Smart Fabrics-Wearable Technology

Abstract

Smart fabrics, generally regarded as smart Textiles are fabrics that have embedded electronics and interconnections woven into them, resulting in physical flexibility that is not achievable with other known electronic manufacturing techniques. Interconnections and components are intrinsic to the fabric therefore are not visible and less susceptible of getting tangled by surrounding objects. Smart fabrics can also more easily adapt to quick changes in the sensing and computational requirements of any specific application, this feature being useful for power management and context awareness. For electronic systems to be part of our day-to-day outfits such electronic devices need to conform to requirements as regards wear-ability, this is the vision of wearable technology. Wearable systems are characterized by their capability to automatically identify the activity and the behavioral status of their wearer as well as of the situation around them, and to use this information to adjust the systems' configuration and functionality. This write-up focused on recent developments in the field of Smart Fabrics and pays particular attention to the materials and their manufacturing techniques.

Effect of Cyclical Bending and Rubbing on the Characteristic Impedance of Textile Signal Lines

“…This extended functionality can be obtained, among other ways, by placing electronic circuits in the textiles. These textiles can perform various functions, e.g., monitoring human physiological parameters [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9], ensuring communication, exchanging information [10,11], etc. For proper operation of such systems, each of its modules should be electrically connected to the other.…”

Critical Review on Smart Chromic Clothing

“…Intelligent clothing are categorized into three groups: 1) Passive smart clothing: which can only use sensors to sense the environment or the user 2) Active smart clothing: has an embedded actuator function and a sensing device allowing it to sense and react to different stimuli from the surrounding environment 3) Very/Ultra smart clothing: those have the capability of sensing, reaction and adapting their priorities to the environmental conditions [9] An example of a passive intelligent textile is optical fibers. They are sensitive to deformation and concentration of substances such as pressure, electric power, etc.…”