Wearable Computing
Group 4
Ashley Bringer, Candice Gordon, Sean Mackey, Reba Smith
Key Words: Polymer, Transistors, Electrical Resistivity, Textronics Incorporated, Eleksen
For years companies have been trying to find ways to make computer technology that is hands free and portable. They came up with the idea of wearable computing. Wearable computing is a technology that can be integrated into clothing. A person will be able to travel with technology that is sewn or woven into their clothing. Many companies are contributing to the development of wearable computing. The companies that are on the forefront of this movement are Textronics Incorporated and Eleksen. They, along with others, are developing different ways to weave technology in clothing. Wearable computing has many capabilities to make our lives better from entertainment to health care. One example is that you will be able to play music from your clothing that is emitted by tiny transistors and other conductive agents. Wearable computing is one of the most innovative and most promising emerging technologies that will allow us to live our lives better than before and with more information at our fingertips.
The biggest challenge that the companies developing this technology faced was finding a power source that can be integrated into fabric. To provide electrical circuit in the clothing some companies decided to use a substance called polymer that can take the form of film, fiber, or coating. This would then be integrated into the clothing to allow for flow of electrical currents to the correct part of the device. Polymer is made of molecules that have large molecular mass, and they are connected together by chemical bonds. Polymers are used to provide electrical circuits to sensors. This is how data can be moved over the surface of the fabric. Researchers at Linkoping University found a way to use polymers to create transistors that can be woven into clothing. This transistor will act as a switch to turn the electrical circuit on or off depending on what is needed of the device. Transistors are created by connecting several polymer fibers together using electrolytes from the polymer substances. Since polymers have the ability to stretch, they can move with a person’s body movements in clothing. This is vital since wearable computing will need to be able to move and bend with the user. Without this it would not be very practical.
Textronics Incorporated, a company that is developing wearable computing products, uses polymers in their products. They use the polymers to coat fibers so that the completed fabric will be able to conduct electrical currents. Their polymers are used for sensors, security systems, switches, pull controls, and sports or patient monitoring. Besides polymers, Textronics created another way to carry electrical circuit in fabrics through special yarns. These yarns are made of metal that can be easily woven or knitted in to clothing. The use of this type of yarn can be used for heating, lighting, textile antennas, and power conductors. Textronics is the first to work out many of the defects in this type of textile. A major problem was that when the metal yarn was bent or stretched it would lose conductivity, but Textronics was the first company to fix this problem. With this bug worked out Textronics will be able to create better and different garments than their competitors.
Numetrex is a product line produced by Textronics that is specially designed to help enhance exercise. These products also have the ability to help monitor people with health concerns such as high blood pressure or heart murmurs. One such product is a sports bra that comes with a transmitter and watch that displays the heart rate. The transmitter is sewn into the bar around the bottom band. This set is sold for $115 but the bra by itself cost $49.95. This product already has become successful among women, including two time Olympian Runner, Vicki Huber-Rodawsky. They are also trying to market this technology for use in military and public safety venues. This technology will be used to measure rescue workers vital signs during an emergency, and will hopefully it will prevent police and firefighters from getting injured through exhaustion, inhalation, or stress. This would also cut down on the amount of heavy equipment that emergency workers would have to wear, since the transmitters would be built right into their clothing.
Another company that is working very hard on this new emerging technology is Eleksen. Their scientists have created sensors that do not need to use special wiring or transistors to send information across the fabric. Eleksen products use a sensor that works from layers of unique fabric in the clothing called ElekTex. ElekTex is a touch-sensitive fabric that can be folded, crumpled, and bent without losing its properties. The 3-dimensional sensor is made up of five layers of fabric that can be activated through a simple touch. To distribute the power source among layers they use x, y, and z measurement. The x-axis applies voltage gradient in the conductive lower layer and measures the output of the upper layer. The y-axis applies voltage gradient to the conductive upper layer and measures the output of the lower layer. Z is the central layer, which has two insulating layers around it. It has less conductivity but is activated when compressed. Once the touch pad is pressed the layers contact each other and form an electrical circuit. This fabric is durable, washable, lightweight, and flexible. The product that is being marketed with this technology right now is a messenger bag that an iPod can be connected to so the wearer can change songs without ever opening the bag. The product that is about to be released is a jacket that has these capabilities.
