Textiles are getting smarter, as companies weave tiny sensors into fabric to gather and distribute information about the human wearing it.
Philips, the Dutch multinational, has developed a line of underwear, bras and accessories containing tiny electronic devices that monitor heart rates, body temperature, insulin levels and other parameters. When some measure goes awry -- think heart attacks or strokes
your boxer shorts call an ambulance.Philips expects the product to be widely available in Europe by the end of 2006.
Germany's Infineon Technologies offers something called a thermogenerator, which measures the difference between body temperature and the temperature of the garment. Too cold or too warm? Your shirt will be able to fix it.
Then there's the "joy dress," which has been prototyped by Alexandra Fede, an Italian designer. It massages women as they wear it, again via tiny sensors and a programmable microchip in the fabric.
The ideas are coming fast and furious. Orvis has a hit with its Buzz Off line of clothes, which emit insect-repellant scents (from $18 for socks to $170 for a jacket). Fly fishers like them, but so would people in malaria-ridden neighborhoods.
Not one to go wading through wetlands? There may still be a scent-emitting textile for you. Various companies are working on fabrics that sense when you sweat, then counteract the odor by releasing perfume.
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2 comments:
interestingly enough, they are using similar technology already in Japan. I was there about a month ago on business and one of my coworkers mentioned that the government there is mandating the use of tiny GPS transmitters sewed into the backpacks of school children there (they gov't issues the same backpacks to every child I believe), so that their parents, the police, etc. can locate them in an emergency via their GPS enabled backpack. Not sure what they do if they find the backpack but not the child, but an interesting use of technology in clothing/apparel.
-brian
very cool :)
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