Report on:
This seminar provided an overview of developments in wearable electronic
and smart textile applications, and insight into trends in the UK and Europe.
Delegates from industry exceeded 50% of delegates and there were many visitors
from outside the UK. The Wearable Electronic
& Smart Textiles (WEST) Interest Group is a community initiative spearheaded
through the Inneurotex platform for
innovation in European textiles, and supported by the Research Institute for
Flexible Materials (RIFleX) at Heriot-Watt University,
and the TechniTex Faraday Partnership
in technical textiles.
This report is written by David J. Tyler.
Wearable Technology Development in Finland
Professor Jukka Vanhala, Tampere University of Technology.
The city of Tampere used to be a textile centre, but with globalisation, much of the industry has moved offshore. The focus now is on higher value-added procusts and ICT applications. There are several significant projects underway at the present time and numerous labs with different areas of expertise. The Personal Electronics Group, University of Tampere and led by Prof. Vanhala, has a major interest in the field. Two specialised laboratories are active in this area:
Companies actively involved are:
The Nordic Centre of Excellence for Smart Textiles and Wearable Technologies (NEST) is a networking organisation that brings together interested bodies in Finland and in the other Nordic countries.
To clarify the relationship between wearables and smart products, something similar to the diagram below was discussed. There is actually a continuum of applications, ranging from electronic products at one end of the spectrum to functional materials at the other. These may be phase change materials, shape memory alloys, colour changing materials, microporous materials, and so on.
Smart clothing has enhanced functionality provided mainly by the textile materials but also by ICT. Wearable technologies have a predominance of ICT, with some functionality from the textile components.
The projects under way in Finland were reviewed and the problems of integration highlighted. Four specific issues were mentioned:
|
This led to a review of research issues and mention of the EU-funded project StarTiger 2 for astronaut space suits. The goal of StarTiger 2 is to develop a smart clothing prototype which continuously measures the vital functions of a user, locates a user, and communicates with other users or databases. This should improve the safety of astronauts during the space missions and is expected to have many spin-offs outside the space sector. From the website: "Novel technological outcomes that will be achieved in this project include connection solutions for attaching components, modules, or chips directly on clothing; flexible, thin, low-power, and lightweight displays suitable for mobile users; and new methods for reliable and contactless physiological measurements. Intelligent textiles will be used in the implementation of the STAR-suit prototype." |
 |
Wearable Active Vision
Walterio W. Mayol, University of Oxford.
The Active Vision Laboratory in Oxford University is exploring the use of cameras to mimic human vision. This has involved simulating the human body and quantifying the field of view of a subject, with different locations for the camera and different body positions. The next stage has been to compare and contrast "active camera" sensing with "passive camera" sensing. The active mode of operation decouples the visual sensor from the wearer's posture and movements. The camera is them made wearable, mounted in the shoulder region, to track objects and compute directions. Further details of this research are at http://www.robots.ox.ac.uk/~lav/
Wearable Electronics enabled by SOFTswitch Technology
Steven Leftly, Softswitch Ltd.
Softswitch's patented technology offers textile sensors, signal transport systems and connectivity solutions. Frabrics are laminates of lightweight conducting materials enclosing a thin layer of pressure sensitive material that gives a large change of resistance with a small degree of compression. The patents were taken out in April 2000 and the first commercial product was available in October 2002: a snowboarding product from Burton. This was followed by the Amp jacket in January 2003 and the same technologies were part of a rucksack launched in November 2003. These products used Softswitch technologies to activate electronic devices (such as the Apple iPOD personal audio player). A jacket for mountain climbers, the MET-5, with zones that can be heated, was brought out by The North Face. Nike have developed (January 2004) the Commvest for mountain rescuers: with the collar carrying a speaker near the ear and a microphone near the mouth. These link to 2-way radio telephones and the whole system operates to US Defense standards for electronic equipment. The garment spec will ensure it can be washed over 50 times. Press Releases about these products are to be found on the Softswitch website.
Electronics and Clothes: Watt to Wear?
Paul Gough, Philips Research Labs.
Philips commenced work in this area in 1997. With the expanding use of mobile phones, GPS devices, and other portable electronic systems, it was forseen that incompatibility issues would become important and the resultant systems would be complex. This situation offers an opportunity for integration and this requires the convergence of textiles, clothing and electronics skills
Apparel offers two opportunities: it has a large surface area and so can be used for display and as an interface with electronic products; it is also a second skin and so can be used for sensing parts of the body, for example, for physiological monitoring.
