High-tech textiles are coming into fashion. Global
organizations are launching projects to incorporate sensors, semiconductors and nanotechnology directly into fabrics to create “smart textiles.”
Google, for example, is sponsoring a project to
develop textiles woven with conductive yarns so
that everyday objects such as clothes and furniture
can become interactive surfaces.
The potential benefits of these projects are myriad:
The new materials could store energy, regulate
temperature, monitor health, fight bacteria and
resist stains, for example. Those benefits promise
big business value, too. As new high-tech wearable
products get to market, the smart textile industry’s
value is projected to increase from just US$700 million in 2014 to US$7.7 billion by 2023, according
to Transparency Market Research. But to support
that kind of growth, project managers will have
to grapple with risks common during innovation
efforts: rocky testing phases that imperil schedules,
a scarcity of the right talent and outright failure.
To some extent, the budding smart textile sector
is still in the R&D phase. In April, the U.S. government unveiled a US$320 million project aimed
at reviving the country’s textile industry. Led by
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the
Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA)
initiative brings together government, universities
and about 50 private companies and nonprofits
to create a national R&D network for designing
and manufacturing new kinds of garments. The
U.S. Department of Defense, an AFFOA partner,
intends to create combat uniforms that try to
minimize friendly-fire deaths by changing color to
signal friend or foe.
Tabletop Rhythms
To go from concept to product, however, project
teams will have to collaborate across divergent
fields such as fashion design and electronics.
To fulfill its mission, Smart Textiles, a research
center at the University of Borås, Borås, Sweden,
also often has to bridge the divide between uni-
Weaving Innovation
theEdge
versity researchers and industry
developers. “They have different languages and sometimes
have difficulty talking to each
other,” says Mats Johansson,
head of Prototype Factory,
Smart Textiles.
Since its inception in 2006,
Smart Textiles has executed
more than 450 textile projects
that demonstrate to varied
stakeholders that they can successfully work together. Such
projects don’t necessarily have big
budgets, he adds, but for industry
stakeholders, they do carry big risks:
It can take years to go from prototype to product.
With a budget of just US$300, one such prototype project aimed to build a tablecloth sporting a
drum kit and piano keys. “The musical tablecloth
is a way of showing what’s possible with smart textiles,” Mr. Johansson says. The technology involved
in the project could ultimately benefit healthcare
organizations: If used in hospital garments, the
tablecloth’s conductive technology could monitor
patients’ vital signs.
While Mr. Johansson focused on materials and
production, a colleague worked on the electronics
and sensors. “Having a mix of people from different backgrounds and with different experiences
that can complement each other is key,” he says.
The
technology
used in this
musical
tablecloth also
could monitor
patient
vital signs
via hospital
garments.
US$7.7
billion
Projected
value of the
smart textile
industry by
2023 (up from
just US$700
million in
2014)
Source: Transparency
Market Research