Brief history of electronic textiles
Unarguably, the original intention of man behind making of clothes was for protection against cold and rain. Ancient man went about his daily businesses stark naked without even noticing it. Or, perhaps, might have noticed it but did not attach much importance to it. Life was very simple and a sizeable number of people were contented with what they had.
[A Baroesque Barometric Skirt reflects environmental data, plus individual's personal temperature - it's a reflection of the self within the bigger picture*. Source: Flickr. Author: Rain Rabbit. CC BY-NC 2.0 licensed]
As man was using clothes to protect himself against the harshness of the wild world, at a time he began to realize and appreciate that manipulating different fabrics of different colors and materials into different patterns and stitching them together to make wearable clothes, makes people adorned in such clothes to look beautiful. With patronage from more and more people, designers started to focus more on aesthetic aspects to satisfy customer's preferences. Thus came this era in which aesthetic aspects play a huge role in textile industry.
Following the onset of technological renaissance in the later centuries, the world was experiencing repeated innovations and accelerated developments in science, technology and virtually all aspects of human endeavors. By the end of 19th century, electronic and textile industries were witnessing increased patronage as more and more people got used to them. Designers and engineers saw the need to synergize the technologies and create a sort of hybrid products that would appeal to both fans of electronic appliances and textiles.
Consequently, through the combination of electricity with clothing and jewelry, they created a series of illuminated and motorized necklaces, hats, broaches and costumes; and the products were well received by the public and patronage soared! For example, during social functions in the late 1800s, organizers would hire young women adorned in light-studded evening gowns from the Electric Girl Lighting Company for entertainment purposes [ref.].
In 1968, the Museum of Contemporary Craft in New York City held a groundbreaking exhibition called Body Covering that focused on the relationship between technology and apparel. The show featured astronauts’ space suits along with clothing that could inflate and deflate, light up, and heat and cool itself. Particularly noteworthy in this collection was the work of Diana Dew, a designer who created a line of electronic fashion, including electroluminescent party dresses and belts that could sound alarm sirens. Source
[A smart textiles salon. Source: Flickr. Author: Rain Rabbit. CC BY-NC 2.0 licensed]
From the foregoing historical accounts of how e-textiles came to be, we can see that e-textiles are not new. However, there are stark differences between the existing models and the latest 2018 version in terms of washability, air permeability, simplicity, the source of electricity, cost effectiveness, etc. Unlike the existing versions, and not only the fact that this latest model can be used remotely to control home appliances, it is washable, Self-Powered, very cost effective to produce and affordable to buy, good air permeability and simple to mass-produce. This brings us to the theme of this article which is meant to introduce us to the latest invention in e-textiles technology.
That being said, however; because I know this is certainly the first time some of my reading audience are reading something of this nature, it is important, therefore, for us to understand the meaning and associated definitions of the term e-textile technology before unveiling the latest invention. In other words, what are e-textiles?
Electronic textiles
Electronic textiles, also known as smart garments, smart clothing, smart textiles, or smart fabrics, are fabrics that enable digital components such as a battery and a light (including small computers), and electronics to be embedded in them. Smart textiles are fabrics that have been developed with new technologies that provide added value to the wearer. Pailes-Friedman of the Pratt Institute states that "what makes smart fabrics revolutionary is that they have the ability to do many things that traditional fabrics cannot, including communicate, transform, conduct energy and even grow". Source
Innovative developments presently going on in the field of e-textile technology account for its rapidly increasing integration into the ways of life of the modern world. Today, there are smart textiles specially designed for use in the athletic, extreme sports and military activities. For defense purposes, smart textiles are designed to guard against bullet, chemical attack, radioactive emissions, etc; for athletes, they are designed to control body temperature, minimise wind resistance and regulate muscle vibration. There are drug-releasing smart textiles specifically designed for use by health professionals; as well as those meant to moisturize, perfume or exert anti-aging effects on the body (on the go) for use by beauty salons.
[Roman military attire. Source: Wikimedia commons. Author: Christian Peter Marinescu-Ivan. CC BY-SA 2.0 licensed]
The invention
Bothered by the difficulty being faced by people living with disabilities and in order to improve on the limitations posed by the existing versions of e-textiles, researchers have created new electronic textiles with a number of new functionalities. The latest invention is very sensitive to touch, washable, and can generate its own electricity. It can be used to control home appliances by merely touching the wristwatch or other items of clothing, making it the most ideal control switch especially for the disabled living amongst us. The report of this invention was published in ACS Nano.
The researchers made a self-powered triboelectric nanogenerator by depositing an electrode array of conductive carbon nanotubes on nylon fabric. To make the E-textile washable, they incorporated polyurethane into the carbon nanotube ink, which made the nanotubes firmly adhere to the fabric. They covered the array with a piece of silk and fashioned the textile into a wristband. When swiped with a finger in different patterns, the E-textile generated electrical signals that were coupled to computers to control programs, or to household objects to turn on lights, a fan or a microwave from across the room. The E-textile is breathable for human skin, washable and inexpensive to produce on a large scale, the researchers say. Source
The below YouTube video by the team could help with the understanding of the invention:
Conclusion
It is amazing how far human creativity can innovate. From simply making fabrics to provide a shield against cold and rain, humans would later learn to combine electricity with fabrics, creating a number of attention-grabbing garments for entertainment purposes. Today, electronic textile technology is being explored to provide life-changing applications in medicine, military, extreme sports, beauty and fashion industry, amongst others. With the latest invention by Jiaona Wang, Hengyu Guo, Congju Li and coworkers and the fact that it can be cheaply mass produced; perhaps, very soon, controlling electronic appliances will be a matter of touching a special section of clothes we are putting on. Thanks for reading.
References for further reading
- Electronic girls
- Electronic textiles
- Applications of smart and interactive textiles
- E-textiles control home appliances with the Swipe of a finger
- E-textiles
Yours truly,
@eurogee
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