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The Applications of Smart Textile in Sportswear
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ABSTRACT
As wearable products come to the market, people get more
familiar with them. We can use them to surveil our health
condition and provide more personal services based on the
surveillance. There are big potentials in the sportswear
market, as we need more health data for providing better
services for trainers’ different sport scenarios. At the
meantime, the problems become more and more obvious as
well. Accuracy, privacy, social problem have been the hot
topics we are discussing. Will wearables stay in current
stage, or are they going to somewhere else? Maybe we will
not call them wearables in the future, as they become
“invisible”. Instead, they will integrate into the
conventional things. In this paper, the author is going to
focus on one of the wearables’ future form — e-textile
(known as electric textile and smart textile), discussing how
they become the next wearables, what the advantages they
have and what we can do in sportswear with them.
Figure 1. Jawbone.
for the trainers, such as crossing game to the training,
which making their trainings not only efficient but also
pleasant. The e-textile can be a new generation of battery as
well. As power problem has been the pain point for mobile
and wearable products for years, researchers have found a
new way to storage the energy in the e-textile. In the near
future, e-textile will be applied ubiquitously for sportswear.
The wearable technologies will be crossed in the clothing
and become invisible.
Author Keywords
e-textile, textile, knitting, smart, battery, wireless, wearable,
technology, system, wireless, power, synthetic biology, ecofriendly, sustainable, cooperative system, cloud services,
internet of things.
INTRODUCTION
For getting more accurate data and giving thoughtful
services for the trainers, e-textile will be applied
extensively. The wearables will not be the special products
from technology companies anymore. The conventional
sportswear companies can use them as the ubiquitous
textile. We can use the e-textile as sensor, controller even
expresser. The e-textile can give preciser body surveillance
and better following services than currently popular
wearables (such as Jawbone). Based on the preciser data
about our body, we can improve the workout environments
POINT FIVE E-TEXTILE FOR SPORT
The bracelet-like wearable products like Jawbone[1] can
not provide the precise health data, although they are the
popular wearable products in the market now. As they are
very loose on our wrists and they are on the wrists instead
of the chests, they can not get persistent and precise enough
ECG [2] data as the conventional way we do. ECG, which
stands for Electrocardiography, is the process of recording
the electrical activity of the heart over a period of time
using electrodes placed on a patient's body. These
electrodes detect the tiny electrical changes on the skin that
arise from the heart muscle depolarizing during each
heartbeat. In a conventional 12 lead ECG, ten electrodes are
placed on the patient's limbs and on the surface of the chest.
The overall magnitude of the heart's electrical potential is
then measured from twelve different angles ("leads") and is
recorded over a period of time (usually 10 seconds). In this
way, the overall magnitude and direction of the heart's
electrical depolarization is captured at each moment
throughout the cardiac cycle. [3] [4]
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Figure 4. AmpStrip, getting ECG data precisely.
Figure 2. Under Armour E39 Electronic Compression
Shirt.
are just generally telling the users their general health data,
and then they do nothing. They are more like accessories
but with some “smart” functions. They are not smart. To the
contrary, they seems silly.
ECG data is very important for the users who are doing
sports. It will decide whether the users are losing their fat
or sugar. So for the users who want to lose the fat and the
users who want to build muscle, they should have different
For detecting the more precise data, we can use sensors
sticking to the users’ chests for detecting and collecting
persistent data. There are some products in the market, such
as BioHarness 3 from Zephyr [6] and Ampstrip [7].
Under Armour E39 Electronic Compression Shirt
The Under Armour E39 shirt, developed through a
partnership with Zephyr Technology. There is a removable
electronic monitor. The monitor is combined sensor pack,
processor, and hard drive that plugs into the shirt. The
sensor measures heart rate, breathing rate, skin surface
temperature, and triaxial (3 axes – X, Y, Z – thus three
dimensional) accelerometer. Sensor data can be sent via
Bluetooth to smart phones and laptops for viewing by
coaches and friends. The E39 shirt debuted at the NFL
Scouting Combine in February, 2011 and is expected to be
available to the public in 2012.
Figure 3. BioHarness™ 3 from Zephyr Technology.
