Electronic Textiles

Definition of Electronic Textile by E-Textile Research Group
“Electronic textiles (e-textiles) are fabrics that have electronics and interconnections woven into them, with physical flexibility and size that cannot be achieved with existing electronic manufacturing techniques. Components and interconnections are intrinsic to the fabric and thus are less visible and not susceptible to becoming tangled together or snagged by the surroundings. An e-textile can be worn in everyday situations where currently available wearable computers would hinder the user. E-textiles can also more easily adapt to changes in the computational and sensing requirements of an application, a useful feature for power management and context awareness.”

Advancements in Electronic Textiles
Scientist have developed the wireless key board fabric called 'Eleck Tex' a form of e textile. This is the patented accomplishment of Eleksen. This electronic textile is just 0.6 mm thick and used in handheld PCs, personal digital assistants and smart phones. This cloth is light in weight, wearable and washable.

Another efficient e-textile has been developed by Virginia Tech (VT) researchers. This electronic textile can observe your movements that include walking, running, sitting or standing. The e-textile is called Hokie Suit and has the capability of detecting any change in the direction and speed of motion of a person as it has interwoven wires and sensors. To wash this fabric just remove the sensors and wash it with wires. The data collected by sensors can then be transferred to computers to monitor your health during movements.

Smart Fabrics and Interactive Textiles (SFIT) has a dedicated team and many projects related to smart fabrics. These include Biotex (Bio-Sensing Textiles to Support Health Management), PROETEX (Protection e-Textiles: MicroNanostructured fibre systems for Emergency-Disaster Wear), OFSETH (Optical Fibre Sensors Embedded into technical Textile for Healthcare). Under the OFSETH project the optical fibers are used that can use light both as carrier and sensor. By this the oxygen content of the blood can be measured. This smart fabric can be wore around the neck.

Source : articlesbase