Electronic textiles (E-textiles) can act as an exceptional substrate for incorporating sensing devices for monitoring physiological parameters, as they are comfortable to wear close to the skin. This makes them excellent for a variety of applications in the healthcare, wellbeing, and personal protection sectors. One method of creating E-textiles with good textile properties is to integrate an electronic component into a yarn to create an electronic yarn (or E-yarn), which can then be used to construct a textile. This Interactivity Lab Demonstration will present electronic textiles developed by the Advanced Textiles Research Group (ATRG) from Nottingham Trent University (UK). The group has conducted a wealth of research into the development of E-yarns and the incorporation of these into textiles and garment. At CHI, users will be able to interact with textiles capable of fall and near-fall detection, temperature sensing, acoustic sensing, giving haptic feedback, and harvesting solar energy.

This research investigated the sustainability of textile garments with integrated electronics and their potential impact on the environment. The electronic textiles (E-textiles) sector is booming, with many advancements in E-textile product designs and construction methods having been made in recent years. Although there is a rapidly increasing interest in the reusability and sustainability of textiles, work towards E-textile sustainability requires further attention. Vastly different components are combined when constructing an electronic textile product, which makes it challenging at the end of the life of these products to dispose of them in a responsible way. In this study, a teardown analysis was conducted using a structured method, which first mapped out the interactions between each component of the product with the environment, followed by using Kuusk’s sustainable framework to analyze sustainable strategies. The research provides a unique contribution to transitioning sustainability theories into practical applications in the area of E-textiles, and the method proposed in this work can be employed in modifying electronics-embedded textiles to improve longevity and reduce the negative environmental impact. The work has highlighted key points of improvement that could be applied to a series of commercial E-textile garments, as well as a prototype E-textile device. Beyond this, the work provides a systematic approach for implementing new E-textile product designs that can evaluate overall product sustainability from the design stage to material selection, construction, and the planning of the commercial approaches of a product.

Over the past few years, alternative power supplies to either supplement or replace batteries for electronic textile and wearable applications have been sought, with the development of wearable solar energy harvesting systems gaining significant interest. In a previous publication the authors reported a novel concept to craft a yarn capable of harvesting solar energy by embedding miniature solar cells within the fibers of a yarn (solar electronic yarns). The aim of this publication is to report the development of a large-area textile solar panel. This study first characterized the solar electronic yarns, and then analyzed the solar electronic yarns once woven into double cloth woven textiles; as part of this study, the effect of different numbers of covering warp yarns on the performance of the embedded solar cells was explored. Finally, a larger woven textile solar panel (510 mm × 270 mm) was constructed and tested under different light intensities. It was observed that a P_MAX = 335.3 ± 22.4 mW of energy could be harvested on a sunny day (under 99,000 lux lighting conditions).

Electronic textiles (E-textiles) have experienced an increase in interest in recent years leading to a variety of new concepts emerging in the field. Despite these technical innovations, there is limited literature relating to the testing of E-textiles for some of the fundamental properties linked to wearer comfort. As such, this research investigates four fundamental properties of E-textiles: air permeability, drape, heat transfer, and moisture transfer. Three different types of E-textiles were explored: an embroidered electrode, a knitted electrode, and a knitted structure with an embedded electronic yarn. All of the E-textiles utilized the same base knitted fabric structure to facilitate a comparative study. The study used established textile testing practices to evaluate the E-textiles to ascertain the suitability of these standards for these materials. The study provides a useful point of reference to those working in the field and highlights some limitations of existing textile testing methodologies when applied to E-textiles.

A crucial factor when developing e-textiles is ensuring their robustness and functionality during everyday activities, particularly washing. The ability to launder e-textile garments is not merely a matter of convenience but a necessity for widespread adoption. Incorporating electronics into textiles can lead to damage due to mechanical and chemical stresses, which most electronics are not designed to withstand. This work focuses on electronic yarn technology (e-yarn), in which electronic functionality is added to textiles by embedding small electronic components into a flexible yarn-like structure. First, the component is soldered onto thin conductive wires. The soldered component is then enclosed in a protective polymer resin (micro-pod). Micro-pods have different diameters depending on the size of the embedded electronic component. The ensemble is finally covered in a textile sheath. This study focuses on the wash durability of e-yarns integrated with textiles in three different ways: embroidered onto the surface of a woven fabric, within a knitted channel in a knitted fabric, and woven as a weft yarn. Further, the work studied the impact of using different sizes of micro-pods on the e-yarns’ wash durability. Ultimately, good wash durability was observed under all testing conditions.