefore adjustable for different bodies. Furthermore, the types of sensors used can be varied depending on the wearer's needs. Therefore, it can be customized for each user. For example, a firefighter could have a sensor that monitors oxygen or hazardous gas levels. Other sensors monitor respiration rate and body temperature or can collect voice data through a microphone. The information is sent to a transmitter at the base of the shirt where it is stored on a memory chip or sent to your doctor, coach, or personal server via a wireless network like Bluetooth, RF(Radio Frequency), WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network), or cellular.
It uses plastic optical fiber and various sensors and interconnects continuing monitoring human body to detect any dangerous signals or other vital symptoms. A flexible data bus brings the data from sensors to emitters and then sends to PSM (Personal Status Monitor). It is lightweight, comfortable and able to launder. Detailed architecture of the Smart Shirt is shown on Figure 3 and Figure 4.

The system has shown great promise in effectively monitoring the vital signs of infants, as well as chronically ill patients, obstetric patients and the elderly. Similarly the sensor technologies in the garment can be adapted to meet the specific needs of the athletes, astronauts, police officers and firefighters and those involved in hazardous activities [6], [3].
Some of the wireless technology needed to support the monitoring capabilities of the "Smart Shirt" is not completely reliable. The "Smart Shirt" system uses Bluetooth and WLAN. Both of these technologies are in their formative stages and it will take some time before they become dependable and widespread. However, the "Smart Shirt" at this stage of development only detects and alerts medical professionals of irregularities in patients' vital statistics or emergency situations. It does not yet respond to dangerous health conditions. Therefore, it will not be helpful to patients if they do face complications after surgery and they are far away from medical care, since the technology cannot yet fix or address these problems independently, without the presence of a physician. Future research in this area of responsiveness is ongoing Application areas of “Smart Shirt” are as follows:
• Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle
• Individual Athletes/Team Sports
• Continuous Home Monitoring
• Remote Patient Examination
• Infant Vital Signs Monitoring
• Sleep Studies Monitoring
• Vital Signs Monitoring for Mentally Ill Patients
• Protecting Public Safety Officers
• Battlefield Combat Care Solution

Life-Shirt
Developed by Southern California-based health information and monitoring company VivoMetrics, the Life- Shirt, which is shown on Figure 5, uses embedded sensors and a PDA to monitor and record more than 30 physiological signs and bring standard monitoring technology out of the hospital and into the real-world environment. The information is uploaded to a computer via a datacard and sent over the Internet to VivoMetrics, where it is analyzed and then sent to the physician [8].

The Life-Shirt System is with 12 patents covering wearable sensor design and proprietary software algorithms. It is an enhanced, ambulatory version of an in-patient system currently used in more than 1,000 hospitals worldwide. Underlying Technology The Life-Shirt System is based on inductive plethysmography, a non-invasive respiratory monitoring technology recently cited by the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) as the only technology capable of differentiating between different kinds of sleep apnea. It monitors breathing patterns by passing a continuous, low-voltage electrical current through externally placed sinusoidal arrays of wires that surround the rib cage and abdomen. By virtue of its design, inductive plethysmography reduces the signal interference and distortion that is often associated with other technologies, enabling clinicians to obtain a more accurate measurement of patients' respiratory functions [8].
Life-Shirt System Components
The Life-Shirt system consists of the Life-Shirt Garment, Life-Shirt Recorder and VivoLogic™ analysis and reporting software. The system continuously measures more than 30 parameters during daily activities. After processing the data, the system integrates subjective patient input from an on-board electronic diary, the VivoLog™ Digital Diary. Results can be viewed as full-disclosure, high-resolution waveforms or as summary reports [8].
Life-Shirt Garment
The Life-Shirt is a lightweight, machine washable, comfortable, easy-to-use shirt with embedded sensors. To measure respiratory function, sensors are woven into the shirt around the patient's chest and abdomen. A single channel ECG measures heart rate, and a two-axis accelerometer records patient posture and activity level. Optional peripheral devices measure blood pressure and blood oxygen saturation. Life-Shirt Recorder and VivoLog™ Digital Diary
The Life-Shirt System includes an integrated PDA that continuously encrypts and stores the patient's physiologic data on a compact flash memory card. Patients may also record time-stamped symptom, mood and activity information in the recorder's diary, the VivoLog™ Digital Diary, allowing researchers and clinicians to correlate subjective patient input with objectively measured physiologic parameters [8].
VivoLogic Software
VivoMetrics proprietary PC-based software decrypts and processes recorded data using patented algorithms. It includes viewing and reporting features that enable researchers and clinicians to view the fulldisclosure, high-resolution waveforms, or look at trends over time. In addition, summary reports can be generated that present processed data in concise, easy-to-interpret graphical and numeric formats. Athletes could wear the garments to enhance training and also can monitor heart rate, respiration, and temperature and even listen to MP3s through the shirt. A microphone also can be embedded into the shirt. Firefighters also could wear a Life-Shirt, which is shown on Figure 6, to be monitored for smoke inhalation. On the other hand doctors could use them to monitor patients who've left their offices.
While this wearable technology is developing and trying to take place in the daily market, the Indy racing league has started to use it in the field to see how a race car driver's body reacts to pressure behind the wheel.

Mamagoose Baby Pyjamas
Smart clothes technologies could help to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) commonly known ‘cot death’. The Belgian company Verhaerth Design and Development and the University of Brussels (VUB) have developed a new type of pyjamas which is shown on Figure 7 that monitor babies during the sleep. The new pyjamas are very aptly called “Mamagoose” and they draw on technology used in two specific applications: The analogue biomechanics recorder experiment and the respiratory inductive plethysmograhph suit. The Mamagoose pyjamas have five special sensors positioned over the chest and stomach, three to monitor the infant’s heart beat and two to monitor respiration. This double sensor system guarantees a high level of
measuring precision. The special sensors are actually built into the cloth and have no direct contact with the body, thus creating no discomfort for the baby. The pyjamas are made of two parts: the first, which comes into direct contact with the baby, can be machine-washed and the second, which contains the sensor system, can be washed by hand. The pyjamas come in three sizes, are made of non-allergic material and have been especially designed to keep the sensors in place during in use. The control unit with alarm system is connected to the pyjamas and continuously monitors and processes the signals received from five sensors. It is programmed with an alarm algorithm which scans the respiration pattern to detect unexpected and possibly dangerous situations. Mamagoose prototypes have been tested on many babies in different hospitals, environments and conditions. These include babies of various weights and sizes when they are different ‘moods’ such as calm, nervous or upset, and when they are sleeping in different positions. To date, the results have been extremely promising [9].

Smart Socks
Every year, more than 50,000 Americans with diabetes must undergo foot or leg amputations. In many of these cases, poor blood circulation is the villain. It’s possible to imagine having socks with built-in pressure sensors that would alert the wearer to put his/her feet up for a while. Researchers estimate that about threequarters of diabetes-related amputations might be avoided with this kind of simple warning system. Smart socks are another example of the growing push to make high-tech home medical devices a part of everyday lives. It means ‘health care is coming home again’. This is one of the most rapidly growing segments of medical technology. It's driven by an aging baby boomer population, pressures to control health spending and the availability of new technology to implement decentralized care [10].

The Smart Bra
Scientists at the University of Wollongong in Australia are developing a 'smart bra' that will change its properties in response to breast movement, giving better support to active women when they need it most. Crafted from a new generation of intelligent fabrics, the ultimate Smart Bra will tighten and loosen its straps, or stiffen and relax its cups, to restrict breast motion, preventing breast pain and sag. Predicted to outperform any existing bra in the support stakes, it will encourage more women back to sports, and in extreme cases, stop clavicles snapping from the sudden movement of excessively heavy breasts. Fabric sensors attached to the straps and midriff of a standard bra, worn by a model in motion, will monitor breast movement and relay data in real time to a computer via a telemetry system. Information gathered from the tests will eventually be stored on a tiny microchip that will serve as the 'brain' of the ultimate Smart Bra, signaling the polymer fabric to expand and contract in response to breast movement. The Smart Bra is the first in a suite of smart textiles projects conducted by researchers from the University's internationallyrenowned Intelligent Polymer Research Institute (IPRI) in conjunction with the Biomechanics Research Laboratory [11].

Other Interesting "Smart Clothing"
There are also other "Smart Clothes" that are aimed at consumer use. For example, Philips, a British consumer electronics manufacturer, has developed new fabrics, which are blended with conductive materials that are powered by removable 9V batteries. These fabrics have been tested in wet conditions and have proven resilient and safe for wearers. One prototype that Philips has developed is a child's "bugsuit" that integrates a GPS system and a digit camera woven into the fabric with an electronic game panel on the sleeve. This allows parents to monitor the child's location and actions. Another Philips product is a life-saving ski jacket that has a built in thermometer, GPS, and proximity sensor. The thermometer monitors the skier's body temperature and heats the fabric if it detects a drastic fall in the body temperature. The GPS locates the skier, and the proximity sensor tells the skier if other skiers are nearby. Philips suggests that wearable computers will be widely used by the end of the next decade [10].

