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Inside this Article

1. Introduction to How Computer Clothing Works2. Weaving the Digital Fabric3. Tomorrow's E-Wardrobe4. Lots More Information5. See all High-Tech Gadgets articles

Using conductive fibers, MIT Media Lab created the Musical Jacket, which is being

marketed by Levi in Europe.

Photo courtesy MIT Media Lab researchers Josh Strickon, Rehmi Post, Josh Smith, EmilyCooper and Maggie Orth

There's a major movement going on in the electronics and computerindustries to develop

wearable devices for what's being called the post-PC era. We are now at the dawn of that era,and some of these devices are already making their way to the consumer market. Despite the

small size and portability of these devices, they are still noticeable and aren't always veryaesthetically pleasing. The next phase of this post-PC era will be to integrate computers and

other devices directly into our clothing, so that they are virtually invisible.

In the next few years, we might be filling our closets with smart shirts that can read our heart

rate and breathing, and musical jackets with built in all-fabric keypads. Thin light-emittingdiode (LED) monitors could even be integrated into this apparel to display text and images.

Computerized clothes will be the next step in making computers and devices portable withouthaving to strap electronics to our bodies or fill our pockets with a plethora of gadgets. These new

digital clothes aren't necessarily designed to replace your PC, but they will be able to performsome of the same functions.


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Computerized clothes are the ultimate in portable high-tech gadgetry. In this edition ofHowStuff WILL Work, you will learn just what these clothes are made of, who is making them and

what kind of products we might be wearing in the coming decade.

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A micrograph of silk organza. You can see the copper foil that is wrapped around the

horizontal threads.

Photo courtesy MIT Media Lab

Weaving the Digital Fabric

As with all clothes, computerized apparel starts with the proper thread. Cotton, polyester or

rayon don't have the needed properties to carry the electrical current needed for digital clothing.However, metallic yarns aren't new to the clothing industry. We have seen these metallic fabrics

worn to make fashion statements for years. Researchers at MIT's Media Lab are using silkorganza, a unique fabric that has been used to make clothes in India for at least a century.

Silk organza is ideal for computerized clothing because it is made with two fibers that make it

conducive to electricity. The first fiber is just an ordinary silk thread, but running in the oppositedirection of the fiber is silk thread that is wrapped in a thin copper foil. It's this copper foil that

gives silk organza the ability to conduct electricity. Copper is a very good conductor of

electricity and some microprocessormanufacturers are beginning to use copper to speed upmicroprocessors.

The metallic yarn is prepared just like cloth-core telephone wire, according to the MITresearchers. If you cut open a coiled telephone cable, there's usually a conductor that is made out

of a sheet of copper wrapped round a core of nylon or polyester threads. Because metallic yarncan withstand high temperatures, the yarn can be sewn or embroidered using industrial

machinery. This property makes it very promising for mass producing computerized clothing.


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Not only is silk organza a good electrical conductor, but it's fiber's are spaced with the rightamount of space, so that the fibers can be individually addressed. A strip of the fabric would

basically function like a ribbon cable. Ribbon cables are used in computers to connect diskdrives to controllers. One problem with using silk organza would result if the circuits were to

touch each other, therefore MIT scientists use an insulating material to coat or support the fabric.

Once the fabric is cut into a desirable shape, other components need to be attached to the fabric,like resistors, capacitors and coils. These components are sewn directly to the fabric. Additional

components, such as LEDs, crystals, piezo transducers and other surface mount components, ifneeded, are soldered directly onto the metallic yarn, which the developers say is an easy process.

Other electronic devices, can be snapped into the fabric by using some kind of gripper snaps,which pierce the yarn to create an electrical contact. These devices can then be easily removed in

order to clean the fabric.

A circuit fabricated on silk organza fabric


At Georgia Tech, researchers have developed another kind of thread to make smart clothes. Theirsmart shirt, which we will look at in the next section, is made of plastic optical fibers and other

specialty fibers woven into the fabric. These optical and electrical conductive fibers will allowthe shirt to wirelessly communicate with other devices, transferring data from the sensors

embedded in the shirt.

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This keypad controls Levi's musical jacket and is made completely with fabric, even the

wiring.


Tomorrow's E-Wardrobe

The development of digital yarn opens up the opportunity for an entire computerized clothingindustry. In the next decade, we will likely see a wide range of digital apparel enter the consumer

market. Several companies are already exploring the possibility of putting us in designercomputerized clothing, including IBM, Levi, Philips, Nike and SensaTex. In Europe, Levi is

already test marketing the musical jacket developed by the MIT Media Lab.

Levi's musical jacket is made with the silk organza and is controlled with an all-fabriccapacitive keyboard. This keyboard has been mass-produced using ordinary embroidery

techniques and conductive thread. The keypad is flexible, durable and responsive to touch. Aprinted circuit is used to give the keypad a sensing ability, so that the controls react when

pressed. The keypad can sense touch due to the increase in capacitance of the electrode whentouched. The keypads are connected to a miniature MIDI synthesizer that plays music. Power

could be supplied by a parasitic power source such as solar power, wind, temperature ormechanical energy from turning wrists or walking. Further out, researchers are looking for

fabrics capable of generating power as they flex.


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Another all-fabric keyboard being developed by the MIT Media Lab uses conductive and non-conductive material sewn together in a row- and column-addressable structure. The final

product looks like a quilt that's been pieced together in a square pattern. The quilted conductivecolumns are insulated and form the conductive rows with soft, thick fabric, like felt or velvet.

Holes in the insulating fabric allow the row and column conductors to make contact when a user

presses down on the keyboard. Shirts and other clothes using this keyboard can be thrown in thewashing machine just like an ordinary piece of clothing.

MIT Media Lab's all-fabric, switching-contact keyboard is washable.


While the musical jacket is an example of how computerized clothing could be used forentertainment, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a practical,

medical purpose for this technology. The smart shirt can monitor both heart and breathing rates

by using optical and electric conductive fibers that are woven into the fabric of the shirt.

The smart shirt project at Georgia Tech was originally financed by the U.S. Navy, beginning in

1996. At that time, the shirt was being designed for soldiers in combat, so that medical personnelcould find the exact location of a bullet wound. To pinpoint the location of bullet penetration, a

light signal is continually sent from one end of the optical fiber to a receiver on the other end.This fiber is also connected to a personal status monitor worn on the hip. If the light from the

emitter does not reach the receiver inside the monitor, this signals that the soldier has been shot.


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The light signal then bounces back to the point of penetration, which helps doctors find the exactlocation of the bullet wound.

An early prototype of the smart shirt developed at Georgia Tech

Photo courtesy SensaTex Inc.

Wearers of the device attach sensors to their body, pull the shirt on and attach sensor to the smartshirt. The shirt also tracks vital signs, such as heart rate, body temperature and respiration rate.

These measurements are monitored in two ways -- through the sensors integrated into the shirtand the sensors on the wearer's body, both of which are connected to the monitor on the hip.

Because of it's capability to monitor these vital signs, the shirt is being marketed as a way to

prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Athletes may also be interested in it to tracktheir body's performance during training and competition.

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