“The BioHarness™ 3 is the premiere compact
physiological monitoring module that enables the capture
and transmission of comprehensive physiological data on
the wearer via mobile and fixed data networks – enabling
genuine remote monitoring of human performance and
condition in the real world. BioHarness™ 3 has
applications in any field requiring high-level wireless and
remote physiological monitoring, including research,
training and wellness situations.” [8]
sport intensities. [5] Continuously monitoring users’ heart
rates through cycles of training, sleep, and recovery
provides insights that will greatly improve their
performance. Without this insight, they run the risk of
undertraining, or even worse, overtraining and potentially
injuring themselves. So if we can not get the accurate data,
our training goal will not be easy to receive and we will be
easy to get injuries from the sports. Getting accurate data is
the very basic and necessary step for having further training
coach as well. As the sports wearables can get personal
health data, they can give personal training guides in the
following step, which makes the training more efficient and
suitable for individuals. In the past, we are suffering from
the general training plans. They often prompt our suspects,
as we have trained ourselves by the guides for a while, but
having no obvious improvements. So the personal data and
training coach are very important and useful for us. Maybe
it is because the imprecise data, the products like Jawbone
have not provided following training guide for users. They
Instead of using textile to detect user’s health condition, it
give a alternative way. The sensor which is called as the
monitor can attach to the user’s chest. It allows we to get
higher accurate data. By this way, we do not need to
manufacture the e-textile. It can be applied to any clothes.
And we do not need to worry about the common problems,
such as stretchability, washability, durability, as it is not a
part of the clothes. It is a compromising way for solving the
data problem.
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Figure 5. AmpStrip, waterproof.
Figure 7. MiCoach product.
conditions. The sensors, processing unit and battery are
housed in a fully sealed medical grade silicone module for
durability and protection. The entire module is waterproof
and can operate in temperatures from 40-110 degrees
Fahrenheit. Integrated memory allows for up to 24 hours of
data collection between background syncing, giving users
untethered freedom to train without worrying about their
gear. AmpStrip uses a 32-bit ARM MO processing unit to
manage the continuous heart rate, activity, body position,
etc. monitoring. [11]
Figure 6. AmpStrip, adhesives.
AmpStrip
The AmpStrip looks like a sticker which we can stick them
directly to our body, under our chest. Then it can detect our
ECG data precisely. Its size is just 3.5 inches long, 1 inch
wide and is less than one quarter of an inch thick including
the adhesive. It weighs less than 0.4 ounces. There is a
single lead ECG sensor to capture heart rate with precision.
A 3-axis accelerometer to detect motion in all planes which
is converted by its proprietary algorithms into specific
activities and effort levels. It also includes a skin proximity
thermistor to detect skin temperature. It provides
replaceable adhesives for using with AmpStrip, which
called Competitor grade. Competitor grade is designed to
stay on under the most rigorous conditions, including pool
and ocean workouts and strenuous whole body efforts for 3
or more days. The adhesives are bio-compatible to ISO
10993 and are the same formulations used by similar body
adhesive products. AmpStrip transmit the data by its
patented techniques in conjunction with Bluetooth 4.0
(BLE) to achieve significantly reduced energy consumption
and maximize data capture and battery life. The AmpStrip
is FCC [9] and CE [10] compatible. For the power source,
it uses a 20 mA wireless rechargeable battery. By the
official introduction, its battery will only need to be
recharged every 7 days under constant daily use in normal
AmpStrip collects $388,864 USD by April 4th, 2015. And
it opens pre-order. It is a more progressive product than
BioHarness™ 3 and give more professional data than
Jawbone-like products. It allows us to have better
knowledge of our health condition during and after our
trainings, which is very helpful for both professionals and
amateurs.
But it is a little awkward that we stick some “sensors” on
our naked body. It is unnatural. Besides, it looks not that
fashion. But if we design it by another form it may be more
attractive. For example, we can design it like a tattoo which
is comparatively natural for human body. But that will have
another technology solution, such as applying conductive
ink. And the power problem will be another tough obstacle.
The author will try to find the solutions by researching on etextile and demonstrate in the following passages.
MiCoach
MiCoach is a smart sport branch from Adidas. It provides 6
products for surveil our health condition during the sports,
which are Fit Smart, Smart Run, Smart Ball, X_Cell, Speed
Cell and Heart Rate Monitor. By these products, the users
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Figure 8. MiCoach Heart Rate Monitor.
Figure 10. The conventional way for creating
Conductive Fibers. (a) Metal coated wire combined in
iron tube; (b) Several diameter reductions of tube; (c)
Bundling of tubes; (d) Leaching, realizing fibers.
Figure 9. MiCoach Smart Ball.
Figure 11. Schematic of conductive fiber twisted with
the normal fibers.
can realize their body condition and analyze their strategy
by permanence data. [12]
small device that fits in to a pocket, positioned on the back
of the individual, in the player’s undergarment. Connected
to a series of electrodes and sensors, it transmits to a
computer using wireless more than 200 pieces of data a
second for each player. The coach can view the figures
using an iPad. He can simply select which player he wants
to see the results for, and compare them with other athletes
or get a view of the whole squad. It is not only for
surveilling body, but also give following service based on
the datas, which is more progressive than Jawbone-like
products. In sports, training is getting more scientific and
accurate, the smart products have big potential in this area.