Conclusion
Intelligent medical clothing and textiles have the potential to substantially change the provision of health and health care services for large population groups, e.g. those suffering from chronic diseases (such as cardiovascular, diabetes, respiratory and neurological disorders) and the elderly with specific needs. Smart sensor systems and new approaches to analyse and interpret data together with cost-effective telematics approaches can fundamentally change the interface between citizen/patient and the health care provider. Biomedical clothing and functional textiles were believed in the workshop to be a key enabler technology for cost-effective disease management as well as for prevention. Fitness and health are trendy and are becoming a life style. Medical fashion (rather than clothes) offers a unique opportunity to seamlessly integrate health care into the daily lives of citizens [2].
In future e-Textiles, sensing, processing and communication capabilities are integrated in a woven structure to monitor biomechanical variables and physiological signals. This requires research on new fibre electroconductive materials. This kind of products could even make virtual medical exams possible. A patient would wear one of the shirts and a physician could monitor the vital signs from a remote location via the Internet. When incorporated into the design of clothing, the technology could quietly perform an ECG, monitor the wearer's heart rate, respiration, temperature, blood pressure and a host of other vital functions, alerting the wearer or physician if there is a problem [12].
The idea is great but several factors must be more considerate. The data communications between smart shirt and personal status monitor can be burst during combat scenario. Therefore, a delicate wireless communication protocol must be carefully designed and implemented. The power consumption of these garments must be addressed. Also since each human is unique somebody may have rapid heart rates and some don’t. So there should be no general standards to judge whether a man’s life is in dangerous situation. Instead at server (PSM-Personal Status Monitoring) side, it shall keep all records that smart products send back, then server can make more proper decisions by comparing those data. Which means not only the smart medical clothes should be tailored (size, position of sensor etc.), the entire systems should be tailored according to each unique constitution.
The smart medical clothes can be used in several distinct modes, in combat or field operations, in medical monitoring, for personal information processing. It’s predicted that not all of them need to be connected to the air all time. For privacy reason, sometimes it is much better to include a memory card to record everything on the garment then send all information to PSM. These data can be used whenever needed. Another important reason is the health issue, sending data wireless means electromagnetic wave and the impact of it to the bodies is not known yet.
At last, the cost for maintenance is also a key factor. The smart medical clothes are high tech products and there are bus connectors all over the garment. What can be done if there is a crack? More specifically, during battle for example, the ability to recover smart clothes in a short time is important. This might be solved by wireless interconnection all sensor components and when a sensor is broken it should be possible to sew another [5].
The results of the researches will indeed make a positive impact on the quality of life for individuals in the real world. While still in an embryonic stage, the smart and functional textile technology has the potential to become ubiquitous.

References
[1] http://www.icewes.net/projdetails_haupt.htm
[2] http://www.hoise.com/vmw/02/articles/vmw/LV-VM-08-02-35.html
[3] http://ldt.stanford.edu/~jeepark/jeepark+portfolio/cs147hw8jeepark.html
[4] http://www.techtv.com/freshgear/products/story/0,23008,3348594,00.html
[5] http://nesl.ee.ucla.edu/courses/ee202a/2002f/submissions/hw3/Jea_David/HW3.pdf
[6] http://www.darpa.mil/dso/success/smashirt.htm
[7] http://www.sensatex.com/smartshirt/index.html
[8] http://www.vivometrics.com/site/system_howitworks.html
[9] http://www.esapub.esrin.esa.it/buletin/bullet108/inbrief_108.pdf
[10] http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/upstream0901.asp
[11] http://www.uow.edu.au/science/research/ipri/smartbra.html
[12] http://popularmechanics.com/science/medicine/2000/9/underwear_doctor_aware.html

INTELLIGENCE IN TEXTILES The Next Step

Intelligent textiles represent the next generation of fibres, fabrics and articles produced to respond in time. It can be described as textile materials that think and act for themselves. This means, it has keep us warm in cold environments or cool in hot environments or provide us with considerable convenience in our normal day-to-day affair. Intelligent textiles are not confined to the clothing sector alone. It is used in protection, safety, added fashion and convenience. The most important intelligent materials at present in are classified as 1) Phase change materials, 2) Shape memory materials, 3) Chromic materials 4)Conductive materials and 5)Electronics incorporated textiles.

Phase Change Materials (PCM)
Every material absorbs heat during heating process and its temperature will rise constantly. The heat stored in the material is released into the environment through a reverse cooling process and the material temperature decreases continuously. A normal textile material absorbs about one kilo joule per kilogram of heat while its temperature rises by one degree Celsius. Phase Change Material (PCM) will absorb higher amount of heat when it melts. This thermo regulating effect of textiles can be obtained with the application of PCM.

Figure 1.describes the PCM incorporated clothing action A paraffin-PCM, absorbs approximately 200 kilojoules per kilogram of heat if it undergoes a melting process. During the complete melting process, the temperature of the PCM and its surrounding area remains constant. The paraffin’s are either in solid or liquid state. In order to prevent the paraffin's dissolution in the liquid state, it is enclosed into small plastic spheres with diameters of only a few micrometers. These microscopic spheres containing PCM are called PCMmicrocapsules.
The microencapsulated paraffin is either permanently locked in acrylic fibres and in polyurethane foams or coated onto the surface of a textile structure. Normal garments do not balance the heat generated and released in to the environment from the body. PCM incorporated textiles provide good thermal balance due to its thermo regulating effect. PCM control the heat flux through the garment layers and adjusts the heat flux to the thermal circumstances, for example, if the heat generation of the body exceeds the possible heat release through the garment layers into the environment, the PCM will absorb and store this excess heat. On the other hand, if the heat release through the garment layers exceeds the body's heat generation during lighter activities, the heat flux through the garment layers is reduced by the heat emission of the PCM. The figure2 shows the thermoregulation effect of PCM incorporated clothing over the conventional clothing.

Intensity and duration of the PCM's active thermal insulation effect depend mainly on the heat storage capacity of the PCM-microcapsules and the applied quantity. Thin high-density materials support for cooling process. Thick and less dense textile structure leads to more efficient heat release. To ensure a suitable and durable active thermal insulation effect in an active-wear garment, it is necessary to apply the correct PCM in the appropriate quantity. The selected PCM is normally microencapsulated and incorporated in a textile substrate. Requirements of the textile substrate in a garment application include sufficient breath ability, high flexibility and mechanical stability. The substrate incorporated with PCM-microcapsules needs to be integrated into a suitable location of the garment design and certain design principles need to be taken into account.

Shape Memory Polymers(SMP)
These types of materials can revert from the current shape to a previously held shape, usually due to the action of heat. This technology has been extensively pioneered by the UK Defense Clothing and Textiles Agency. When these shape memory materials are activated in garments, the air gaps between adjacent layers of clothing are increased, in order to give better insulation. The incorporation of shape memory materials into garments thus confers greater versatility in the protection against extremes of heat or cold. Shape memory alloys, such as nickel-titanium, used to provide increased protection against sources of heat, even extreme heat. A shape memory alloy possesses different properties below and above the temperature at which it is activated. Below this temperature, the alloy is easily deformed. At the activation temperature, the alloy exerts a force to return to a previously adopted shape and becomes much stiffer. The temperature of activation can be chosen by altering the ratio of nickel to titanium in the alloy. Cuprous-zinc alloys are capable of a two-way activation and therefore can produce the reversible variation needed for protection from changeable weather conditions. They will also react to temperature changes brought about by variations in physical activity levels. A shape memory alloy is usually in the shape of a spring. The spring is flat below the activation temperature but becomes extended above it,By incorporating these alloys between the layers of a garment, the gap between the layers can be substantially increased above the activation temperature. In consequence, considerably improved protection against external heat is provided. For clothing applications, the desirable temperatures for the shape memory effect to be triggered will be near body temperature. Polyurethane films, which can be incorporated between adjacent layers of clothing. With temperature of the outer layer of clothing has fallen sufficiently, then polyurethane film responds so that the air gap between the layers of clothing becomes broader. Bi-Material Film laminates rely on differing coefficients of thermal expansion to produce a reversible bending effect. Encapsulated Bi-Gels absorb liquid at differing rates according to temperature, which causes them to bend used to actuate variable insulation system. Other uses of SMPs in domestic purpose are in shower mixer valves, coffee makers, rice cookers, safety shut off valves for fuel lines in the event of fire and in air conditioning systems.

Chromic Materials
Chromic materials are the general term referring to materials which radiate the color, erase the color or just change it because its induction caused by the external stimuli, as "chromic" is a suffix that means color. It can be classified depend on the Stimuli. Out of this the first four chromic materials are important and has potential to cater the market
• Photochromic: external stimuli energy is light.
• Thermochromic: external stimuli energy is heat.
• Ionochromic: external stimuli energy is pH value
• Electrochromic: external stimuli energy is electricity.
• Piezorochromic: external stimuli energy is pressure
• Solvatechromic: external stimuli energy is liquid.
• Carsolchromic: external stimuli energy is electron beam.

