Last week, we published the first of a three-part series on the NeoCon 2015 “Smart Textiles for Modern Environments” seminar led by Deb Barrett, a leading window fashion design expert, trend strategist, and principal of Window Dressings. Part I focused on the basics of fabric and fabric selection. For Part II, we present a comprehensive guide to the newest cutting edge technologies being applied to create “smart” textiles, as well as examples of these new “smart” textiles.
Because the “smart” textile arena was a brand new concept at one point, new methods to classify those textiles also had to be developed. Designers and textile producers can now classify “smart” textiles in two ways. The first method breaks smart textiles into passive, active and ultra categories.
>Passive smart textiles: can sense something about the surrounding environment and have some sort of sensor incorporated into them.
>Active smart textiles: can both sense and react, and usually have a control unit/power source.
>Ultra smart textiles: can sense, react and adapt. These adaptions can come in the form of color, shape, or volume changes, for example.
A second classification method differentiates between aesthetic or performance smart fabrics. A change in appearance is the primary intention of an aesthetic smart textile. For example, a fabric could gather energy and react by lighting up, adding pattern or changing color. A performance smart textile is similar in nature to a wearable, and often measures or tracks something outside of itself. Examples include hazmat fabrics and other U.S. military textile advancements, as well as health and wellness based fabrics, including work done by sports brands like Nike and Adidas, that can do everything from provide anti-aging and moisturizing agents to the skin to time-release drugs through the fabric to the wearer.
Also important to note are the three main areas of textile manufacturing that can contribute to making a textile “smart”:
>Fiber and thread production: extrusion, spinning, plying, coating
>Textile production: knitting, weaving, braiding, embroidering, sewing
>Construction and connection technology: soldering, adhesive bonding, crimping
Textile designers and engineers are incorporating several new technologies into each of those three areas of textile production, including nanotechnology, textile technology, digital printing, 3D printing, and biomimicry. These new technologies are making a big impact on the textile industries by enabling the incorporation of smart qualities. They can manifest themselves in the form of one of six smart textiles systems/groups:
>Sensors
>Actuators
>External communication
>Internal data transfer
>Data processing
>Energy sources
Trends
During her seminar, Ms. Barrett shared her insights on the upcoming trends in smart textiles that designers should be on the lookout for:
>Finishes. Turning the ordinary into extraordinary with special finishes. “Good finishing adds emotion”
>Preciousness. An overload of products has and will continue to ignite a desire for the rare and beautiful “Preciousness is the new luxury.”
>Technical textiles. ”Wicked awesome technical textiles!”
>Taking chances. ”Nothing is what it used to be – boundaries are fading.”
>Hacktivate. The hacktivating and maker movements are both fostering the desire to invent and innovate to create something new from something that already exists.
>Handmade digital textiles.
Smart textiles have numerous applications, but the principal ones include monitoring health and wellness, illuminations, connectivity, communication, and heating and cooling. In lighting, textile technology examples include organic and inorganic LEDs and luminescent yarn; fluorescent and phosphorescent material; extensive and on the spot illumination; and integration of sensors for the control of lighting. In connectivity, textiles that store energy are being developed to use for clothing capable of storing electricity to charge personal gadgets. Engineers at Stanford University, for instance, have discovered how to transform fabrics and regular paper into lightweight batteries by coating them with ink laced with microscopic tubes of carbon.
Nanotechnology, 3D Printing & Biomimicry
Nanotechnology, the ability to do things on the scale of atoms and molecules, will enable smart qualities in fabrics such as self-cleaning capability, water repellency, UV absorption, color fastness, controlled release of additives, abrasion resistance, anti-microbial, and fire retardancy.
Specific examples of nanotechnology textile applications include: extreme textiles/machine embroidery textiles that are incorporated into body tissue for reconstructive surgery; Gore-tex as valves and arteries; micro encapsulation that releases vitamins/moisturizers into the body; ion masking that waterproofs fabric while keeping its other properties; photochromic windows that change from opaque to transparent; self-cleaning windows; moisture resistant drywall; wood designed not to rot; techno-natural fabrics with micro capsules that gradually deliver essences; and metal rubber, which can be stretched without damage.
We’re already seeing the phenomenal changes driven by 3D printing, with both positive and challenging results. This technology has shortened product development cycles, ignited radical new manufacturing strategies, shifted sources of competitive advantage, enabled new production capabilities, increased threats from disruptive competitors, and incited greater intellectual property challenges.
Biomimicry, which refers to the use of nature-inspired solutions to challenges in all facets of life, is making a huge splash in textile design. QMilk, a German company, spins fibers out of milk to create fabrics for clothing, home textiles, and medical applications (here’s an excellent story on QMilk by The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/sour-milk-fibres-textiles-qmilk.
Morphotex, another biomimicry-based textile, is inspired by peacocks and butterflies that get their color from refracting light through repeating structures to create color; the fabric doesn’t require dyes to get its colors, as there are no actual pigments in fibers.
Plug & Play Textiles
Plug & play textiles are Ms. Barrett’s term for textiles that don’t require hardwiring or construction. These textiles are the bridge between traditional textiles and the almost sci-fi-like things we’re moving toward in the future. Ms. Barrett includes the many new innovative post finishes, which are applied to finished fabrics to meet a specific requirement, as part of the plug & play textiles set. There are two types of post finishing: lamination to the back of fabric of another material; and adhesion of liquid that solidifies like latex, flame retardant, and silicone.