The Fit Smart and Smart Run can set and achieve the users’
weekly goals or setup personalized training plans. And they
will provide simple to understand guidance of their
workout intensity to keep them on track. Their main
functions are measuring real-time heart rate, calories, pace /
speed, distance and stride rate all from the wrist with no
additional sensors required. Smart Run also can provide
music or radio when the users have their sports.
The X-Cell and Speed Cell are sensors for tracking speed,
stride rate even jumping especially the users are playing
basketball or football. The Heart Rate Monitor is for detect
heart rate. It is similar with Under Armour E39 shirt. But it
does not come with the shirt. The users can tie them on
their chest by strap.
E-TEXTILES AS SENSORS BY NON-PRINTING
TECHNOLOGIES
The Ways for Making Non-printing E-textile
In the point five e-textile part, the author has already
introduced the products in the transition stage to real etextile. We can see the big potential of these smart products,
but we also find the forms for these products are not ideal.
They are compromises because of technology. In the future
we do not need tie sensors on our body. The sensors will
“disappear”, and we even can not notice them. The e-textile
will be the better form for the sensors. It is more natural
and can provide more precise data by better surveillance for
us.
The Smart Ball is for football player. By integrated sensor,
the player can know the ball’s speed, spin and moving path.
So the player can give instant feedback and improve their
skill by guidance.
The training of AC Milan FC is an application model of
MiCoach. [13]The miCoach Elite System’s development
began in 2010 with MilanLab’s collaboration. It allows
coaches and players to measure statistics such as cardiac
frequency, speed, pace, distance, and positions on the field.
It allows the whole squad or individual players to monitor
their force and strength during training sessions. It is a
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Figure 12. Yarn-based transistor.
Figure 14. Screen printing fabrication for conductive
tracks.
Figure 13. (a) Twisted metal wire: The metal wire is
twisted around the polymer yarn; (b) Metal coating:
The polymer yarn is physically/chemically coated with
a thin metal layer; (c) Metal fibers: The conductive
yarn consists of metal multifilaments.
Figure 15. MiCoach Men's Training Shirt and Sports
Bra.
There are two main ways of making e-textile, which are
printing and non-printing. The author will describe the nonprinting e-textile in this part. There are many ways for
creating electrically conductive fabrics, such as Conductive
Fibers, Treated Conductive Fibers, Conductive Fabrics and
Conductive Inks. The conventional way for creating
Conductive Fibers is wire drawing, a mechanical
production process. This process is characterized by its
various drawing steps, called coarse, medium, fine and
carding train. For Treated Conductive Fibers, “instead of
attaching electronics to textile substrates, the yarns of the
textile can be functionalized with electronics. Electrically
conductive fibers can also be produced by coating the fibers
with metals, galvanic substances or metallic salts. Coatings
can be applied to the surface of fibers, yarns, or even
fabrics to create electrically conductive textiles. Common
textile coating processes include electroless plating,
evaporative deposition, sputtering, coating the textile with a
conductive polymer. In a method to fabricate fibers with
different material layers and material structuring is
presented. The fabrication process is based on the
conventional preform-based fiber-processing, easily
yielding kilometers of functional fiber during the process.”
“There are different ways to produce electrically
conductive fabrics. One method is to integrate conductive
yarns in a textile structure, e.g., by weaving. However, the
integration of conductive yarns in a structure is a complex
and seldom a uniform process as it needs to be ensured that
the electrically conductive fabric is comfortable to wear or
soft in touch rather than hard and rigid. Conductivity can be
established with different thread types.” “Interactive
electronic textiles can also be produced by using
conductive inks. First of all conductive inks must contain
an appropriate highly conductive metal precursor such as
Ag, Cu, and Au NPs and a carrier vehicle. Most of them are
water based: water is the main ink component and to limit
contaminants, it must be as pure as possible. These
specialized inks can be printed onto various materials,
among them textiles, to create electrically active patterns.
Screen printing also makes integration with planar
electronics simpler than with conductive yarn systems.”[14]
MiCoach Men's Training Shirt and Sports Bra
More progressive than last 6 miCoach series products, the
training shirt and bra apply e-textile technologies to
themselves. The sensors are knitted inside the textile that
they can surveil and provide preciser data. There are no
strands for holding the sensors. But the users have to use
miCoach heart rate monitor or compatible transmitters from
leading sports technology brands to get and send data. Then
the users can use their mobile phones to receive and check
the data. The technologies originally from a company
called NuMetrex. In 2008, global sports apparel company
adidas acquired Textronics and its NuMetrex line of heart
rate monitoring apparel and electronics. [15]
Omsignal Shirt
Omsignal is company engaging in biometric smartwear.