Photochromic :
In this kind of chromism the color change is due to the intensity of the light(UV radiation also). The photochromic dyes interact with the electromagnetic radiation in the near UV (300 400nm),Visible(400- 700nm) and near IR(700-1500nm) to produce verity of effects, which is reversible when the radiation is withdrawn. Photochromism is of Two types. Positive and Negative. In Positive Photochromism the colorless substance converted in to colored object when exposed in to the light due to Uni-molecular reaction system. Bi molecular reaction system is called Negative Photochromism i.e. from colored to colorless. the transformation is between two states that have different absorption spectra. It may be induced in one or both the direction by electromagnetic radiation. This process is a non destructive process., but side reactions may occur. Oxidation is the major cause for the degradation of the Photochromism. Main class of Photochromism is Spiropyrans. It is used in Optical switching data and Imaging system rather then the textile applications.

Thermochromic:
Thermally induced reversible color change occur in the thermochromism. A large variety of substrates such as Organic ,Inorganic Orgonomatallic and Macro molecular systems exhibit this phenomena. Mercury Iodide salts like Ag2 HgI4 shows color change from yellow to orange at 51°C.This is due to the reason that each compound can under go phase change at particular temperature .Majority of thermochromic systems are unacceptable simply because of the change in the color requires large amount of energy due to involvement of inter molecular transformation. Using verity of liquid crystals ,it is possible to achive significant changes in the appearance over the narrow temperature range(5-15°C) and to detect small variation in the temperature(C1°C).The thermochromic dyes used extensively in the printing of Textiles, Micro encapsulation ,coating or dope dyeing .

Ionochromic dye:
These chromic materials are sensitive to pH. Widely used these classes dyes are Phthalides, Triarylmethans and Fluorans. In analytical chemistry these dyes are used extensively. There are no commercial application of these dyes in textiles but direct thermal printing can be used. In this process substrate contain both the color former and acid co reactant in a single layer. simply by heating the surface of the paper with a thermal head causes the components to react and to produce color.

Electochromic dye:
The material that change color upon the application of Voltage are called electrochromes. This is due to oxidation and reduction process with in the electochromic material. This are of three types. First type, the coloring species remain in the solution. In the second type the reactants are in solution but the colored product is of solid. In the third type is both reactant and the color is in form of solid e.g. composite Film. Most available electochromic dyes are of inorganic oxides such as cobalt oxide, nickel oxide, molybdenum trioxide. A research is going on in MIT,USA to use thin film composite electrode material with layer by layer assembly technique, to identify whether electrochemical cell is fully charged or discharged by using color change. The most important commercial application of the electrochemic dye in the textile is of US-Military IR camouflage material (Dynam IR®) .

Solvantochromic dye:
The Solvantochromism is a reversible variation of the electronic spectroscopic properties (absorption and emission)of a chemical species, induced by the solvents. It is one of the oldest chromism have been described as long as ago 1878.This is used as probes for application in polymer characterization. Where they can be used to look for localized polar features at the molecular level. Chromic dyes contain highly specialized components that require extraordinary careful manufacturing technique and has great potential for both fashion and higher end market.

Conductive materials
Exploration of human/machine interaction and wholly new types of interface sensor technology has resulted in the development of sensory fabric. These materials also afford designers new opportunities in developing for product markets. The ability to dispense with fixed casings, rigid mountings and inflexible substrates facilitates new radical possibilities in flexible, user-friendly interfacing textiles. By using conductive plastics, pressure sensitive inks and piezo films the above application succeeded in textiles. The main emphasis is currently on X-Y position sensing and pressure sensors.

X-Y position sensing
The structures of these materials offer the capability of reading the location, within a fabric sheet (Pad), of a point of pressure (such as a finger press). It is possible to incorporate this function into an elastic sheet structure, allowing the sheet to conform to many 3-D shapes, including compound curves, while still accurately measuring an X-Y position. The Fabric structures that provides an X-Y position function can also be used to provide accurate 'switch matrix' functionality. Interpreting electronics are used to identify the location of switch areas in any configuration to suit product requirements. Since this is done in software, an endless array of configurations can be addressed at the touch of a piece of fabric.

Pressure sensors
Readings can be obtained from smart fabrics according to force and area. This allows the user to
differentiate between separately identified inputs ranging from high-speed impact to gentle stroking. The force/area reading is versatile, as fabrics can be constructed to be more sensitive to either force or area. There are other applications for conductive materials such as heated clothes for extreme winter conditions or heated diving suits to resist very cold water. In these cases a heat or energy source is needed as the conductive material is not able to generate energy, it is only capable of conduction, to distribute the heat throughout the entire garment or suit. The advantages and benefits that conductive materials over the existing wire system are uniform temperature distribution, pliability, strength (resistance to flex and stress), non-corrosive nature, and cost effectiveness.

Other Intelligent textiles

Stomatex®
Patterned new cold protection apparel. Cell foam materials such as neoprene and polyethylene can be used in the construction of garments. Stomatex® NE is ideal for close contour fitting apparel for unhindered body movement. Stomatex® PE is a lightweight apparel and has a significant cost advantage over neoprene. Stomatex® PE is suitable for use in multi-layered clothing systems and footwear where weight may be an important factor.

Hydroweave®:
Patterned product is meant for comfortably in extreme cold and wet condition. Super water-absorbing polymer fibre blended into fibrous matting, this matting is positioned between a breathable exterior shell and a conductive, waterproof inner lining. The breathable outer shell can be made from a variety of woven or knitted fabrics to deliver the performance needed for a wide range of applications. The inner lining is a thermally conductive micro-porous membrane. This special material allows perspiration to escape, and keeping the wearer cool and dry. The advantages are
• Evenly distributes cooling effect over the entire fabric.
• Flexibility.
• Wearer will feel good comfort.
• Machine-washable.
• Re-usable.

Photonic fibres:
Dielectric mirror alternative layers of two materials with different refractive indices produce Photonic band gap. It reflects light in a certain range of wavelength and absorb light out side this range this fibres can be woven in to a fabric to form shields and filters in military operations. Bar codes made with this fibre are authentic.

Electronic systems incorporated in Textiles
There have been some very exciting developments recently regarding clothing with electronic systems incorporated into the constituent fibres and fabrics. Some examples of this are:

1.Music t-shirts- they allow to the wearer listen his/her favorite music stored on a chip, or to tune into the favorite radio station. They can also have moving images on the back.

2.Businessman garments-, which has a microphone, incorporated in the collar, a display, and a personal digital assistant in the sleeve.

3.Solar energy re-charge jacket- it includes some tools for creative playing and communication, such as a camera, display and microphone attachments.

4.Massage kits- It gives a soothing massage to the wearer that can be regulated depending on the level or relaxation desired by the user by applying vibration and pressure.

Summary
In the coming years, clothing products will increasingly assume intelligent functions. Clothing will combine the functions of medium, carrier and interface for an extremely wide range of micro system applications. This new generation of "intelligent textiles" places considerable new demands on innovative ability within the clothing industry, demands which also offer huge potential for future business sectors.

Reference:

1. http://www.electrotextiles.com/
2. http://www.gorix.com
3. http://www.dupont.com/afs/aracon/
4. http://www.stomatex.com/
5. http://www.hydroweave.com

Materials For Electronic Textiles

XS Labs is a design research studio based in Montreal, where we develop electronic textiles and reactive garments. We are concerned with the exploration of simple interactions that emphasize expressive qualities of electronic circuits and of the body. We define electronic textiles as “textile substrates that incorporates capabilities for sensing (biometric or external), for communication (usually wireless), power transmission, and interconnection technology to allow sensors or things such as information processing devices to be networked together within a fabric.”3 An important technical consideration comes from the fact that conductive materials used in traditional electronics, such as wires or printed conductive traces on a circuit board, need to be replaced with similarly conductive materials that can more easily be integrated into a textile. We replace some of the wires and other connections with different kinds of conductive threads that can be woven, stitched, or embroidered into the flexible textile substrate. Conductive threads are usually spun or twisted with conductive material (such as strands of silver or stainless steel).

Conductive threads and textiles
Since the field of electronic textiles is in its infancy, we have to be very creative in sourcing these conductive materials. When searching for conductive threads, we come across sources that include information for repairing fencing vest (which are conductive to aid in keeping score4) as well as suppliers who sell conductive textiles and threads used for electromagnetic shielding5. We have also found several American and European companies developing new and traditional metallic fibers for a variety of medical, aerospace, and industrial applications, such as Bekaert, a Belgian company that develops an array of high tech products in advanced metal transformation and advanced materials and coatings.6. We need to think outside the box and re-appropriate these products to create electronic textiles.

