Smart Fabric

Researchers in Switzerland have stuffed a bunch of chips and sensors into socks to help people who suffer from some of the worst symptoms of diabetes – chronic pain and a loss of sensation in the feet that make it hard to walk.

While it's often important for doctors to monitor a patient's physical activity throughout the day, placing cameras in their home is an obtrusive way of doing so. Scientists have now developed an alternative, in the form of activity-tracking pants.

Whether they're patients with degenerative diseases or astronauts in weightless environments, there are some people who need to know if their muscles are wasting away. A new wearable could one day allow them to check, when and wherever they wish.

Imagine if your tablecloth could alert you to the whereabouts of misplaced items, or track your diet? Those things and more may soon be possible, thanks to a new "smart" fabric being developed at New Hampshire's Dartmouth College.

​People with insomnia sometimes undergo sleep studies, in which they slumber in a clinic while wired to various sensors – perhaps not the best way to replicate their typical sleeping environment. Soon, however, they may simply be able to wear electronic pyjamas, which are currently in development.

Imagine if there were comfortable and inexpensive wearable fabrics that were capable of detecting a wide range of pressure and motion. Well, scientists at the University of Delaware have created just such a technology, and it could have some interesting applications.

Where most "smart clothes" generally function like wearable fitness trackers, researchers in Canada have focused instead on creating a smart T-shirt with the potential to help diagnose respiratory illnesses or monitor such conditions in real-time.

If they don't mind looking a bit like a Mortal Kombat character, a new electric balaclava featuring a built-in heating area around the nose and mouth would let athletes keep training like a champ in the cold while lowering the risk of contracting chest infections.

A new approach to producing "smart fabrics" involves bonding electrically-conductive silver to ordinary materials.

A team of materials scientists from Harvard University and the University of Exeter have created biomimetic fibers that change color when stretched.

Scientists have created squid-inspired artificial muscles and cells, that could lead to camouflage clothing that is capable of instantly changing color.

The prototype "intelligent T-shirt" is capable of remotely monitoring patients' vital signs, level of physical activity, and location.