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The Textile Magazine
MARCH 2012
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107
The market for smart textiles and
wearable technology is set for rapid
growth, according to business in-
formation company Textiles Intel-
ligence. This sector holds the poten-
tial to change the way people dress,
communicate, respond to emergen-
cies, manage their health and even
entertain themselves.
Smart textiles are textiles which
can sense and react to an environ-
ment or stimulus – including heat
or light – or have been treated to
provide added functionality such as
stain resistance or odour control.
Clothing which incorporates wear-
able technology, meanwhile, refers
to garments which incorporate tech-
nology in their designs. Examples
of wearable technology include gar-
ments that incorporate music play-
ers or smartphones, or sportswear
which incorporates sensors to track
an athlete’s performance.
Demand for smart textiles and
wearable technology will be fuelled
by the public’s fascination with
high technology, especially among
the Internet generation which has
a close affinity with electronic and
other high-tech devices such as
iPods and smartphones. In particu-
lar, the huge and growing popular-
ity of smartphones will lead to an
increase in the use of smart textiles,
especially those designed for sens-
ing and monitoring.
It is estimated that 70 per cent of
mobile phones and the majority of
new laptops have Bluetooth Low
Energy (BLE) technology. This
technology will enable many new
sensor-based devices to connect to
the Internet via mobile phones. The
use of sensor-based devices and
other electronics is growing rapidly,
and it has been estimated that there
will be around 300 million sensor-
based devices on the market by
2016.
The use of physiological moni-
toring systems in particular is ex-
pected to expand dramatically in the
years ahead. These will be capable
of monitoring changes in heart rate,
body temperature, breathing regu-
larity and activity levels in order to
provide indications of health or po-
tential problems. The cost of health-
care is set to increase significantly
as a result of the ageing of popula-
tion, especially in developed coun-
tries, and this will create demand for
alternative methods of delivering
healthcare which wearable technol-
ogy could help to meet.
That said, physiological monitor-
ing systems need to be made more
user-friendly and accessible before
the over-60s fully embrace these in-
novations.
Furthermore, barriers to the wide-
spread adoption of smart textiles
and wearable technology will need
to be surmounted if the sector is to
fulfil its potential and become more
than a tiny niche market which is
confined to specialist applications
such as protective apparel and mili-
tary wear. In particular, issues such
as power supply and costs must be
addressed.
On the positive side, the produc-
tion of smart textiles and wearable
technology will become increasing-
ly cost effective as the cost of elec-
tronics continues to decline. Moreo-
ver, developments are being made
to improve integration of batteries
into textile structures. But problems
regarding the size of batteries, their
short lives and laundering issues are
still challenges which need to be
overcome in order for the market to
continue to expand significantly.
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technology