The Animated Quilt

The Animated Quilt (AQ) is a dynamic quilt whose square swatches change color over time. This electronic textile can display different patterns and change from one pattern to another, producing a smooth transition between different designs and images. There is a conscious effort to ensure that the aesthetics of the display mirror the soft qualities of the construction. AQ changes in a slow and contemplative way, referencing the process of weaving, knitting and other textile construction techniques. Resulting imagery blurs the boundaries between digital image and textile surface. The aesthetic of the patterns and the animation references the concept of pixel, traditional quilting and embroidery practice, as well as emerging research in visual display technology. The slowness and subtlety of the piece references and is critical of the fact that current technological development is largely focused on speed and hard edges. The very concept of a textile display is innovative and challenging in a field where such devices are traditionally hard, square and emissive devices. Textiles, on the other hand, have a uniquely intimate relationship with the human body. Designers of electronic textiles need to focus on personal expression and the social, cultural and economic history of textiles instead of striving to replace (or “augment”) human experience. In a time that is more and more dominated by the visual image and the cult of communication, this textile will also have the ability to display our needs and desires, as well as our artworks.

How it Works:

This functionality is accomplished through the development of a good intuition and understanding of the potential and limitations of electronics as well as the properties of conductive threads and textile constructions. Using traditional construction techniques, together with some unusual materials, the AQ deploys a simple technology for non-emissive, color-change textiles. It is a quilted “soft screen”. The materials we used include conductive threads and fabrics, thermochromic inks, and custom electronics components. The goal is to achieve a seamless integration of technology into the tradition of textile design and fabrication techniques.
Conductive threads
Conductive threads are either spun or twisted and incorporate some amount of conductive material (such as strands of silver or stainless steel) to enable electrical conductivity. These yarns can have various electro-mechanical properties. They can be woven, knit, or felted together with non-conductive yarns to create the substrate for an electronic textile. Recently, the heating of fabric using conductive yarns and threads woven into the textile has been demonstrated for the purpose of keeping people warm. We use conductive threads in two different ways: (1) to embroider a specific pattern on the surface of each pixel to allow us to heat it and change its color and (2) to transmit electricity from the controller board to each pixel.
Thermochromic pigments
Thermochromic materials have different color states at different temperatures. They literally change color when heated. They are an example of a non-emissive “active material”, together with photochromics, electrochromics, or shape memory alloys. Nonemissive materials are materials that do not emit light. Thermochromic leucodye materials are especially interesting because they can be engineered to change from a specific color to a clear state at an arbitrary temperature between 13°F (-25°C) and 150°F (66°C). A wide range of colors is available and unexpected color changes can be obtained by combining thermochromic inks with regular ones. By mixing inks that change at different temperatures, a more complex effect can be achieved. The inks can be applied with a number of printing processes, including screen-printing.
One major issue discovered over the time it took to create this piece is the relatively short life expectancy of thermochromic inks when exposed to natural light. UV radiation deteriorates the pigments over a period of months and the inks become less saturated and start losing their color-change abilities.
In existing products, color change is activated by body heat. AQ, on the other hand, uses resistive heating to create the change in temperature. We allow current to flow through embroidered conductive threads that have some degree of resistance. Resistance is the measure of how much an object impedes the flow of electricity. If we allow current to flow through a resistive material, the current will lose energy as it struggles to get through the material and the current's lost energy will become thermal energy in the material. The higher an object's resistance, the less current will flow through it.
Control electronics
AQ has 100 fabric pixels arranged in a 10 by 10 matrix. Each piece of fabric is individually addressable (with conductive threads) and can be controlled to slowly change color from black to white and back again, passing through a whole range of grayscale values. Each color change is programmed in the custom electronics board or controlled in real time when the display is connected to a desktop computer through the serial port. Control electronics are necessary to drive the textile display. The term refers to a printed circuit board (PCB) with various electronic components that is used to send power to different areas of the electronic textile in order to activate the thermochromic inks.

SOFT COMPUTATION

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.

Nano Technology in Textiles

Introduction
Nanotechnology is an emerging interdisciplinary technology that has been booming in many areas during the recent decade, including materials science, mechanics, electronics, optics, medicine, plastics, energy, electronics, and aerospace. The wave has shown huge potential in the textile industry. Research activities on using nanotechnology to improve existing material performances and developing extraordinary functions are flourishing. Future developments of nanotechnology in textiles will have a twofold focus: 1) upgrading existing functions in performances of textile materials; 2) developing smart and intelligent textiles with unprecedented functions. The latter is more urgent from the standpoint of homeland security and advancement of technology.

Current status
The nano technology is expanding in all the disciplines. About 1500 patterns were registered in
the year 2004 alone. The nano technology is growing in development of fibres, composites and
novel finishing methods. Some of the innovations are focused here.

In the Table.1, the world level nano technology scenario in various disciplines is shown. In the
field of chemistry, energy and environment the innovation and development were found to be
aggressive. This statistics may change the future due to new insights by the young budding
engineers.

Application to fibers
Some Japanese manufacturers of synthetic fibers are currently developing Nano fibres. Kanebo
Spinning Corp, Japan has developed a 20 layer polyester fiber for high water and oil absorption
properties. Teijin Fibers Ltd, Japan has been with a trial production of luminescent Core fibre. The core is covered with approximately 60 layers of nylon and polyester nano fibres with different refractive indices. This creates a mythical hue that changes according to the angle of light incidence with the fabric and the angle from which the fabric is viewed. Toray Industries, Inc. Japan has developed a fabric with effective moisture absorption properties though a structure containing bundles of nano nylon threads. Research is in line with the use of nanotechnology in Textiles for improving hand, dimensional stability, ultraviolet resistance, flame resistance, antistatic, anti-bacterial, moisture-absorption, and odder prevention.

In Composite Fibers
Nano sized composite fibers generated through fillers and form forming process. Nano Composite is shown in the figure2. The fillers are from clay, metal oxides, Graphite Nanofibers (GNF) and Carbon Nanotubes (CNT). The main function of nanosize fillers is to increase the mechanical strength and improve the physical properties such as conductivity and antistatic behaviors. Due to their large surface area, these nanofillers have a better interaction with polymer matrices. Being in the nanometer range, the fillers might interfere with polymer chain movement and thus reduce the chain mobility. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are the most promising building blocks existing. CNT consists of tiny shell(s) of graphite rolled up into a cylinder. CNTs are classified into single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT). They are usually made by carbon-arc discharge, laser ablation, and Chemical vapor deposition. The potential applications include conductive, energy storage, energy conversion devices, sensors and field emission displays. Carbon nanofibers can effectively increase the tensile strength of composite fibers due to its high aspect ratio, while carbon black nanoparticles can improve their abrasion resistance and toughness. Both of them have high chemical resistance and electric conductivity.

Carbon nanoparticles
Being evenly distributed in polymer matrices, Nanoparticles can carry load and increase the toughness and abrasion resistance; nanofibers can transfer stress away from polymer matrices
and enhance tensile strength of composite fibers.
Clay nanoparticles or nanoflakes are composed of several types of hydrous alumino silicates. Each type differs in chemical composition and crystal structure. Clay nanoparticles possess electrical, heat and chemical resistance and an ability of blocking UV light. The mechanical properties with a nanoclay mass fraction of 5 % exhibit about 40% higher tensile strength, 68% greater tensile modulus, 60% higher flexural strength, and 126% increased flexural modulus. In
addition, the heat distortion temperature (HDT) increased from 65°C to 152°C. Clay nanoparticles is to introduce dye-attracting sites and creating dye- holding space in polypropylene fibers. These nanoparticles are introduced to the polypropylene matrix in a melting or dissolving process with the help and/or organic solvent and/or mechanical blending including the use of sonic and/or electric field. The nanoparticles are supposed to provide chemical, mechanical, physical linkages and thermal stability.

In Textile finishing
The impact of nanotechnology in the textile finishing area has brought up innovative finishes as well as new application techniques. Particular attention has been paid in making chemical finishing more controllable and more thorough. Ideally, discrete molecules or nanoparticles of finishes can be brought individually to designated sites on textile materials in a specific orientation and trajectory through thermodynamic, electrostatic or other technical approaches. One of the trends in synthesis process is to pursue a nanoscale emulsification, through which finishes can be applied to textile material in a more thorough, even and precise manner. Finishes can be emulsified into nano-micelles, made into nano-sols or wrapped in nanocapsules, which can adhere to textile substrates more evenly. These advanced finishes set up an unprecedented level of textile performances of stain-resistant, moisture content, anti-static& wrinkle resistant and shrink proof abilities. Nanoparticles such as metal oxides and ceramics are also used in textile finishing to alter surface properties and impart textile functions. Nanosize particles have a larger surface area and hence higher efficiency than larger size particles. Besides, nanosize particles are transparent, and do not blur color and brightness of the textile substrates. However, preventing nanoparticles from aggregation is the key to achieve a desired performance. Finishing with nanoparticles can convert fabrics into sensor-based materials. If nanocrystalline piezoceramic particles are incorporated into fabrics, the finished fabric can convert exerted mechanical forces into electrical signals enabling the monitoring of bodily functions such as heart rhythm and pulse if they are worn next to skin.

