As Technologists, we have been inclined to treat the advent of wearable technology as an extension of mobile technology. But arguably wearable devices are as much a collaboration with the fashion industry as they are a new form of mobile technology, and as such this represents an important transition for the semiconductor world.
While we are approaching e-textiles and ‘smart materials’ as a future trend, back in 1985, an inventor named Harry Wainwright created the first fully animated sweater, consisting of LEDs, fibre optics and a microprocessor which enabled a colour cartoon to be broadcast on the surface of the garment. Wainwright’s early ‘e-textile’ development was considered purely from a technology perspective. Until now, there had been little communication between the fashion industry and the tech world. Now ARM is looking at ways in which this can be extended, exploring the possibility of the physical integration of electronics and textiles. A key part of this is formal collaboration with the fashion industry to allow fast, extensive and more importantly relevant innovation.
ARM pioneered a workshop to discuss the future convergence of fashion and technology in conjunction with Smart Garment People, a specialist fashion and technology outfit, bringing together representatives from the textile, clothing and electronics industry in Cambridge, UK. Participants included from Henri Lloyd (outdoor clothing); London School of Fashion, Nottingham Trent University School of Art and Design and Thinkable Studio (fashion and design); Nilorn and YKK (trims); Interactivewear, Regis, Footfalls and Heartbeats (fabrics and e-textiles); and finally ARM partners Microchip and MediaTek
The team identified several specific barriers which would need to be removed before a collaborative relationship could begin to prosper. Firstly, the textiles and fashions industries were identified as being relatively conservative and slow-moving, meaning that a drastic influx of electronic garments could actually damage progression unless well-managed and carefully considered. Secondly, the cross-industry relationship would need strengthening, with the two industries relatively inexperienced in working with one another. And finally, it was acknowledged that the physical practicalities of combining electronics and clothing could be problematic. How do you wash something which is electrical? Where do we put an SoC on a t-shirt?
(Actress, singer and model Eliza Gonzalez shows off the Cutecircuit ‘Pink & Black’ collection by Francesca Rossella)
Despite these barriers, a number of projects which cross the boundaries of fashion and technology have already generated attention in both industries. Since 2012 and the advent of the contemporary smartwatch, the relationship between fashion and technology has become significantly closer and interlinked. A growing number of fashion technology and e-textile shows and exhibitions have brought technology to the catwalk. A number of collections have highlighted the possibility of technology entering mainstream fashion, focusing particularly on the use of interchanging LED lighting. Internationally-known fashion house CuteCircuit designed the ‘World’s first haute couture Twitter dress’ in 2012, which was worn by singer Nicole Scherzinger at the launch of EE’s 4G network. The dress used 2,000 LED lights and the hashtag #tweetthedress to display live tweets sent by attendees and others. Designer Ying Gao this year unveiled a dress containing an eye-tracking system which responds to eye contact by activating tiny motors which move parts of the fabric.
Other use cases have identified gaming and sports as ideal places for the expansion of technology into fashion, with sports clothing manufacturer UnderArmour recently using an advert to depict a touchscreen fitness tracker embedded into the fabric of a bodysuit. On the manufacturing side, fashion guru Dita Von Teese wore the first ever 3D printed dress in 2013, shaped specifically to her body and completed with over 12,000 Swarovski crystals. While we remain at a conceptual stage of innovation, the way in which these ideas have been welcomed by the fashion industry is an important indication that the future for e-textiles and wearable technology is encouraging.
ARM is proud to be one of the first companies to explore electronics development in fashion technology. Clothes of the future could contain ARM Cortex-M3 or Cortex-M4 based microcontrollers which sense sound, light or heat and respond by illuminating next-generation fabric threads. We expect to see vital signs recorded and synchronised to smartphones and laptops by future generations of sportswear, again done with the ultra-low power and lightweight Cortex-M processors. Further in the future, a Cortex-A5 or Cortex-A7 powered touch-sensitive, illuminated fabric could be Bluetooth enabled to allow text messages to be received and sent from a person’s sleeve. The established presence of ARM’s open-source mbed OS will rapidly accelerate the timescale, with a large number of developers already building IoT and wearable solutions on it. This means that app and software development is already prepared to progress alongside hardware development.
(ARM's mbed platform will speed-up development of fashion technology)
The workshop highlighted an electrifying range of possibilities for smart clothing, so what next? All agreed that it was imperative that a formal industry consortium of sorts is established to enable wider inclusion from other microelectronics, textiles and fashion businesses. The ARM Connected Community has already highlighted the role that a mutually beneficial forum and ecosystem can play in advancing products and ideas quickly, and we believe that this can be replicated here to allow wider development.
Setting up an industry forum is only the first step in the direction of a strong collaboration. In order for physical progression, a fab-lab must be constructed, bringing together hardware, software, textile skills, fashion knowledge and industrial manufacturing equipment under one roof, and allowing the development of products, techniques and technologies from concept to prototype. By entering into this as a consortium, it would enable people from fashion, textiles, manufacturing and technology to directly work together, enabling quick progress and removing as many barriers as possible. This means that we could see ‘smart clothing’ become a hot topic in 2015 and beyond.
The fashion and technology industries can expect to see smart clothing rapidly emerge as a market with huge growth potential over the coming years. Establishing a collaborative relationship between the two industries is an important milestone to enable comprehensive and focused development in this new market and we see this as the beginning of a large ecosystem of developers and manufacturers. Wearable technology has shown how ergonomics and fashion appeal are fundamental to the success of modern technology, and with technology and fashion becoming even further inter-twined, we can expect more commercially successful wearables and the development of an exciting smart clothing market.
If you would like to be involved with ARM’s movements in e-textiles, join our Connected Community and follow @ARMSoC on Twitter!
Thank you for including industrial manufacturing in the FabLab description! Students, inventors, and small business have been creating eTextile prototypes on home sewing machines and floor looms for decades, but until these methods can be tested and replicated on industry machinery then the field will continued to be stymied by how to mass produce fabric based wearables. Well said Tom!