PM Network - August 2016

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
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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.