Utilization of Metal oxide in Textile application
Nanosize particles of Ti02, Al2O3, ZnO, and MgO are a group of metal oxides that possess photo catalytic ability, electrical conductivity, UV absorption and photo-oxidizing capacity against chemical and biological species. Intensive researches involving the Nanoparticles of metal oxides have been focusing on antimicrobial, self-decontaminating and UV blocking functions for both military protection gears and civilian health products. Nylon fiber filled with ZnO Nanoparticles can provide UV shielding function and reducing static electricity of nylon fiber. A composite fiber with Nanoparticles of Ti02/ MgO can provide self-sterilizing function

Electro spinning of Nanofibers
Electro spinning involves dissolving cellulose in a solvent and squeezing the liquid polymer
solution through a tiny pinhole and applying a high voltage to the pinhole. The technique relies on electrical rather than mechanical forces to form fibers. Thus, special properties are required of polymer solutions for electro spinning, including the ability to carry electrical charges. The charge pulls the polymer solutions through the air into a tiny fiber, which is collected on an electrical ground. The fiber produced is less than 100 nanometers in diameter, which is 1,000 times smaller than conventional spinning. Thus, this technique of electro spinning of spin nanofibers from cellulose soon is able to produce a low cost, high-value, high-strength fiber from a biodegradable and renewable waste product for air filtration.

Smart Materials via Nanotechnology
While synthesis of defect-free materials will lead to substantial improvements in performance, molecular nanotechnology will make changes that are more radical by integrating computers, sensors, and micro- and nanomachines with materials. Micro pumps and flexible micro tubes could transport coolant or a heated medium to needed parts of clothing. Semi-permeable membrane to allow only particular kinds of molecules (Water) through, to keep one side of a fabric dry or another side wet. On the wet side, the water could be transported away to an evaporator, or stored. An active, programmable material made up of small cellular units that could connect to each others with screws. Computers would direct the cells, powered with small electrostatic motors, to adjust their relative spacing with the screws. By tightening and loosening the screws, the shape of an item could change to conform to the needs of the user. (i.e. a solid, rigid object could be made to behave like a fabric.)

Fabrics could be of self-cleaning by robotic devices similar to mites could periodically scour the fabric surfaces and integral conveyors could transport the dirt to a collection site, or the previously mentioned molecule-selective membrane could transport water to one side or the other for a cleaning rinse. Nano sensing objects embedded in a fabric is shown in the figure3. Fabrics could be of self-repairing with sensors to detect discontinuities in the material via loss of signal or a reported strain overload and send robotic “crews” to repair damages. The virtual environment for the nano robot

Large sections of fabrics could be made without visible seams by joining panels of fabric with microscopic mechanical couplings along their edges. Similarly, Fabric surfaces with nano couplings pressed off then it may provide necessary strength due to nano latches. The new functions with textiles to be developed include 1) wearable solar cell and energy storage; 2) sensors and information acquisition and transfer; 3) multiple and sophisticated protection and detection 4) health-care and wound healing functions; 5) self-cleaning and repairing functions.

Undoubtedly, Nanotechnology holds an enormously promising future for textiles. It was estimated that nanotechnology will bring about hundreds of billions dollars of market impact on new materials within a decade; textile certainly has an important share in his material market. We expect to see a new horizon of textile materials under this irresistible technology wave. ‘Nano tex,’ California based Inc. has recently launched several products that involved in fabric development. The Nano pel® is a product, which can repel strains and offer good comfort and breath ability. Nano dry® enhanced fabrics provide superior wicking properties to move perspiration away from the body while drying quickly the three dimensional nano dry material shown in the figure 6. Nano care® is a wrinkle free and strain resistant and water repellent fabric shown in the figure 7. Nano touch® is of durable cellulose wrapping over synthetic fiber

Summary
Working at a billionth of a nanometer scale is a continuous source of new opportunities for the
textile industry. Nanotechnology will not only help the marketing of fabric and fashion because of its unique and incompatible properties but it is also a revolution for human beings like the
Internet. Nanotech can surely opens up an interesting new playing field for the textile industry in future.

References

10-www.nanotex.com
11. www.textileinfo.com
12. www.textileworld.com/news
13. http://www.ncsu.edu/research/results/vol3/load.html
14. http://www.nano.org.uk/nanocomposites_review.pdf
15. http://www.nano-tex.com/Flash/Products/Products_Flash.html
16. http://rdsweb2.rdsinc.com/texis/rdssuite/+Fo8eVdRp
17. www.fqzvnmvKvwKnxFqo15Ng.
18. http://www.garment-canada.com/E_TechTradeForum.htm.
19. www.sciencentralnews.com/Technology/Nanotechnology
20. www.azonano.com/Textiles.
21. www.textilenews.com
22. www.textileinfo.com.
23. www.nanophase.com
24. http://www.salsgiver.com/pcople/for rest/IFAl text.html
25. www.nanoeurope.com
26. www.nanovip.com

Sensing Bodies "Wearable Computer Art"

