Fowler Associates Labs

by: Steve Waldrop
June 24, 2002

For many years we have heard of the coming era of "Smart Clothes." Visit some of the links at the end of this article for more information and a tour of this fascinating technology that is now coming of age. Computer Geeks have led the way but the military and medical fields will be the main beneficiary of the future in intelligent textiles. Georgia Tech and Stanford University lead in this technology.

How will the electrostatic implications of wearable instruments and computers be addressed? We believe that this technology will also advance the need for more and varied static dissipative and low charging textiles. How will the electronics in these articles be affected by the taking off of a jacket, or sliding across a vehicle seat? Now is the time for a static free approach before the "zaps" begin.

For more information:
How smart clothes work
International Symposium on Wearable Computers
Georgia Tech Wearable Motherboard
Smart Clothing
Cornell student develops "smart" jacket that warms, lights up at night and even monitors heart rate
International Centre of Excellence for Wearable Electronics and Smart Fashion Products
Smart Clothes- by Juha Kaario, Research Manager, Wearable Computing- Nokia Research Centre
Computer Ready-to-Wear
Smart Clothes: The MIT Wearable Computing Web Page
Announcement/Call for Participation: Workshop on Wearable Computer Systems
When Smart Clothes will be in Fashion
ElekTex- A Soft New World
American Institute of Physics- Smart Clothes
University of Massachusetts-Amherst: "Smart Rooms, Smart Clothes" to be Topic of Computer Science Lecture

Credits:
Picture courtsey of Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Textile & Fiber Engineering