The following plug & play textiles are currently available on the market and are excellent examples of products to try out.
[Image: 2015.0727.SmartTextilesPartII.14.MonoFinishing.jpg], caption: Mono Finishing is a post finish application that uses laser cutting to create amazing surfaces.
[Image: 2015.0727.SmartTextilesPartII.15.Crypton.jpg], caption: Super-soft, easy-to-clean and available in a bunch of beautiful colors and patterns, Crypton fabric has an integrated, impenetrable barrier that means spills, splashes, leaks and dribbles will never seep through to the padding or stuffing. With its patented performance technology built into every fiber, Crypton’s impenetrable moisture barrier won’t ever break down its resistance to stains, moisture, mildew, and odors. Crypton is also the only fabric on the market deemed a non-porous surface and can be easily disinfected.
[Image: 2015.0727.SmartTextilesPartII.16.CZero.jpg], caption: C Zero is a finish technology by Crypton that is specially formulated for those looking for a fluorine-free solution for stain resistance on fabrics. C Zero is suitable for all fiber types, offering a full range of fabric options; however, fabrics with a smoother hand perform better than textured fabrics. Specs: Greenguard Gold Certified technology; environmentally preferable chemistry; closed-loop industrial processes that cycle waste back into production; 100% of fabric scraps recycled; free of potentially harmful levels of VOCs, PFOS, PFOA, formaldehyde, heavy metals, phenols, phthalates and skin sensitizers; no halogenated flame retardants (FRs); no PBDEs; recyclable; contributes to LEED for Healthcare credit for Furniture and Medical Furnishings; renewable energy and carbon offset credits
[Image: 2015.0727.SmartTextilesPartII.17.LaserEtchedCork.jpg], ONE CAPTION FOR TWO LASER ETCHED CORK PHOTOS: Flame retardant laser etched cork
[Image: 2015.0727.SmartTextilesPartII.18.LaserEtchedCork2.jpg]
[Image: 2015.0727.SmartTextilesPartII.19.Leathers.jpg], caption: Chicken leg skin “leather”
[Image: 2015.0727.SmartTextilesPartII.20.Leathers2.jpg], caption: Tilapia fish skin “leather”
[Image: 2015.0727.SmartTextilesPartII.21.Svelte.jpg], caption: Svelte by Bolyu consists of a fabric laminated to a precision-performance backing, giving it a suede-like feel. It improves acoustics, thermo-insulation, and roller mobility versus traditional carpeting.
[Image: 2015.0727.SmartTextilesPartII.22.JakobSchlaepfer.jpg], caption:
New Materials
As technologies continue to advance, we will come across entirely new materials with which we can incorporate into textiles.
Intelligent polymers are conducting polymers that create an electrical circuit and can act as sensors or actuators (devices that do something). As the properties of the textile change, changes occur in the output of an electronic circuit; as a fabric stretches or strains, a sound could be emitted, with the tone of the sound relating to the degree of change in the textile. Metal Rubber, for example, bends and stretches like rubber, but conducts electricity the way metal does.
[Image: 2015.0727.SmartTextilesPartII.23.MetalRubber.jpg], caption: Metal Rubber is a new materials that bends and stretches like rubber, but conducts electricity the way metal does.
New materials will ignite tough questions about how other industries are affected by their presence.
For example, Phase Change, which uses polymers to regulate temperature, could potentially make HVAC systems and parts of the heating and cooling industries obsolete.
“In 10 to 15 years, products like Phase Change will be able to cool homes,” said Ms. Barrett.
[Image: 2015.0727.SmartTextilesPartII.24.PhaseChange.jpg], caption: Phase Change, which uses polymers to regulate temperature, could potentially make HVAC systems and parts of the heating and cooling industries obsolete.
All of these advanced technologies and materials also call to mind important questions about the knowledge we as practitioners of architecture, interior design, and interiors manufacturing industries, possess.
“Are our textile schools producing textile engineers who are able to innovate and create these textiles for us?” asked Ms. Barrett. “And are we as designers and architects going to have the knowledge and skills to work with these textiles?”
To conclude our series on smart textiles, Part III next week will address sustainability as it relates to the textiles industry. Although officeinsight has previously covered sustainability issues extensively, the textile-specific information Ms. Barrett shares is completely new ground for us, and we’re excited to bring it to our readers!
[Image: 2015.0727.SmartTextilesPartII.25.AcousticFibers.jpg], New acoustic fibers on the market can detect and produce sound, turning clothing into microphones, capturing speech, and having monitoring capabilities.
[Image: 2015.0727.SmartTextilesPartII.26.KoolBlack.jpg], caption: KOOLBLACK™ Technology is a patented technology that enhances dark colored yarn’s heat reflectivity by increasing its near infrared reflection (NIR). While conventional dark screen fabric provides superior view through and exceptional glare control, it absorbs the energy that is created by near infrared wavelength. A dark screen fabric with KOOLBLACK™ Technology enables the fabric to reflect more solar heat, and therefore, absorb less energy. As a result, KOOLBLACK™ Technology increases the energy efficiency of dark solar shade fabrics to levels comparable with light colors.
[Image: 2015.0727.SmartTextilesPartII.27.Tenara.jpg], caption: SEFAR® Architecture TENARA® Fabric is an innovative fabric that transmits light brilliantly, folds and drapes beautifully, and lasts for years, even outdoors. Tenara is the ideal material for luminous tensioned fabric structures, retractable roofs, air inflated structures, sculptures and lightweight structures of all kinds.