The smart shirt made by Omsignal is knitted with sensors
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Figure 15. Omsignal shirt, black box, mobile app.
as well. There is a famous cooperation with Ralph Lauren.
The shirt can surveil the user’s heart rate, count calorie,
step even track breathing. It is well designed that it adopts
user’s body shape and feels like a second soft skin. It
features climate control and moisture-wicking fabric to
keep the user cool. The user can treat this shirt as any other
high performance apparel, as it soft and washable. Users do
not need to worry about breaking the wires. They even can
not realize the existence of the sensor and wires. There is
also a small box for collecting and sending the data to other
devices. The box can capture and collect heart and
breathing signals from the user. Then it can transmit the
data to a phone using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The
box can work for 1 day of continuous use or up to 10
training sessions before recharging. It cannot be washed
but it can protect the wearer from rain, splashes and sweat.
When the user wears it for training, he/she should attach the
box to the shirt on the left side of the chest. [16]
Figure 16. Athos sportswear, mobile app.
payable now, but they may not be adapted in the future. If
we make the sensors “invisible”, and the users can not
realize their existence, the products can be adapted
• • • •• • •
• • • • •
• • •• • • • • •
• •
•
• • • •
• • • •
• •
•
•
•
easier.
Omsignal shirt is knitted with soft conductive fabrics and
sensor, which makes it look like a common sportswear.
There is no geek look anymore. But it can still surveil our
body well and give precise ECG data. The only obvious
pain point is the little black box. The box is for providing
power, collecting data and sending data to other devices
(such as phone). For the good points, it is more economic.
We do not need to provide every Omsignal shirt with a little
black box. The user can only have one box for his/her
several shirts, as they may change the shirt every workout.
It is also easier for us to change the battery, as it is outside
the clothes and easy to take down.
In the past, when people run on a machine, they have to
hold the sensors on the machine for reading only their heart
rate. Besides the behaviors are dangerous if they are
running in a fast pace. The wearables like Jawbone can
solve parts of the problems, but they can not get constant
and precise data, as the devices on the wrists are very loose.
The AmpStrip can get the precise data as it can be pasted to
the user’s chest directly. The data could be much accurate
than the data coming from wrists. But the AmpStrip is a
little bit weird. It is a compromise between needs and
technologies. The band-aid sensors are useful, doable and
Although knitting sensors in clothing makes higher quality
surveillance, there are still some pain points. However
comparing with Jawbone-like products, it is a big progress
from accuracy and acceptability.
6
Figure 17. Athos Core.
Athos Sportswear
Athos is a company that helps people reach their fitness
goals by enabling them with technology that was
previously reserved for elite sports performance institutes.
The product, Athos sportswear is knitted with conductive
fabrics and sensors as well. It provides a tight shirt and
pants for the trainers. The sensors are knitted all around the
clothing. It can surveil your whole body. Except for
tracking the ECG data (such as heart rate, breathing
pattern), it can detect EMG (electromyography) data as
well. That means the sportswear can know the muscle
status. It provide choices such as loosing weight, building
muscle and cardio. Based on different purpose, it gives
different plans. During the workout, the sportswear can
show the user which muscle is practiced well, which
muscle is lack of practice, and it can also prevent
overtraining based on the data. The user can see these data
very clearly from his/her phone. Athos sportswear is not
only for surveillance, but also for coaching the performance
in a more scientific way based on the data. [17]
Figure 18. XelfleX sportswear.
Figure 19. XelfleX, the movement tracking.
Tracking EMG data is a progress than tracking ECG data.
But there is still space for iteration. Although it has
accelerometer, it can not get precise motion data. Through
Athos app, we can see our muscle intensity, but we can not
see the movement. For some sports like tennis and golf,
they require accurate movements to improve performance.
Even for workout, the standard movements can give
efficient training, which can save energy and prevent bone
joints from overtraining as well. Athos sportswear is a
outstanding product in the market, but it still has challenges
and chances for future iteration.
Like Omsignal shirt, Athos sportswear comes with a
“core”. The core is the brain of the sportswear. It contains
the electronics and intelligence to collect and interpret the
biosignals, sending the information to the mobile device via
Bluetooth.
Athos sportswear is more progressive than Jawbone-like
wearables, even than Omsignal shirt. As training, the users
do not only need the ECG data, but also need EMG data.
For the Jawbone-like wearable products, they only provide
some ECG data which seems not limited for the users. The
users want to have further service, such as how to make or
change the workout plan based on the data. If the products
can not satisfy these needs for the users, they are just
redundant accessories. But providing further and scientific
service, like coaching, are not practical based on inaccurate
and poor data. So the Jawbone-like wearables meet their
embarrassments.
