Smart textiles

An inexpensive smart textile-based device that can help athletes and patients undergoing physical therapy position their arms to improve performance, reduce injury and accelerate recovery has been

Dyed cotton threads that change colour when exposed to a variety of gases have been developed by engineers at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, USA.

An electrically conductive yarn that can be used to create heating elements in textiles has been developed by Inuheat, a manufacturer of wearable heating solutions based in Hovås, Sweden. 

A Hong Kong-based group of fashion designers, health professionals and a knitting mill have co-developed an award-winning therapeutic support for people with knee injuries or chronic knee condition

Multi-disciplinary research at the University of Southampton in the UK could create smart fabrics capable of emitting light, changing colour and limiting the proliferation of bacteria.

Over the past 18 months, Layer Design has been working with Airbus on the development of the Move seating concept, designed to improve the comfort of economy-class passengers on short-haul flights

Researchers from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) and the University of Berne, Switzerland,  are developing smart textile sensors to help prevent the occur

The American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) of Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, reports that it has approved one of the first international standards for electronic te

Microsoft has been working to develop smart textiles for a number of years and has now been awarded a patent for methods of producing textile-base

Details of a geotextile rendered electrically conductive using graphene have been outlined by Imagine Intelligent Materials (IM) of North Geelong, Victoria, Australia.

A carbon nanotube (CNT)-coated fabric that could dynamically regulate the temperature of its wearer is being developed by researchers at the University of Maryland in College Park, USA.

Electrically conductive warp-knitted textiles are currently the subject of extensive development work at Karl Mayer of Obertshausen, Germany.

A method for depositing metals onto fabrics that could be exploited to produce flexible batteries, wireless devices and sensors has been developed by researchers in the UK.

Multi-component piezoelectric fibres consisting solely of polymers have been developed by Arkema of Colombes, France.

A sensing textile that could be used for monitoring civil infrastructure, such as roads, tunnels, pipelines, highways, bridges and railways, has been developed by Saint-Gobain Adfors Canada of Otta

A simple, scalable and cheap method for preparing flexible and stretchable electrically conductive fibres that have potential applications in wearable electronics and smart fabrics has been develop

A solvent made from cellulose has been found to outperform traditional, toxic solvents in the production and dispersion of graphene.

Myant used the Computer Electronics Show (CES) to launch what it describes as the world’s first cuffless blood-pressure monitoring technology, the SKIIN Smart Shirt.

A way to embed miniaturized solar cells into yarn that can then be knitted and woven has been developed by researchers at Nottingham Trent University in the UK. 

The Austrian developer of what is billed as the first truly washable smart sports shirt (The Smart Shirt QUS) has received a 2018 Red Dot Design Concept Award.

The development of electronic products, including smart fabrics, will be increasingly based on organic materials such as bioplastics, say Bio-on and Kartell, two Italian companies that have formed

During the forthcoming ISPO, Karl Mayer will explain how its warp-knitting machinery can incorporate electrically conductive yarns into fabrics.

SKIINCore is a pair of self-heating base layer garments for use in cold weather developed by Myant of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and launched by the company on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter.

Membrane technology that actively draws sweat away from a wearer's inner garments is being used by Swiss sports brand Kjus in its latest ski jacket (7sphere Hydro_Bot). 

BeBop Sensors of Berkeley, California, USA, has been been presented with the Best New Material Award at the IDTechEx Wearable USA 2018 Awards.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the USA have developed a method for embroidering charge-storing patterns that they claim can be applied to any garment.

A flexible and stretchable fabric-based battery has been developed by researchers at the University of Houston System in Houston, Texas, USA.

Volt Smart Yarns of Hickory, North Carolina, USA, has established a new division in an effort to drive the use its highly conductive yarns for the manufacture of wearable technologies.

A project in the UK aims to accelerate the development of smart clothing.

At its headquarters in Redmond, Washington, USA, computer specialist Microsoft has made a significant investment in textile machinery over the past few years, including weaving and embroidery syste

Liquid X Printed Metals of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, has announced a partnership with its compatriot Bonbouton of New York City to print temperature and pressure sensors directly onto textiles

Algorithms for heart monitoring developed by The Mayo Clinic of Rochester, Minnesota, USA, are to be incorporated into Toronto, Ontario, Canada-based Myant’s smart apparel (

A textile that incorporates lighting for use in civil engineering, agriculture and landscape preservation end-uses has been developed by Beaulieu International of Waregem, Belgium.

A conductive yarn that can be woven or knitted into washable, interactive textiles, which can be used as capacitive touch sensors, has been developed by Google.

A team led by researchers from Tufts University of Medford, Massachusetts, USA, has developed a prototype bandage designed to monitor the condition of chronic wounds actively and deliver appropriat

Textile-Based Delivery Inc (TexDel) of Conover, North Carolina, USA, has received a US$1 million award from

A method for applying flexible carbon nanotube (CNT)-containing composite coatings to fibres,  including cotton, polyamide (PA) and wool, could be enable the production of smart textiles.

A researcher team led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Professor of Materials Science and Electrical Engineering, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of

Flat-knitting specialist Stoll exhibited jointly with partner Myant at the Texprocess Americas exhibition in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, on 22–24 May 2

At Techtextil North America (TTNA) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, on 22–24 May 2018, ZSK Technical Embroidery Systems of Krefeld, Germany, demonstrated its embroidery technologies for adding sm

CREOL – the College of Optics & Photonics at The University of Central Florida (UCF) has worked with specialist fibre manufacturer Hills Inc to develop a user-controlled, colour-changing fabric

The second edition of the Smart Fabrics Summit, co-hosted by the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) and the US Department of Commerce, demonstrated the advancements in thi

Prototype strain-sensing knitted textiles developed in Australia could be used for compression garments that monitor professional athletes during competition or to allow patients to track and compi

A conductive composite yarn for making smart fabrics and garments has been developed by Supreme Corp of Conover, North Carolina, USA.

Fabrics woven from a combination of poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and conductive carbon fibres that are able to track body movement for human–machine interfaces have b

With the goal of bringing together industry and research institutes to share their knowledge of smart textiles and high-performance materials, the second Saltex event will take place in Do

W.L. Gore is working with start-up company Bonbouton to develop practical smart fabrics for healthcare applications.