Introduction
Today,
the interaction of human individuals with electronic devices demands specific
user skills. In future, improved user interfaces can largely alleviate this
problem and push the exploitation of microelectronics considerably. In this context
the concept of smart clothes promises greater user-friendliness, user
empowerment, and more efficient services support. Wearable electronics responds
to the acting individual in a more or less invisible way. It serves individual
needs and thus makes life much easier. We believe that today, the cost level of
important microelectronic functions is sufficiently low and enabling key
technologies are mature enough to exploit this vision to the benefit of
society. In the following, we present various technology components to enable
the integration of electronics into textiles.
Advances
in textile technology, computer engineering, and materials science are
promoting a new breed of functional fabrics. Fashion designers are adding
wires, circuits, and optical fibers to traditional textiles, creating garments
that glow in the dark or keep the wearer warm. Meanwhile, electronics engineers
are sewing conductive threads and sensors into body suits that map users'
whereabouts and respond to environmental stimuli. Researchers agree that the
development of genuinely interactive electronic textiles is technically
possible, and that challenges in scaling up the handmade garments will
eventually be overcome. Now they must determine how best to use the technology.
Electronic
textiles (e-textiles) are fabrics that have electronics and interconnections
woven into them. Components and interconnections are a part of the fabric and
thus are much less visible and, more importantly, not susceptible to becoming
tangled together or snagged by the surroundings. Consequently, e-textiles can
be worn in everyday situations where currently available wearable computers
would hinder the user. E-textiles also have greater flexibility in adapting to
changes in the computational and sensing requirements of an application. The
number and location of sensor and processing elements can be dynamically
tailored to the current needs of the user and application, rather than being
fixed at design time. As the number of pocket electronic products (mobile
phone, palm-top computer, personal hi-fi, etc.) is increasing, it makes sense
to focus on wearable electronics, and start integrating today's products into
our clothes. The merging of advanced electronics and special textiles has
already begun. Wearable computers can now merge seamlessly into ordinary
clothing. Using various conductive textiles, data and power distribution as
well as sensing circuitry can be incorporated directly into wash-and-wear
clothing.
Wireless World
Whatever
the technical obstacles, researchers involved in the development of interactive
electronic clothing appear universally confident that context-aware coats and
sensory shirts are only a matter of time. Susan Zevin, acting director of the
Information Technology Laboratory at the US National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST), would like to see finished garments fitted with some form of
data encryption system before they reach consumers. After all, wearing a jacket
that is monitoring your every movement, recording details about your personal
well-being, or pinpointing your exact location at a moment in time, adds a
whole new dimension to issues of wireless security and personal privacy.
"The
challenge, I think, for industry is to build in the security and privacy before
the technology is deployed, so the user doesn't have to worry about having his
or her T-shirt attacked by a hacker, for example," says Zevin.
"People don't want to have to upload and download intrusion detection
systems themselves. Pervasive computing should also mean pervasive computer
security, and it should also mean pervasive standards and protocols for
privacy." She notes that the level of security required for electronic
textile garments will vary according to their applications.
Project Examples
Wearable Antennas
In
this program for the US Army, Foster-Miller integrated data and communications
antennas into a soldier uniform, maintaining full antenna performance, together
with the same ergonomic functionality and weight of an existing uniform. We
determined that a loop-type antenna would be the best choice for clothing
integration without interfering in or losing function during operations, and
then chose suitable body placement for antennas. With Foster-Miller's extensive
experience in electro-textile fabrication, we built embedded antenna prototypes
and evaluated loop antenna designs. The program established feasibility of the
concept and revealed specific loop antenna design tradeoffs necessary for field
implementation.
This
program provided one of the key foundations for Foster-Miller's participation
in the Objective Force Warrior program, aimed at developing soldier ensemble of
the future, which will monitor individual health, transmit and receive
mission-critical information, protect against numerous weapons, all while being
robust and comfortable.
Limitations and Issues of the "Smart
Shirt"
Some
of the wireless technology needed to support the monitoring capabilities of the
"Smart Shirt" is not completely reliable. The "Smart Shirt"
system uses Bluetooth and WLAN. Both of these technologies are in their
formative stages and it will take some time before they become dependable and
widespread.
Additionally,
the technology seems to hold the greatest promise for medical monitoring.
However, the "Smart Shirt" at this stage of development only detects
and alerts medical professionals of irregularities in patients' vital
statistics or emergency situations. It does not yet respond to dangerous health
conditions. Therefore, it will not be helpful to patients if they do face
complications after surgery and they are far away from medical care, since the
technology cannot yet fix or address these problems independently, without the
presence of a physician. Future research in this area of responsiveness is
ongoing.
Fabric Computing Devices
Designing
with unusual materials can create new user attitudes towards computing devices.
Fabric has many physical properties that make it an unexpected physical,
interface for technology. It feels soft to the touch, and is made to be worn
against the body in the most intimate of ways. Materially, it is both strong
and flexible, allowing it to create malleable and durable sensing devices.
Constructing computers and computational devices from fabric also suggests new
forms for existing computer peripherals, like keyboards, and new types of
computing devices, like jackets and hats.
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