XelfleX
XelfleX is from product design and development firm
Cambridge Consultants. XelfleX is a novel type of smart
textile that turns garments into active motion sensors. It can
be used to make comfortable, washable, robust clothing.
“The technology could be used for fitness and sports
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Figure 21. Pacific Rim, a science fiction movie.
Figure 20. The new piezoelectric fabrics combine
Teijin’s polymer and textile technologies.
coaching – to help perfect a tennis serve, golf swing or ski
technique, for example. It could also be used as part of
physiotherapy to help patients recover after injury, surgery
or neurological problems. Or it could be used for motion
capture for gaming, film making and virtual reality
applications, thanks to its ability to make multiple accurate
angle measurements. By integrating the fibre into a closefitting garment, the movement of a joint can change the
amount of bending at a defined sensor point in the fibre. Up
to 10 sensors are possible along each fibre – with the initial
light pulse sent by an LED in the electronics pack.
Algorithms then turn the results from the sensors into
guidance that users can easily understand, giving feedback
on their posture and movement, and coaching them on how
to improve. It’s the latest example of how technology can
bring advanced sport technique training within the reach of
any athlete.
Figure 22. The scene of driving the robot, Pacific Rim.
Expo at the Tokyo International Exhibition Hall in Japan, in
January, 2015.
“The fabrics comprise a piezoelectric poly-L-lactic acid
(PLLA) and carbon fibre electrode. Plain, twill and satin
weave versions were produced for different applications:
plain weave detects bending, satin weave detects twisting,
and twill weave detects shear and three-dimensional
motion, as well as bending and twisting. The sensing
function, which can detect arbitrary displacement or
directional changes, incorporates Teijin’s weaving and
knitting technologies. The function is said to allow the
fabric to be applied to the actuator or sensor to detect
complicated
movements,
even
three-dimensional
movements.” [18] Kansai University and Teijin is working
on the weaves and knits for fabric applications that enable
capture human actions by wearing clothes. They expect the
fabrics can be applied to the Internet of Things, such as
surgery, artisanal techniques, space exploration and etc.
Piezoelectricity has the ability to generate electric charge in
response to mechanical stress. It also has the opposite effect
– the application of electric voltage produces mechanical
strain in the materials. Both of these effects can be
measured, making piezoelectric materials effective for both
sensors and actuators.
XelfleX can help sportswear capture trainer’s movements.
Based on the movements, we can design suitable coaching
for them. Take football as the example. Place kick is a
common kick needing trick and skill. It requires not only
force, but also kick position. If the player want to train his/
her place kick skill, we can use this technology to help
them. David Beckham is a famous professional player for
his place kick from England. As we can use XelfleX to
track his movement, we can analyze his skill. Then we can
use the data from him as the reference to help other player
improve their own skills. It is not for copy David’s skill and
require others to follow. It is for provide references and
help other players to improve or form their own skills.
Based on data, the process could be more efficient.
Piezoelectric Fabrics from Kansai University and Teijin
The world’s first polylactic acid (PLA) fibre and carbon
fibre based piezoelectric fabrics has been developed in
Kansai University and Teijin by Prof Yoshiro Tajitsu,
Faculty of Engineering Science. The university has
introduced the new piezoelectric fabric at the 1st Wearable
8
Figure 24. The right one is the outer layer (the holes are
underneath the circles); the left one is the basic layer
(the holes are half open).
Figure 23. elliptical cross-trainer.
As this fabric becoming mature enough and being eligible
for manufacturing, we can not only apply it to the Internet
of Things for science, but also apply it to the sportswear. As
living in the city, outdoor sport is not as healthy as in the
country, because of the polluted air. But the indoor
workouts, such as the workouts in the gyms, are boring.
People go there for loosing weight, building muscle and
keeping healthy with little pleasure and fun. It is not easy
for them to keep on doing the workouts. Sometimes it is
painful. The workouts in gym have nothing to do with
pleasure for common people. That is the reason why many
people easily give up going to the gym for the workouts.
However there are a lot of sport activities which are fun but
limited by the space, such as football. If the trainer likes
football, but it is hard for him/her to join a football game in
the field, he/she has to go to gym for other sports to keep
him/her healthy. But the equipments in gym are much less
fun than football. He/she feels the workouts in the gym are
painful and hard. Then he/she may give up the workouts
soon. But if we can provide “football game” in the gym, the
trainer can have more fun and forget the pain during the
workouts. It is not realistic，if we move the field into the
gym. However by applying piezoelectric fabrics to our
sportswear, we can provide the trainer a virtual “football
game”.