Since the mid 1990s, an increasing number of new media artists have experimented with wearable computers and sensor technology deriving from biofeedback studies in medicine and the military to create electronic interfaces between bodies and their environments. At the junction between science and art, these works coincide with the refinement of contemporary posthuman and cyborg discourses, as well as the advancement of biotechnology. Hailed as the "father of wearable computers,"1 Canadian computer engineer Steve Mann characterizes "wearables" as portable, self-contained devices "subsumed into the personal space of the user." Significantly, these computers are capable of running continuously, requiring no activation by the wearer.2
Contemporary artists, exploring concepts of corporeality, space, and time, integrate
wearable technology into garments which gather and transmit vital signs emitted from the
bodies of participants, such as heart rate, respiration, temperature, motion and touch.
Compared with other forms of media art, including installations using video, laser discs,
virtual reality or gaming technology, sensor-based works generally remain an under-examined subject within art history.3 Moreover, research on the impact of such technology on society is in an embryonic stage. A comprehensive overview remains to be written concerning the applications of biotech garments in contemporary culture and the medical research from which wearables originated.4
In addition to their significant, though over-looked, role within recent artistic
practices, these devices engage with the growing problematic of preserving new media art. Body-machine interface works challenge traditional practices of art conservation. These objects consist of delicate, tiny electronic components intended for extensive physical manipulation by participants. Furthermore, wearables use forms of an experimental technology which has yet to infiltrate the mass market. Art works constructed out of fragile, sophisticated parts and specialized software are especially vulnerable to the inevitable ravages of physical deterioration and the acceleration of technological obsolescence. Techniques intended to restore and repair tangible works which are more or less physically stable, such as paintings and sculptures, are inadequate for contemporary time-based media art.
This paper neither outlines a proscriptive set of solutions for technical problems nor presents an exhaustive survey of the art historical interpretations and critical reception of wearable computer art. Rather, I adopt a historical and theoretical perspective to argue that the preservation and documentation of wearable new media art affirm the social nature of participants’ bodies. Potential strategies for conserving, recording, describing and displaying these works emphasize interactions among users which form networked communities united by shared flows of somatic data. Drawing from recent studies of new media preservation, this analysis develops the subsequent issues: conceptions of the body as information; efforts to
1 Ana Viseu, "Social Dimensions of Wearable Computers: An Overview," Technoetic Arts 1 (2003):78.
2 Steve Mann, "Wearable Computers as Means for Personal Empowerment," in The 1998 International Conference for Wearable Computing ICWC-98, Fairfax, VA (1998). (accessed 1 April, 2006).
3For a brief overview of contemporary artists working with biotechnology and bodily stimulation, see
Stephen Wilson, "Body and Medicine," in Information Arts: Intersections of Art, Science and Technology (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002), 149- 170.
4 Viseu, "Social Dimensions of Wearable Computers," 77. 2
record the performance of a community of participants; new understandings of exhibition spaces; and the connection between preservation, clothing and technology.
The conceptual relation between preservation and notions of the somatic expands the definition of an art work beyond its material and technological components. Worn and borne through space, these high tech accoutrements blur the boundaries between art object and the wearer. Hence, this paper underscores an extended understanding of the wearable computer art work as comprising both physical objects and performance. In addition, many of these works encompass installation art, as their exhibition sites may function as interactive environments embedded with sensors communicating with the miniature devices bedecking the participants.
Meanwhile, my analysis addresses three key art works to understand how biosensor art defies traditional conservation and museum practices. Each creation represents a defining moment in the historical development of computer garments in art. The 1993-1994 cyberSM project by Norwegian media artist Stahl Stenslie, the acclaimed pioneer of cybersex, and American Kirk Woolford, constitutes one of the earliest electronic interface suits. During the first staging of this piece, an individual in Paris engaged in an aggressive, long-distance erotic encounter with someone in Cologne via futuristic fetish wear connected to a computer network in conjunction with international telephone lines. Nearly a decade later, Canadian artists Thecla Schiphorst and Susan Kozel, whose works often combine digital media with dance performances, completed whisper in 2002. This project consists of a set of eccentric garments and accessories made of light fabrics and materials enclosing sensors meant to adorn the hands, ankles, neck and torso; through such devices, participants may send electronic signals to each other. Using whisper as a case study, the V2_Organization in Rotterdam conducted a major research endeavour entitled Capturing Unstable Media to develop new standards and practices for the documentation of electronic art. Finally, American Bill Seaman, who has produced video art and interactive installations since the 1980s, and Ingrid Verbauwhede, an electrical engineer from the University of California in Los Angeles, initiated The Poly-sensing Environment in 2002. Placed not only on clothing but also on articles of furniture and walls, sensors communicate in the Environment via GPS (Global Positioning System) technology. The transmission of data emitted from participants’ bodies triggers the projection of audio and/or visual clips compiled by Seaman. Montreal’s Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science and Technology (DLF) provided support for this project. Currently in progress, the work exists primarily as textual documentation, such as the brief descriptive essay included in the online database of the DLF Centre for Research and Documentation, as well as technical reports produced by researchers in collaboration with Seaman.5
The Body Informatic
Wearable garment performances foreground the social character of the body by
establishing personal interactions among users. Participants are able to communicate with each other through the sensors’ capacity to receive and transmit physiological information, such as excitability, pulse and tactile stimulation. Hence, the constant flow of shared bodily data engenders a fluctuating web of inter-relating social beings. The cohesion of this electronics-clad community of users emerges through the art work’s production of documentation about the body for artistic, conceptual and even sexual purposes.
The primacy of information for wearable works is historically related to the
emergence of posthuman discourses in the West during the final two decades of the 20th- 3
century. Variants of posthumanism address the possibilities of technology to augment and enhance the bodily functioning and life spans of human beings. Advances in genetic
modification, cloning, nanotechnology, prostheses and surgical procedures have galvanized intense debate over the meaning of humanness and the limits of fleshly corporeality. These contemporary scientific developments stimulated scholars from diverse disciplines, including bioethics, biomedicine, semiotics and cultural studies, to re-think conceptions of the body in relation to the immaterial and the technological. Some scholars have consequently posited the porosity of the boundary between the physical body and abstract information. Biomedical theorist and artist Eugene Thacker notes that the technophile "extropian" branch of posthumanism particularly emphasizes the conception of the body as information. This theory interprets the body according to an "informatic worldview," such that "when the body is considered essentially as information, this opens onto the possibility that the body may be programmed and reprogrammed (and whose predecessor is genetic engineering)."6 In other words, if the body is conceived of as a code of genetic information stored in DNA, technology may intervene to re-write this information. The intermingling of bodies and data which emerged in medical science has infiltrated contemporary popular culture. Typical examples of youth culture entertainment which approach the biological through the framework of information include virtual reality environments, as well as video games using avatars of beings meant to be modified and enhanced creatively by players.7
In relation to art, media theorist Boris Groys suggests that the contemporary era of "biopolitics" has induced a proliferation of documentation produced by artists. The mapping and modification of the body by technology establish pervasive social conditions that privilege the systematic accumulation of information not only in the sciences, but also in
the arts. Whereas scientists collate data gathered during research for study and re-
programming, artists produce audio and visual records to capture the conception, appearance
and demise of ephemeral objects and performances. Documentation refers to and records an art work, yet does not necessarily create a new, distinct work. The act of photographing or describing an ephemeral work in writing "is a result without a result."8 However, wearable media works complicate Groys’ analysis. His approach presupposes a distinction between the original art work and the visual or textual documents created by artists following the conception or execution of the work. Computer interface garments are both works of art and producers of information concerning participants’ ongoing encounters. Such records comprise part of the work along with the garments and sensors.
Discourses of the informatic body resonate with the exchange of somatic data within the social networks forged by wearable art performances. According to artists Schiphorst and Kozel, the playful whisper explores an understanding of the body as a set of networked,
5For on-line images of these works, see "Stenslie, Stahl: cyberSM," in Medien Kunst Netz/Media Art Net (2004). (accessed 17 March, 2006); "whisper," in V2_ Organization: Capturing Unstable Media (2002). (accessed 21 February, 2006). For a description of The Poly-sensing Environment, see "Bill Seaman and Ingrid Verbauwhede: Poly-Sensing Environment," in Centre for Research and Documentation Database: Daniel Langlois Foundation (2002). (accessed 11 February, 2006); F. Winkler, "Poly-Sensing Environment and Object-Based Emergent Intention Matrix: Toward an Integrated Physical/Augmented Reality Space," in University of California, Los Angeles, Website (2002). (accessed 17 March, 2006).
6 Eugene Thacker, "Data Made Flesh: Biotechnology and the Discourse of the Posthuman," Cultural Critique 53 (2003): 86.
7 Robert Mitchell and Phillip Thurtle, "Fleshy Data: Semiotics, Information and the Body," in Semiotic Flesh: Information and the Human Body, eds. Robert Mitchell and Phillip Thurtle (Seattle: Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities, University of Washington Press, 2002), 1.
8 Boris Groys, "Art in the Age of Biopolitics: From Artwork to Art Documentation," in Documenta 1 Platform 5: Exhibition Catalogue (Kassel: Hatje Cantz Publishers, 2002), 108. 4
intercommunicating systems. The whisperers include gloves resembling webs, macramé and bandages, a device worn as a choker necklace and an airy, woven, cape-like garment; up to six individuals at a time may don the devices.9 These fragile-looking objects measure affect, breath, brainwaves, pulse and temperature. Participants may electronically send this physiological information to each other as well as to a computer workstation; subsequently, the central database server can communicate with the wearables which, in return, respond by sighing or tickling the wearer. Shared data is also made visually accessible in the form of images projected onto a screen in the performance site. Information received from users’ bodies is then archived for future retrieval by other participants.10
Meanwhile, the cyberSM project explores the transmission of electronic signals to
manifest the jolting physical presence of an absent body during a cyborgian sexual liaison.
Encased in latex and rubber "sensor/stimulator" suits, participants in different physical
locations communicate with each other through avatars, virtual nude bodies selected from
a bank of scanned images compiled by Stenslie and Woolford on a computer. When one
