techinfi
What are smart clothes?
Wearables like smartwatches, fitness trackers, and sensors for better posture have long since arrived. It is high time that clothes also become smart.So-called smart clothes are equipped with sewn-in sensors, for example, to collect data and trigger actions.
Alternatively – or in addition –intelligent fibres and conductive yarns are usedto manufacture smart trousers, sweaters and the like. They integrate digital functions directly into the fabric, which is why smart clothing is called e-textiles.
For all of this to work, a wide variety of specialists work together to produce smart clothes. In addition to material researchers, fashion and textile designers, electrical engineers, computer scientists, interface designers, clothing technicians and experts in artificial intelligence are also involved in developing and improving intelligent clothing.
Which processes are used in the production of smart clothes?
All these professionals work to integrate technical components such as solar cells, batteries, touchscreen elements and more into the fabric so that they can perform their functions as unobtrusively as possible and without disturbing them.
Despite all these advanced technologies,conventional processes are mainly used to manufacture smart clothing. The smart fibres are woven and knitted together with regular yarns. For example, well-known printing methods such as screen printing are used to print special pigments that can discolour and are used for textile displays.
Things get more unusual when, for example,LEDs or vibration sensorsare. The individual parts are soldered onto textile conductor tracks. The conductive materials are sometimes etched to enable tiny microelectronic circuits.
Are smart clothes suitable for everyday use?
Smart clothes still have to overcome several challenges in everyday life. The biggest problem: like all fibres, the intelligent yarns and conductors in smart clothes can shift or stretch out due to wear.
Washing also affects the technical components to a greater or lesser extent in the long run, as does sweat.Overtime, they lose their functionality or oxidize, which impairs their conductivity and, thus, their function.
On this front, the developers still must make significant improvements to make intelligent garments suitable for everyday use. Although there are alreadysmart clothes that survive washing without damage,this is not the rule.
Smart Clothes:What is already possible?
Intelligent clothing can already be manufactured today that, for example, measures the heart rate of its wearer and the distance covered or accesses the smartphone. Depending on the item of clothing, smart clothes offer many more functions.
Smart clothes in everyday life
In everyday life, smart clothes can score points in various ways. For example, integrated heating and cooling mechanisms ensurethat even very sudden temperature fluctuations no longer bother you. The intelligent fibres counteract overheating the body and excessive cooling – completely independently.
More and more manufacturers are installing solar cells in their smart clothing, which turn them into power banks for your smartphone. The integrated battery charges itself during a walk using solar energy. The energy is delivered to your mobile device as needed or used to meet the power needs of the other smart functions in your clothing.
Touch-sensitive fabrics and conductive fibres,for example, turn jacket sleeves into a kind of touchscreenthat you can use to operate your smartphone – without taking it out of your pocket.
Thanks to intelligent clothing, some users also see the light – in a figurative sense. In the fashion sector, in particular,clothing items are equipped with LEDs and light-emitting diodesthat make dresses, tops, and skirts glow. The radiant effects can be controlled via automated routines, movements or gestures and guarantee an appearance worth seeing.
With normal clothing, the light effects can ensure more safety, for example, byincreasing visibility in traffic. Such self-illuminating smart clothes could be practical for cyclists, drivers and pedestrians – and maybe even save lives.
Smart garments can also offer real added valueforpeople with chronic illnesses. The recorded vital signs are usually accurate enough to be evaluated by a specialist and consulted for treatment.
When used correctly, smart clothes can also prevent chronic illnesses from worsening: for example, there are alreadysmart stockings for people with diabetes. With the help of special fibres and sensors, they measure the feet’ temperature, pressure and joint angle to identify problems at an early stage.
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