Figure 25. The working mechanism of the holes in the
fabric.
Having workouts does not only emphasize efficiency,
although efficiency is very important and basic for
workouts. We should consider entertainment and fun as
well. By applying the advanced wearable technologies, we
will have more chances to make the experiences of the
workouts much more efficient and pleasant. If we can drive
robots like the pilots in Pacific Rim (a movie) in the virtual
world when playing the elliptical cross-trainers in the gym,
that will be amazing. The trainers will have more passion to
play. When they are happy and excited when playing the
elliptical cross-trainers, it is easier for them to keep on
playing. As a result, people will enjoy working out, as the
workouts are not as hard and boring.
Adaptive Survival Clothing
Temperature adaptive textile could be very useful for
people’s daily life. There is a prototype by Jacqueline
Nanne who was a student in Industrial Design Department
at the Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands
in 2013. The inspiration comes from the temperature and
moisture regulation properties of wool and human body.
The fabrics are designed to adapt to the temperature of the
human body and the environment. The design context is for
the survival in the wilderness. Coming to the survival,
As the fabrics can track the movements and human body
(shape), we can “put” the trainer to a virtual world. In the
virtual world, we have not only his/her movements data,
but also his/her 3D body data. So we can build a precise
virtual trainer and his/her virtual world. During the virtual
football game, trainers can easily forget their boringness
and hardship. Their sports become fun, and it is easy for
them to keep on workouts with more passion.
9
Figure 26. Applying the material to the clothing.
Figure 28. The stretchable printed circuit from MC10.
Figure 27. the incorporation of amperometric sensors
printed on the paint.
people often add or remove layers of clothing to keep a
comfortable temperature. This design is intended to
decrease the number of times one has to stop to change
clothing, and keep comfortable when taking a break or
climbing a mountain. There are two mechanisms for
adapting temperature. A base layer reacting to skin
temperature has holes like pores that open and close. The
second mechanism is inspired from animal’s hair erecting
when cold. This has been used in the outer layer, which
responds to differences in environmental temperature.
However both are activated using temperature-sensitive
memory wire (Nitinol). There are three layers for keeping
the user comfortable with the changing temperature. There
are holes structured in the basic lay, which can wick away
the moisture from the user’s skin. If the user feels hot, the
holes will open and let the cool air in. When the body cools
down, the holes will close to maintain insulation. The
middle layer is fro insulating from the cold. The holes in
outer layer responds to environment changes, such as
weather, vegetation, altitude and etc. The designer also
makes a concept of applying this material to the clothing.
Jacqueline applies the material on the chest, abdomen,
neck/upper back, and lower back part for keep the user
comfortable. [19]
Figure 29. Biostamp from MC10.
example. When we run for a while, we normally feel hot
and want to take off our clothes for cooling down. But
when we running, there are no place for us to place our
clothes. Normally we have to tie the clothes on our waist.
But it makes our waist too hot. However if our sportswear
is made of this kind of smart material, we do not need to
take them off. Even replacing with waterproof material, we
do not need to put on raincoat when raining or snowing.
One sportswear can be for all situations. These materials
are very functional and can change our wearing habits.
How to fuse them with fashion will be the challenge.
E-TEXTILES AS SENSORS BY PRINTING
TECHNOLOGIES
Except for knitting sensors in the fabric, we can also print
the sensors and circuits on the fabric. By the printed sensors
we can get the precise data as well.
Thick-film Textile-based Amperometric Sensors and
Biosensors
This smart material can not only detect our body and show
us data, but also provide us direct services. In the sport
scenarios, we really need some sportswear can change their
structure for making us comfortable. Take running as the
A group of researchers have screen-printed the
incorporation of amperometric sensors into clothing. The
electrochemical sensors are printed directly on the elastic
10
Figure 31. Hitting test with Reebok CHECKLIGHT.
Figure 30. Reebok CHECKLIGHT.
bodies. They try to extend human capabilities by making
high-performance electronics virtually invisible, conformal,
and wearable. They reshape rigid, conventional electronics
into thin, flexible devices that can stretch, bend and twist
seamlessly with people’s bodies and the natural world. And
they are making them affordable for the everyday
consumer. They are pioneering technology that will protect
our troops, treat heart arrhythmias, monitor a sleeping
baby’s temperature and maybe one day prevent brain
seizures. In 2008, the founder Professor John Rogers of the
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign came up with
something that would change people’s lives – stretchable
circuits. They have taken Rogers’ brilliant stretchable
electronics platform out of the lab and into commercial
product development with best-in-class partners who share
their vision for extending human capabilities and pushing
the status quo. They are developing revolutionary products
that transform the way we think about electronics and their
interaction with the human body.