participant selects an area on the avatar body of their remote partner, a "tactile" message
of desire greets the recipient in the form of a shock conducted through electrical stimulators,
heat pads and vibrating sensors adorning the erogenous zones of the futuristic garb.11 The
transmission of signals through computers, fiber optic technology and sensors creates an
erotics of aggressive absence as cyberSM paradoxically establishes a visceral, yet impersonal
physical contact between anonymous individuals across geographical distance and temporal
lapse.
Capturing Performance
Bodily movement comprises a socializing process. Besides receiving and sending
flows of data, the user’s body participates in and helps to build a community of wearers
through kinesthetic engagement with the surroundings and other bodies. The compactness
and portability of sensor garments enable participants to meander through a performance or
exhibition space with the electronic devices. This discussion previously analyzed documentation in relation to physiological information. Yet, recording exhibitions of
wearable works also relates to the archiving of the gestures, emotional responses, personal
contacts and spatial trajectories of users. Members of the public, rather than artists or hired
performers, are often invited to don the garments and activate the electronic equipment.
Whereas abundant documentation exists concerning performances enacted by contemporary
artists, recordings of the involvement of the public are less extensive. In relation to
wearables, records of wearers’ experiences are essential for representing artists’ intentions for the use and appearance of the objects. As individual material artifacts, biosensor art works are of limited aesthetic and conceptual significance. Designed to be put on, handled, and removed, wearable computer works best convey their performative significance through
9"whisper During DEAF03," in V2_ Organization: Capturing Unstable Media (2003). (accessed 21 February, 2006).
10Thecla Schiphorst and Susan Kozel, "Pulp Fashion: Wearable Archi(ves)tectures," in V2_Organization: Capturing Unstable Media (2002). (accessed 21 February, 2006).
11Stephen Wilson, Information Arts: Intersections of Art, Science and Technology (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,
2002), 164-165. For a discussion of cyborgs, sexuality and tele-presence in contemporary new media art and cinema, see the article by media theorist Marie-Luise Angerer, "The Making of…Desire, Digital," in Medien Kunst Netz/ Media Art Net (2004). bodies/> (accessed 17 March, 2006). Also, see the landmark essay on the cyborg by Donna Haraway, "A Manifesto for Cyborgs: Science, Technology, and Socialist Feminism in the 1980s,"Socialist Review 15 (1985): 65-107. 5
documentation that describes users’ participation.
The V2_Organization’s Capturing Unstable Media project researched user
interaction during the exhibition of whisper in a theatre called the Rotterdamse Schouwburg, during DEAF03_Data Knitting, the 2003 edition of the Dutch Electronic Art Festival in Rotterdam. The V2 staff produced a series of photographic records and a digital video of the movements and behaviours of the public. Extensive written documentation accompanied the visual sources. As a result, this case study mapped "a restricted metadata" for describing users’ involvement with the work. The metadata addresses the spatial and temporal aspects of the work, and outlines statistical reports about the number of visitors present. V2 notably assesses the degree of intensity of participants’ experiences as determined by levels of interactivity. V2 also proposes that user interviews and video recordings of visitors supplement metadata.12
The documentary approach employed by the San Francisco-based Dance Heritage
Coalition in the LADD (Learning Applications to Document Dance) project of 1997
suggests another perspective toward recording movement and performance pertinent to the challenges posed by wearables. Unlike V2, LADD focused exclusively on developing audiovisual recordings, promoting the use of a dynamic, two-camera system to document
dance. The pair of cameras films the subtleties of choreographed movement and the
ambiance of the stage from a broad range of angles.13
Meanwhile, the research proposal for The Poly-sensing Environment by Bill
Seaman and Ingrid Verbauwhede exemplifies the potential for art works to archive
performance. The work consequently appropriates the attributes of a database. Wireless
sensors placed on walls, furniture and clothing continuously monitor and store data derived
from the movements, bodily heat and chemical makeup of participants. A central computer
then combines these findings with eclectic images, videos, texts and sound clips to be collated
by Seaman. The server records users’ engagements with the various surfaces of the
environment, such that participants can access diagrams charting the behaviour patterns and
paths of previous users. Maps and grids re-trace the sequences in which participants have
triggered or de-activated different sensors.14
Consequently, the Environment’s capacity to serve as an interactive archive implies that this work approaches documentation from the perspective of narrative. Visitors generate accounts of their personalized, multi-sensorial experience of Seaman’s creation. This narrative will expand and ramify throughout the work’s existence as successive participants contribute their bodily data and are able to access records left by previous visitors. However, whisper layers fact with fiction, thereby countering the claim to veracity and historical
12 Sandra Fauconnier and Rens Frommé, "Capturing Unstable Media: Summary of Research," in
V2_ Organization: Capturing Unstable Media (2003).
(accessed 21 February, 2006). For an alternate model of metadata used to document new media art, see Richard Rinehart, "A System of Formal Notation for Scoring Works of Digital and Variable Media Art," in Archiving the Avant-Garde (2006). (accessed 24 January, 2006).
13 Dance Heritage Coalition, Report on the Findings of the Learning Applications to Dance (LADD) Project (1997). (accessed 27 March, 2006).
14 "Bill Seaman and Ingrid Verbauwhede: Poly-sensing Environment," in Centre for Research and Documentation Database: Daniel Langlois Foundation (2002). e/page.php?NumPage=49> (accessed 11 February, 2006). 6
accuracy associated with archival records. As Kozel and Schiphorst elaborate, "the whispers can revisit and reconstruct past views as it progresses. The past is not replaced, it is augmented and restructured as the system perception grows."15 Hence, the work refashions documentation as a creative process which continually sifts through and re-configures the history of viewers’ performances.
Organic Exhibition Spaces
Recording users’ interactions with wearable computers underscores the importance of the exhibition space as a social environment. Documentation may thus engender new descriptions and conceptualizations of the spatial role of the museum and gallery. Howard Besser has analyzed the incompatibility between conventional preservation strategies and the fluctuating, variable qualities of time-based new media art constructed from equipment destined for obsolescence. Within his discussion of new practices for conserving electronic works, he also addresses the central role of the exhibition site and its historical value. He argues cogently that preserving new media art requires the documentation of exhibition spaces and display conditions, which would thus enable future re-installments of the work to acknowledge and accurately represent the historical context in which the art was originally produced and exhibited.16 Furthermore, documenting how a work was shown in an exhibition space may enable museum and gallery personnel to fulfill the intentions of artists in relation to the aesthetic significance, appearance, atmosphere and functioning integral to the work. In certain cases, knowledge of the original display may be of greater relevance to art historians attempting to reconstruct a work’s exhibition history and its initial impact on critics’ responses. For preservationists concerned with assuring the work’s fitness for display, the appearance of the original exhibition may not necessarily yield the most practical or interesting template.
Regardless of the precise display conditions, a paradoxical relationship exists
between wearable new media works and space. Ostensibly, certain of these performative
works are site-specific as they explore the flow of data and the forging of personal contacts between individuals in a given setting. whisper incorporates wall projections, while the Poly-sensing Environment explores the transmission and reception of data within an idiosyncratic installation. However, computer garments also undermine site-specificity due to their portability. The user’s body acts as the major exhibition site for the sensor-lined garments, usurping the function of the museum or gallery as the architectural and physical frame of the work. Hence, nomadic electronic garments may accommodate a range of potential exhibition environments. For the staging of cyberSM, the artists could have chosen to establish a virtual sexual encounter between partners located in any two sites; that they selected venues in Paris and Cologne is of secondary importance to this experiment in tele-presence.
Thus, the display of wearables departs from dominant forms of exhibiting and relating to art, due to the fusion of viewer/participant with the art work, as well as the decreased emphasis on architectural space. Within the history of display practices, the conception of an individual acting as an exhibition site in communication with other people and objects diverges from the conventional experiential relation between the sterile white cube gallery
15Schiphorst and Kozel, "Pulp Fashion" (accessed 21 February, 2006).
16Howard Besser, "The Longevity of Electronic Art," in International Cultural Heritage Informatics
Meeting (2001). (accessed 13 January, 2006). 7
space and the pulsating body. Carol Duncan’s landmark sociological study of the art museum as a ritual site posits that the exhibition aesthetic of the modernist white cube distinguishes viewers from art works both conceptually and spatially. Duncan observes that the emphasis on strategically well-lit displays and the careful horizontal alignment of works at eye level affirm the primacy of visual experience. Hence, display strategies structure an objectifying relationship between observing subject and art object. The white cube deliberately restricts the range of sensorial input to the viewer as works are spatially isolated in uncluttered, pristine environments characterized by large expanses of bare, unadorned wall. The cool aesthetic of the modern art institution emphasizes the architecture as a functional container and a set of solid surfaces.17
However, the descriptive terminology used by artists to qualify exhibition spaces for biosensor art de-emphasizes architectural form and dimensions. While there exists no standard lexicon to classify venues for wearable technology, artists’ informal nomenclatures
vividly re-imagine the exhibition sites of the digital age as social spaces based on the model
of a living, responsive, organic entity. Seaman describes the location for his wireless sensors
as an enveloping "poly-sensing environment," a cybernetic space inspired by the processes of
human cognition.18 Designating whisper as "a performance piece in a social space," Schiphorst and Kozel elaborate that "the space of the installation can best be described as a
networked ecosystem."19 As a result, biological analogies employed by artists implicitly liken
the exhibition locale to the inter-related bodies of participants.
By re-conceptualizing display spaces in relation to the public’s free interactions,
idiosyncratic movements and desires, contemporary artists implicitly craft a vision of the
museum as being unhampered by social restrictions or cultural elitism. Hence, the living,
amorphous ecosystems of biosensor art seemingly defy the social control which has
underpinned the discourse of the modern museum as a physical entity and institution. The
status of museums as state institutions of cultural authority is historically associated with the
policing of potentially unruly bodies in the presence of enshrined works of art. Today,
surveillance technology, security systems and protocols for not touching the works regulate
social behavior in the museum. The birth of the art museum in the West was intertwined with
the establishment’s desire to instill order through the public display of power: following the French Revolution, works of art seized from defeated nations were triumphantly displayed
before citizens in the royal palace of the Louvre. Previously, many art collections were
ensconced in royal palaces and monastic buildings, shielded from public access. The act of
exhibiting art for the public therefore legitimized and consolidated the victory of the
revolutionary forces against France’s foreign adversaries and the aristocratic ancient regime.20
Despite the freedom of movement elicited by biosensor art within exhibition sites,
