Archives

Artist exhibits smart embroidery to bring attention to craft

January 1st, 2025

Artist Hiroko Otake collaborated with &T, a new art brand created by embroidery equipment manufacturer Tajima, to create works for DESIGNART Tokyo 2024 in October. Artwork included Flow and Movement (above and below). The goal of &T is to raise the profile of embroidery. Image: Tajima Flow and Movement. Conductive thread and LEDs on the […]

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Hiding in plain sight: seams as sensors

January 1st, 2025

Smart-textile researchers studied different sleeve seams to incorporate sensors into smart shirts that one day could be used for remote monitoring of physical therapy exercises. Image: University of Bath Instead of incorporating sensors into woven fabric panels or knitting them in, e-textile researchers at the University of Bath and the University of Bristol in England […]

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Companies partner to make smart health wearables

December 1st, 2024

An automated sewing line at the MAKALOT flagship factory. Taiwanese companies SINBON and MAKALOT are partnering in smart textile health and fitness wearables. Image: MAKALOT Industrial Co. Ltd. Taiwanese companies SINBON and MAKALOT are partnering in smart textile health and fitness wearables that could also incorporate artificial intelligence (AI). SINBON creates electronic components for medical, […]

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Research into molecular electronics

December 1st, 2024

An artistic representation of a ladder molecule acting as a component in molecular electronics. Image: The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have taken a step toward ever-smaller devices with their work in the field of molecular electronics.  Molecular electronics is the use of […]

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Desktop biofiber spinner enables fast prototyping

October 1st, 2024

University of Colorado Boulder researchers developed a low-cost desktop machine (bottom) for spinning biofibers used in smart textile prototypes. The moisture sensor (center) included cotton, silver and gelatin fibers that were easily reclaimed for further trials. Though they used gelatin (top), the machine could be used to investigate other biopolymers. Images: Utility Research Lab By […]

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FibeRobo actuating fibers respond to heating and cooling

September 1st, 2024

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers used an industrial knitting machine to create a compression jacket for lead author Jack Forman’s dog (a), whose name is Professor. The jacket “hugs” a stuffed replica dog (b–c) based on a Bluetooth® signal from Forman’s smartphone. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Northeastern University have […]

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Thermal control in wearable technology

August 1st, 2024

The textile-heated garment industry is revolutionizing how we stay warm. Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA), the organization I work for, is at the forefront of developments in the types of heat sources used, particularly how they are controlled for optimal comfort and efficiency. Disposable hand warmers, popular for their immediate heat via the exothermic […]

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Nanodiamonds research for smart cooling fabrics

July 1st, 2024

A sample of pink cotton fabric that has been treated with nanodiamonds (left) next to untreated cotton (right). Nanodiamonds are an inexpensive carbon material that conducts heat and could be used to create smart performance fabrics. Image: RMIT University/Cherry Cai Researchers at RMIT University may have found something precious when it comes to creating lightweight, […]

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Deaf patrons feel opera productiions via haptic SoundShirt

July 1st, 2024

The SoundShirt software was refined at the Lyric Opera of Chicago during the 2022–23 season, which featured test audiences. This past season the theater made 10 shirts available for select performances of each opera. Increasing numbers of the shirts were used during each performance. Images: Lyric Opera of Chicago Haptic feedback given through a light […]

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Printed, flexible electionics for e-textiles

June 1st, 2024

Printed Electronics Ltd.‘s graphene flagship demonstrator, which is a sports shirt using graphene dry electrodes for ECG monitoring. It was displayed at the 2024 Large-Area, Organic & Printed Electronics Convention. Image: Marie O’Mahony Can printed electronics (PE) and flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) offer to e-textiles a means to overcome the design, manufacturing and sustainability challenges […]

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