band of underwear that offers tight direct contact with the
skin. The textile-based printed carbon electrodes have a
well-defined appearance with relatively smooth conductor
edges and no apparent defects or cracks. The sensors are
stretchable and foldable. The sensors can measure
hydrogen peroxide and NADH, and could potentially
monitor chemicals found in sweat through dehydrogenaseand oxidase-based enzyme sensors (for example, ethanol
and lactate). Applications include healthcare, sport, and
military monitoring. “The favorable electrochemical
behavior is maintained under folding or stretching stress,
relevant to the deformation of clothing. The
electrochemical performance and tolerance to mechanical
stress are influenced by the physical characteristics of the
textile substrate. The results indicate the potential of textilebased screen-printed amperometric sensors for future
healthcare, sport or military applications. Such future
applications would benefit from tailoring the ink
composition and printing conditions to meet the specific
requirements of the textile substrate.”[20]
Reebok CHECKLIGHT is a co-project with Reebok,
which is a head impact indicator. In the heat of
competition, athletes aren’t always aware of the severity
of a blow to the head. They are delivering a simple
solution that using multiple sensors to capture head impact
data during play, while being virtually invisible to the
athlete. Tucked under any helmet, this smart, sensing
skullcap serves as an extra set of eyes on the playing field,
contributing crucial information towards the assessment of
each athlete. Because the best offense is a good defense.
[21]
It is a very smart way to apply sensors to the our clothes.
As Jawbone-like wearables can not always stick to our
body tightly, we can not get consistent and precise data
from the user. The products like Omsignal shirt can get
precise data but then it becomes our only shirt for outfit.
Whatever we like it or not, we have to wear it and show it
to other people. However the underwear is different. They
are much more natural than the Jawbone-like wearables in
our daily life. We normally wear underwear everyday.
Besides no one can see them when we wear them. And we
can have more options for our outfits.
The stretchable printed circuit can be easily applied to the
sportswear. It gives a chance to make body surveillance
technologies ubiquitous for the conventional brands. It can
be adapted to any tight shirts, short, underwear even shoes.
Except for the sportswear, MC10 can be applied as our
“second” skin, the tattoo. MC10 electronic tattoo called the
Biostamp. It can be stuck to the body using a rubber stamp,
and protected using spray-on bandages. The circuit can be
worn for two weeks. As having the wireless antennae, builtin sensors, wireless power coil, it could get our body data
MC10, Stretchable Printed Circuit
MC10 is a innovated technology startup company from
Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company is developing a
manufacturing technology that will allow digital circuits to
be embedded in fabric or flexible plastic. MC10’s approach
means we will no longer “wear” technology like jewelry
but have it sit unobtrusively on our skin or inside our
11
Figure 33. Stretchable e-skin material.
Figure 34. Lighter than the feather, e-skin material.
E-skin from The University of Tokyo
Professor Takao Someya and his research group has
developed a thin, light and stretchable circuit, which is
considered as e-skin. One decade ago, Professor Takao
Someya’s research group created a flexible electronic mesh
and wrapped it around a robotic hand. They dreamed of
making an electronic skin for a robot. The robot can
measure some of the person’s vital signs when it shook
hand with a human. Today they are still working intensively
on e-skin, but their focus now is on applying it directly to
the human body. Such a bionic skin could be used to
monitor medical conditions or to provide more sensitive
and lifelike prosthetics. They try to use stretchable material
for electronic circuit for adapting to human’s soft body.
After much experimentation, they conclude that the plastic
films are very promising. They adapt well to the
mechanical strain. They cost very little, and they’re
compatible with new manufacturing processes that can
produce large, flexible sheets of electronic materials—
including roll-to-roll manufacturing methods now being
developed. By using inkjet and other printing processes,
manufacturers can significantly reduce production costs.
For example, inkjet technology can deliver the exact
amount of any substance you want applied to precisely
targeted positions, which reduces the waste of raw material.
Printing processes can simultaneously apply the coating
and the circuitry pattern of thin-film materials, which are
usually performed as separate steps when semiconductors
are manufactured via lithography. Compared with vacuum-
Figure 32. Gilded skin: Takao Someya’s latest e-skin
material is one-tenth the thickness of plastic kitchen
wrap, and it can conform to any body shape.
and transmit them to other devices, like computer, mobile
phones or tablets. The sportswear by knitting sensor
technologies can get our data more precise than Jawbonelike wearables. As the sensors are knitted in the clothing,
we can not see them, which makes the sportswear looks
more natural rather than hybrid technology look. But they
have to stick a small box to them, as they can not provide
power and transmit the data by themselves. The small box
is cumbrous for the sportswear. But as limited by the
technologies, we can not get rid of the box. When coming
to the printed circuit, MC10 has solved these paint points.