A three-layered framework for thinking about wearable electronics was presented:
| Applications | coaching system to improve sporting skills, Information/entertainment on the move |
| Systems | sensor network for monitoring heat activity, integrated audio system |
| Components | switches, antennas, sensors |
|
Examples of these layers were drawn from Philips' research, including the September 2000 Philips-Levi ICD+ jacket, with an integrated MP3 audio system, collar earphone and micropone, phone, and washable wiring. More recent work has concerned the sensor jacket which has 11 stretch sensors embedded in the garment. |
 |
Four research challenges were identified.
.The presentation concluded with a look at potential applications and markets, and a review of the sometimes conflicting agendas of textile, clothing and electronic companies interested in this field.
Web link: Wearable electronics - meeting the communications challenge
Towards a Smart Suit
Carla Hertleer, Ghent University
The Smart Suit concept has been the result of collaboration between specialists in textiles, electrical engineering and pediatrics at Ghent University. The goal has been the long-term monitoring of babies: the IntelliTex Suit. Textiles provide the sensing material and act as the signal carrier. Sensors have been designed to monitor heart rate, ECG and respiration. The textile sensors have been called "textrodes": these are knitted structures incorporating stainless steel fibres. These are incorporated into the suit so that there is good contact with the skin. There is no electrogel, and the suit is considered comfortable, non-obtrusive, safe, wearable and washable.
There has been a considerable challenge to work without an electrogel. Normally, with a gel, the skin/electrode impedance is about 10k ohms. Without the gel, this rises to between 1 and 5 M ohms. So, there has been much work on electrical processing to get a useable signal.
The RESPIBELT is a knitted belt placed around the baby. With dimensional changes linked to breathing, a signal is obtained and processed.
The garment is powered by induction. The lower coil is embroidered on to the mattress and the upper coil is embedded in the garment. The power supply serves both for the sensing and for data transmission. Some data processing is undertaken in the IntelliTex Suit, and then the part-processed signals are transmitted to the external computer via the induction link.
A SMART Wireless Vest System for Patient Rehabilitation
Professor George K. Stylios, Heriot-Watt University.
Clothing to enable paitients to be monitored is the emphasis of the SMART vest. Sensors are being explored that enable feedback on ECG, temperature, breathing, acceleration, light, humidity and positioning. This presentation gave insights into extensive work on managing information flows in Personal Area Networks and Wireless Communication Centres, interfaces and communication protocols.
Wearable and Implantable Monitoring Systems: 10 years
of experience at University of Ulster
Eric McAdams, University of Ulster
In 1991, Britain's first astronaut, 27-year-old Helen
Sharman from Sheffield, was carried into orbit by the Soviet Soyuz TM-12
space capsule. Her fellow cosmonauts were Anatoly Artebartsky and Sergei Krikalyov.
The University of Ulster had participated in research into the monitoring systems
used in her space suit. The following year, muscle wasting in astronauts in
the Mir space station
utilised results of University of Ulster research into monitoring.
This work has fed into numerous other monitoring projects: ECG cardiac mapping, trans-telephonic monitoring, the Vital Signs patch, the WEALTHY project, wound mapping, defibrilators for public buildings, trans-dermal drug delivery, blood testing at the point of care and the Microcard. A whistle-stop tour of commercial applications revealed the sophistication of these new developments.
At a more general level, it was observed that numerous projects linked to smart medical clothing were struggling to deliver for three reasons:
It was suggested that this approach does not work - except in the lab! There are artefact problems (good contact with skin is not possible, sensor-skin relative motion is disruptive) and there is a lack of convenience for the wearer (skin irritation, constriction, lack of reusability). Instead, it was advised to think about sensors first. Develop the right sensors for the task in hand, patent them and then commercialise the patent.
Enabling Soft Sensor Solutions
Nigel Gilhespy, Eleksen Ltd.
Elekson Ltd has five years of experience in this market and the business is built around ElekTex™, a 5-layer fabric sensor, a laminate that can sense pressure, touch and movement. There are 3 conducting layers separated by fine mesh and it requires a 3 volt supply. The material is durable, foldable, conformable and lightweight.
The presentation was an overview of products and prototypes that make use of Eleksen technology, and further information is available on the Eleksen website.
The 'Smart Textiles for Intelligent Consumer Products'
Network
Sharon Baurley, Central St Martins College of Art and Design
This short presentation announced the formation of a network, funded by EPSRC, to be a "Think Tank" in this area of technology. A web site is planned: http://www.smartextiles.net
 |
 |
Return to the Advanced Apparel home page.
Prepared June 2004
