Mediatex/TechniTex
The term “technical textiles” was coined in the 1980s to describe the growing variety of products and manufacturing techniques being developed primarily for their technical properties and performance rather than their appearance or other aesthetic characteristics.
by Paul GoughNXP, a spin-out of Philips Research
The intersection of textiles, clothes and electronics offers the possibility of radical new products. We can envisage clothes that dynamically change colour, or garments that unobtrusively monitor your physiological state, or clothes that become a second skin enhancing how you sense the world about you.
by Joan FarrerAuckland University of Technology
Textiles have been used primarily for protection against the elements, to create attention and for modesty, they have also been used in engineering for architecture, nomadic tents, ropes and sails.
by Stuart JonesResearch Fellow, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, UK
In ubiquitous computing, one of the key questions is: how, in a distributed network, do you get data from the user to the computer and vice versa? Within this question there are other specificities: is the user’s identity important to the transaction? What kind of transaction is taking place within what kind of computer modality (data management, environmental control, affective computing etc.)?
by Saeed ZahediChas A. Blatchford
Over the last 3 years, PDD has taken a leading role in humanising technology, enabling independent living for an increasing population of elderly, diabetics and disabled people.
by Phil StentonHewlett Packard Labs
Wearables: Necessity and Inevitability? The current worldwide market is £300M, predicted to be £500M by 2005. The opportunity space for ‘smart’, ‘reactive’, ‘connected’, ‘interactive’ clothing is a broad one, covering areas such as: Healthcare and fitness; fashion; gaming, entertainment, social engagements, military engagements, space exploration, public safety, industrial safety, and business efficiency.
by Phil GossetMobile Communications Consultant
Mobile communication has become an integral component of people’s lives. The three objects that were always sought when leaving home, namely keys, wallet and watch, have now become keys, wallet and mobile. It has reached this lofty position in people’s lives through satisfying people’s need for communication, but offers many other possibilities as its performance and functionality have grown. Indeed, it could be argued that the mobile has become the first truly ubiquitous and pervasive wearable computer, supporting many of the functions that people currently use their PCs for.