If we can apply MC10 to the sportswear, we do not need
any other devices for applying power can transmitting data.
There will be no redundancies on the sportswear anymore.
Even more, the MC10 can evolve to be our second skin, the
tattoo. Tattoo is getting more and more acceptable by the
public. Tattoo sticker is also popular in the market. If we
can cross MC10 to the tattoo sticker, it will look better than
the pure technology product.
12
Figure 36. Operating a text-speller by thought.
gold electrodes only 300 nanometers thick and 30
micrometers wide mounted on a soft plastic film. This
assemblage stays stuck to the body using electric forces
known as van der Waals interactions—the same forces that
help geckoes cling to walls. The electrodes are flexible
enough to mold onto the ear and the mastoid process
behind the ear. The researchers mounted the device onto
three volunteers using tweezers. Spray-on bandage was
used once twice a day to help the electrodes survive normal
daily activities. The electrodes on the mastoid process
recorded brain activity while those on the ear were used as
a ground wire. The electrodes were connected to a
stretchable wire that could plug into monitoring devices.
The device helped record brain signals well enough for the
volunteers to operate a text-speller by thought, albeit at a
slow rate of 2.3 to 2.5 letters per minute. The scientists
hope to improve the speed at which people can use this
device to communicate mentally, which could expand its
use into commercial wearable electronics. They also plan to
explore devices that can operate wirelessly. [23]
Figure 35. Brain Computer Interface from John
Rogers.
deposition methods, which use a huge amount of electricity
to pump the air out of a big stainless-steel chamber,
printing processes use minimal power. [22]
As thin, stretchable and light, we can also apply this printed
circuit to sportswear. The author has described applying
piezoelectric fabrics from Kansai University and Teijin to
sportswear, that we can cross the workouts with virtual
games for better sport experience. By this e-skin, we can
make the sportswear lighter and fitter to our body. When we
do workouts, our sportswear will not interfere our
movements. If using piezoelectric fabrics, our sportswear
will be thick and make us hot. Besides they will look very
clumsy which is not suitable for workout look. By applying
e-skin, the sportswear can keep its original shape. The
technology will not interfere the outfit, and it can be
invisible. Then the design and technology can be well
twisted together. As thin, light, stretchable and durable, the
invisibility of these technologies will be the trend in the
near future. People will not consider them as the advanced
technology. They will get used to them and take them for
granted. They will even ignore their existence.
By detecting brain signals, we have the potential to analyze
the trainers mental condition, which is also important for
improving the workout experience. When you have the
running in the gym, have you ever felt boring and preferred
running in somewhere else, like forest, beach, or city
streets? The environment can give us mental pleasure when
we have the workouts. For example, if we can detect the
runner is bored by the running machine when he/she
running in the gym, we can use projection mapping to
mock the environment to another environment, such as
forest. When the trainer is running in the virtual forest, he/
she can see trees, flowers, rivers and animals. The fresh and
excited journey will make his/her running pleasant. As
living in air, light, noise polluted cities, people have less
chances to have the outdoor sports. How to improve or
provide rich workout environment to the trainers is an
important topic as well. But as different people prefer
different workout environments, we need the sportswear to
get personal data. Based on these data, we can design
different environment for different needs. The services will
be more personal and thoughtful. We even can change
suitable workout environments for the trainers in different
stage by detecting their mental activities. As thus the
Brain Computer Interface from John Rogers
John Rogers and his research group develop soft, flexible
and wearable electrodes temporary tattoo which can stick
onto and near the ear for detecting brain signals. It can stay
on for more than two weeks even during highly demanding
activities such as exercise, swimming, even showering and
bathing. The device consists of a soft, foldable collection of
13
have a rough view of our conditions, but not be able to
provide further services for our sports. They could be
fashion products in the market, but they do not have
promising futures. The sportswear made of e-textile could
be the future of wearables. But now these sportswear come
with little boxes, which are for providing power, processing
and transmitting data. The boxes are redundant for the
sportswear. However, as the technologies become mature,
the boxes will not be necessary anymore, and the wearable
technologies will be invisible. Besides, the wearable
technologies could change the whole experiences of
workouts. Sports could be more interesting than the past.
As e-textile could be a carrier of electricity, the long lasting
power problem may be solved as well. E-textile is the
future of wearable products, as they are more powerful,
natural and adaptable.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Acknowledgements to Sabine Seymour and Parsons the
New School for Design for supplying the resources and
texts in order for me to undertake this research project.
Figure 37. Recipe for conductive textile: dip cloth in
nanotube ink, dry in oven for 10 minutes at 120 degrees
Celsius.
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14
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15