New technology turns everyday clothes into “smart devices”

Scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Bath have teamed up to make advances in a new wearable technology, called SeamSleeve, that can capture and record body movements.

The research team conducted an experimental study to develop smart everyday clothing, by mixing conductive threads into clothing layers to produce electrical circuits whose resistance changes with the wearer's movements.

The ultimate goal is to design an improved version of digital clothing that accurately senses and records body movements.

This could apply to a variety of applications, such as healthcare, consumer electronics, and sports science, with the goal of improving health outcomes and user experiences. Providing precise motion data could also enable more efficient monitoring and analysis of physical activity, potentially improving the wearer’s health and fitness goals.

The statement noted that it "lays the foundation for e-textile designers and apparel manufacturers to create advanced clothing that can enhance exercise, physical therapy and rehabilitation."

Professor Mike Fraser, from the University of Bristol's School of Computer Science, said the team was excited about the opportunity for clothing manufacturers to implement our designs into sleeves and other layers of clothing.

"We've shown that the interwoven threads common in clothing can do a good job of sensing motion. The design avoids the need for a separate power source by drawing power wirelessly from a mobile phone in a pocket," he added.

When low voltages are passed through these threads, their resistance changes with the wearer's movements, allowing the clothing to detect and record subtle changes in posture and movement, then transmit the data to the user's phone. 

AI programs help analyze data on phones, interpreting certain gestures or postures, enabling monitoring of exercises, physical therapy, and rehabilitation.

The research team noted that the clothing can capture a wide range of body movements while retaining the design advantages of traditional clothing. 

The study was published in the Proceedings of the Interactive Systems Design Conference 2024, Copenhagen, Denmark.