wearables nevertheless perpetuate a variant of the tension between personal enrichment and social control associated with the museum. Wearable computers have transferred this problematic from the museum to the body, resulting in a new tension pitting user empowerment against external surveillance. During the 1990s, proponents argued that wearable computers empowered users by providing continuous access to information through a device endowed with "the possibility of augmenting the human body’s sensory and cognitive abilities."21 In 1998, Steve Mann optimistically heralded wearable computing as a technology which would equip users with exclusive control over the personal information
17 Carol Duncan, Civilizing Rituals: Inside Public Art Museums (New York: Routledge, 1995), 17.
18 "Bill Seaman and Ingrid Verbauwhede: Poly-sensing Environment" (accessed 11 February, 2006).
19 Schiphorst and Kozel, "Pulp Fashion" (accessed 21 February, 2006).
20Jean-Louis Déotte, "Rome, the Archetypal Museum, and the Louvre, the Negation of Division," in Grasping the World: The Idea of the Museum, eds. Donald Preziosi and Claire Farago (London: Ashgate, 2004), 59-61.
21 Viseu, "Social Dimensions of Wearable Computers," 78. 8
stored in these devices during an era in which surveillance technologies had increasingly pervaded daily life.22 In response, critics warned of the inevitable Orwellian co-opting of wearables by authorities to maintain social order and employee productivity.23 Likewise, thorny privacy issues surface in new media art. The sensors used by whisper and The Poly-sensing Environment receive and disclose users’ personal vital signs in a public venue. The body’s hidden, internal data is made external and communicable, sent to other participants, projected onto a screen in the exhibition space or posted on-line. Moreover, only by removing the garment can users prevent the devices from monitoring bodily information. Electronic surveillance of somatic information ironically reinforces participants’ autonomy, as wearers may divest themselves of the intrusive devices at will.
Preserving Hybridity: Technology and Clothing
The relation between wearable technology and the social body may be further
understood by analyzing these works as articles of clothing. Garments have an inherently
social function as they constitute visible, physical signifiers of the wearer’s membership in a group or claimed affiliation with a culture or subculture. Wearables overlap the categories of clothing, uniform and prosthesis by intimately enveloping the wearer, symbolically marking the body as belonging to a community and enhancing physical abilities. Furthermore, the performativity of wearable art bestows a marked theatrical aura to the devices, which thereby attain the status of costume and ornament. Visibly unifying wearers within an electronic community of performing bodies, these garments are aesthetic, idiosyncratic markers of behaviour and contexts which lie outside of the quotidian experience of mundane life. The delicate, mesh-like garments comprising whisper are designed to be worn over the participants’ regular clothing or as jewelry on exposed parts of the body. These objects, therefore, are not substitutes for clothing, but rather function as temporary accessories deriving their significance from an artistic context. Thus, the futuristic and pseudo-military style of the constrictive, shiny black latex and rubber sensor suits of cyberSM inscribes participants within a transient foray in a sado-masochistic subculture.
The dual role of wearables as computers and garments classifies these works as hybrid
or mixed media objects requiring multiple preservation strategies. For instance, conservation
techniques used by historical and anthropological museums for textiles and clothing might be
applied toward the future restoration of the materials surrounding the sensors. The electronic
components would have to be replaced, emulated or migrated, depending on the condition of
the art work and availability of parts. Computer clothing therefore disrupts the fundamental
shift in conservation approaches described by Howard Besser. Pointing to examples of video
and internet art, he notes that the lack of fixity characteristic of electronic works requires that preservation techniques "shift from the paradigm of repairing and saving a physical object to that of maintaining a set of disembodied artistic content over time."24 However, the art works to which Besser refers differ distinctly from wearables in that the materiality and aesthetic quality of the equipment for video and web art may be of lesser significance than the screen, the projected image and the space in which viewers interact with the work. In contrast, wearable technology is framed by materials deliberately selected for their unique look and texture, as a sensual reminder of the continuing importance of materiality for electronic art.
For instance, whisper’s title comprises an acronym emphasizing the objects’ proximity to the body: "wearable, handheld, intimate, sensory, personal, expressive, responsive."25 The
22 Mann, "Wearable Computers as Means for Personal Empowerment" (accessed 1 April, 2006).
23 Viseu, "Social Dimensions of Wearable Computers," 80.
24 Besser, "The Longevity of Electronic Art" (accessed 13 January, 2006).
25 Schiphorst and Kozel, "Pulp Fashion" (accessed 21 February, 2006). 9
whisperers combine sophisticated electronics, such as speakers, sensors and motors, with inexpensive tactile materials ranging from knitted wool, paper, latex and fabrics.26 In addition to the intercommunication between sensors, this work explores the phenomenological experience of being lightly adorned with fragile, irregularly textured objects. Donning the whisperers suggests a playful, whimsical rite, while the handmade appearance of these high tech garments evokes traditional women’s crafts, such as knitting and spinning. Meanwhile, cyberSM explores the experience of rigid confinement within thick, close-fitting outfits made of opaque, non-porous textiles. Stenslie and Woolford’s sleek black suits aspire to the status of fashion by emulating genuine fetish gear. Photographs of cyberSM often illustrate a fit young woman modeling one of the outfits accessorized with high boots. Such images thus evoke the stereotypical aesthetic of kinky decadence affiliated with sado-masochism. For both of these art works, preserving the physical integrity and documenting the cultural associations of the materials of the garments are essential for maintaining the conceptual value of the whisperers and the cyber-suits.
As a result, the hybrid nature of electronic garments resists reductive categorizations
defined strictly according to media. Hence, the Variable Media Questionnaire offers a viable
approach toward assessing the unique preservation requirements of these works. Launched in
2003 by New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, this questionnaire, aimed primarily
at artists, devises potential preservation decisions in relation to what curator Jon Ippolito
designates as "medium-independent, mutually-compatible descriptions of each artwork, which we call behaviors."27 According to this set of descriptive terms, art works may be
identified as belonging to one or more of the following behaviours: networked, encoded,
duplicated, reproduced, interactive, performed, installed and contained.28 The flexibility of
this schema permits wearables to be understood from multiple perspectives. For instance,
by approaching technological garments as "performed," conservationists can address "how to reenact original instructions in a new context."29 This category would apply to wearables which emphasize a particular relation with their surroundings or demand participants’ choreographed engagement. Moreover, the categories of "interactive" and "networked" accurately delineate participants’ inter-communications through the transmission of data.
The relationship between clothing and the electronic devices suggests that the sensors have more than a uniquely technical role. Curator Pip Laurenson’s approach to conserving time-based new media equipment affirms that the function of electronic components depends upon the specific art work as well as the original intentions of the artist. Visible computer parts, for example, may contribute to the aesthetic, conceptual and historical significance of certain works; in such cases, preservationists must strive to maintain the integrity of the appearance of the equipment, along with its operating capability. However, Laurenson considers technological components concealed from the viewer to be exclusively functional. Such devices may thus be substituted by similar equipment without causing significant change to the authenticity of the art work’s form or meaning.30 Concealed within costumes, the sensors used by whisper and cyberSM contribute little to the aesthetic value of the
26 "whisper," in V2_ Organization: Capturing Unstable Media (2002). (accessed 21 February, 2006).
27 Jon Ippolito, "Accommodating the Unpredictable: The Variable Media Questionnaire," in Permanence Through Change: The Variable Media Approach, eds. Alain Depocas, Jon Ippolito and Caitlin Jones (Montreal: Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science and Technology; New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 2003), 48.
28 Ippolito, "Accommodating the Unpredictable,"46.
29 Ippolito, "Accommodating the Unpredictable,"49.
30 Pip Laurenson, "The Management of Display Equipment in Time-Based Media Installations," in Modern Art, New Museums: Contributions to the Bilbao Congress (2004). (accessed 8 February, 2006). 10
garments. The intriguing appearance of the clothing detracts from the complexity of the technology used by artists. Yet, the sensors transcend mere technical worth as they are integral to the conceptual mechanics of networked interaction as a form of communication and socializing. Biosensors therefore transform the cultural significance and ways of relating to the world commonly associated with clothing. Unlike everyday street garb, wearables produced by artists do not aim to protect the wearer or express personal tastes. Rather, electronic garments constitute permeable boundaries between the wearer’s body and the outside, sites where the secrets of the body’s inner workings are made public, as in whisper, and where external shocks penetrate the submissive participant of cyberSM.
Knowledge of the functioning, technological drawbacks and usefulness of bio-
medical and commercial examples of computer clothing could assist conservationists’ decisions concerning whether to emulate or migrate wearable technology. Diverse biofeedback sensors exist, many of which remain beyond the mainstream media readily accessible to museums. Currently, garments embedded with electronics are in an
experimental stage.31 Prototypes produced by the clothing industry suggest possible
applications of sensors for daily use. During the nineties, manufacturers designed wearables which did not succeed in infiltrating the mass market. Major examples of this doomed endeavour include jackets lined with music-playing equipment, microchips and wires.32 Following these early experiments, Levi’s joined with Philips in 2000 to create the ICD+, a hooded jacket equipped with a mobile telephone, portable MP3 player and speakers.33 In addition to wearables combining fashion with entertainment, other garments have been designed for health purposes. The Georgia Institute of Technology invented the SmartShirt, manufactured by Sensatex, in the early 2000s. Made from "textiles that think" (the official slogan of Sensatex), the SmartShirt monitors the wearer’s biometric data and also assists athletes in analyzing and improving performance levels.34 A recently-developed biosensor brassiere monitors a woman’s fertility; blinking lights on this digital-age lingerie alert the wearer as to when she will be most likely to conceive.35
Conclusion
Possible strategies for documenting and preserving art comprised of body-machine interface garments frame art works as inextricable from the social and socializing bodies of
participants. Consequently, methods of conservation strive to maintain the work’s authenticity while forging new conceptions of user participation, somatic experience and bodily communication. Researchers investigating the conservation of wearable computer art occupy a privileged position from which to witness the ongoing dissemination of experimental sensor technology across artistic practices. The hybridity of high tech garment art, as a computer fusing fashion with craft, requires a reassessment of the limits of new media art in relation to its material, spatial and institutional dimensions.

31 Wilson, Information Arts, 64.
32 Anne Farren and Andrew Hutchison, "Cyborgs, New Technology and the Body: The Changing Nature of Garments," Fashion Theory 8 (2004): 463-466.
33 Viseu, "Social Dimensions of Wearable Computers," 79.
34 "SmartShirt System," in Sensatex Website (2005). (accessed 17 March, 2006).
35 Wilson, Information Arts, 64-65. 11
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