Smart textiles

Screen-printed military textiles that enable wearable energy storage are being assessed at the US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center in Natick, Massachusetts.

A polyethylene (PE)-based fabric that could become the basis for garments which keep people cool in hot climates without the need for air conditioning has been developed by researchers at Stanford

Continuing rises in the incidences of chronic diseases (including diabetes, heart disease, cancer and respiratory disorders) and ageing populations around the world, as well as increases in the num

A flexible and formable film made of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) from Covestro of Leverkusen, Germany, has been used to produce a luminous dress. 

Workwear specialist Cintas Corp of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, has announced a joint collaboration with Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects Group (ATAP) to explore advancing Project Jacquard appli

Following Google’s collaboration with Levi Strauss on Project Jacquard, Microsoft has declared an interest in smart fabrics.

Embedded smart fabric car seat sensors with intelligent car occupant sensing technology for safer airbag deployment are being introduced to the market by BeBop Sensors of Berkeley, California, USA.

It’s exactly a decade since Levi Strauss of San Francisco, California, USA, announced its first connected denims.

Dow Chemical and Russell Athletic are working to develop advanced odour and freshness protection to apparel performance products using Dow’s patented Silvadur technology.

A cheap and efficient method for growing nanostructures that can degrade organic matter when exposed to light on textiles has attracted significant attention.

At the FIS World Cup alpine skiing tournament in St.

Research by Nottingham Trent University, in collaboration with Copenhagen/San Francisco-based Siren Care, has led to the development of electronic smart socks that inform users of the early signs o

Sensor-containing responsive smart fabrics are beginning to appear in the latest developments from French Tier-1 automotive supplier Faurecia, including the Active Wellness seating system.

Invista is the latest company to integrate infrared (IR) technology into its yarns with new Thermolite Infrared.

Taiwan’s Far Eastern New Century (FENC) showcased its Dynafeed shirt at the 2016 ISPO sportswear and gear show held in Munich, Germany, on 24–27 January.

TissueGen, the Dallas, Texas-based developer of Elute biodegradable fibres for advanced drug delivery, has completed significant facility upgrades that enable it to manufacture in an ISO Class 7 cl

Sensoria, based in Redmond, Washington, USA, was awarded the Best New Wearable Technology Device prize at the 2015 IDTechEx Printed Electronics USA show held on 18–19 November in

The US Department of Commerce is partnering with the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) to host the first-ever Smart Fabrics Summit on 11 April 2016 in Washington DC. 

Coolcore of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA, has been awarded a patent for a fabric that becomes cool when activated by liquid and remains cool for an extended period of time afterwards.

A range of wearable and flexible technologies for medical devices and technical textiles will be displayed by Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research (ISC) at the forthcoming IDTec

The Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) announced the winners of the 2015 International Achievement Awards (IAA) at its IFAI Expo 2015 held in Anaheim, California,

Having become well established in the USA as a highly efficient technology for infection prevention, the X-Static silver-based antimicrobial and antiodour technology manufactured by Noble Biomateri

Google has secured a Patent on sophisticated new software for textile pattern optimization – so called ‘nesting – based on fabric orientation and bias characterization.

The new Spring–Summer 2015 Reebok CrossFit sportswear collection will incorporate Kevlar and feature its trademarks, following a multi-year license deal with DuPont.

The Electronic Marker System (EMS) Rope 7000 series uses proprietary 3M path-marking technology to deliver more accurate and more reliable tracking of underground plastic pipe and fiber optic condu

One of the biggest limitations to wearable electronic devices is the capacity of their batteries to deliver enough power to transmit data. Researchers in the USA and Canada have now developed a pro

Initially employed in functional clothing, energear textile technology from Schoeller Technologies is now being used in upholstery fabrics and mattress toppers. 

In what could turn out to be a very significant development for the future of the entire plastics and synthetic fibres industries in the longer term, Coca-Cola has unveiled the world’s first polyet

At the recent  Texprocess 2015 show in Frankfurt on 4–7 May 2015, the Human Solutions Group based in Kaiserslautern, Germany, showcased apparel industry innovations to make work easier, si

Two unfurlable mesh antenna reflectors developed by Harris Corp have been successfully deployed onboard the third Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite built by Lockheed Martin.

Seaweed could be an important resource for food and feed ingredients, biochemicals and the production of biofuels, but so far it has been under-exploited because it is difficult to harvest efficien

The UK’s Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced a new £40-million funding programme for synthetic biology, with £32 million to be split between new research centres in Manchester, Edinburgh a

Professors Vijay Mannari and Subhas Ghosh of Eastern Michigan University have been awarded US Patent 8 764 851 for a durable, washable, antibacterial fabric created with a grant from the army.

Itching and redness is common for those with sensitive skin when they wear freshly laundered clothes, and is often caused by an aggressive detergent that was not completely removed by rinsing.

Limpets – the small aquatic snail-like creatures with conical shells that cling to rocks – have teeth with biological structures that are stronger than spider silk and could serve as inspiration fo

A system of multimodal fibres developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA, could deliver optical signals and drugs directly into the brain, together with providin