Elek Tex is currently on the
market, and is being sold through twenty companies. Three of the main companies are Bagir, O’Neill, and Innovative Sports. Bagir
is a company that provides men and women with high quality tailored fashions.
The Elek Tex five button touch pad is used in Bagir’s tailored suits to operate an iPod. O’Neill uses the Elek
Tex in its H2 entertainment and communication backpacks, which has speakers and
buttons on the outside of the bag that allow the user
to control devices inside the bag. Innovation Sports use
Computing fabrics are one of the most innovative and fastest growing markets in the technology world today. As technology gets more and more focused on portable and mobile computing we will we see the market grow even more for smart fabrics. Wearable computing fabrics have already started inching their way into our everyday life and will soon be something that everyone must have to function normally.
References
Eleksen. (2007). (Online), 04-10-07. http://www.eleksen.com/
Innovative Sports. (2007). The Hottest Thing in Sports. (Online), 04-10-07.
http://www.innovativesports.net/
New Scientist. (2007). Smart Fabrics Make for Enhanced Living. (Online), 04-10-07.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6553
New Scientist Tech. (2007). Wearable Computing-in the Fibers Themselves. (Online), 04-10-07. http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn11510-wearable-computing--in-the-fibres-themselves.html
NWC. (2007). Best Dressed Companies Wearing ‘Smart Fabrics’. (Online), 04-10-07.
http://www.networkcomputing.com/showitem.jhtml?docid=1701ces-smartfabric
Numetrex. (2007). Testimonaials. (Online), 04-10-07. http://www.numetrex.com/testimonials.php
Textronicsinc. (2007). (Online), 04-10-07.
Textronicsinc. (2007). Fabrics Get Smart. (Online), 04-10-07. http://www.textronicsinc.com/news/news3.pdf
Wearable Computing Lab. (2007). The Vision and Reality of Wearable Computing. (Online), 04-10-07. http://www.wearable.ethz.ch/vision.0.html
Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia. (2007). Electrical Resistivity. (Online), 04-10-07. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_resistivity
Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia. (2007). Polymer. (Online), 04-10-07. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymer
Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia. (2007). Transistor. (Online), 04-10-07. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor
Wearable Computing
Group 4
|
1. |
What company developing smart fabrics uses polymers in
there technology? |
|
A. |
Eleksen |
|
B. |
Textronics |
|
C. |
O’Neill |
|
D. |
Elek Tex |
|
|
|
|
2. |
How many layers are in the Elek Tex fabric? |
|
A. |
3 |
|
B. |
8 |
|
C. |
2 |
|
D. |
5 |
|
1.3.3. |
3. 3. How much
would a Numetrex bra system cost? |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
4. |
In wearable computing what is a transistor? |
|
A. |
A semiconductor device with three
connections, commonly uses as as
amplifier |
|
B. |
Mass of large molecules |
A.
A semiconductor device with three connections, commonly used as an
amplifier.
|
B. Mass of large molecules |
|
|
C. |
Electrodes |
|
D. |
A measure
of how strongly a material opposes the flow of electric current |
|
5. |
What was the biggest challenge
in the development of wearable computing? |
|
A. |
Design the
wearable computing |
|
B. |
Finding
customers to use their product |
|
C. |
Finding power
source |
|
D. |
Finding a use for their wearable computing
|
|
|
|
|
6. |
What product comes from Textronics technology? |
|
A. |
Ipod
|
|
B. |
Numetrex sports
bra |
|
C. |
O’Neill
backpack |
|
D. |
Bagir tailored
suits |
|
7. |
How many companies have B2B
with Eleksen? |
|
A. |
53
|
|
B. |
3 |
|
C. |
26 |
|
D. |
20
|