J. McCann, in Smart Clothes and Wearable Technology, 2009
18.8.1 A neglected market
The emergence of smart textiles and wearable technologies impacts on the whole textile and garment chain, from fibre production to product launch. This constitutes the focus of this publication, with issues discussed in detail in chapters that correspond to different stages in the design and development critical path. To date, design-led smart clothing has been targeted primarily at athletes and the youth market in areas such as snow sports, mountain biking, motor biking and running. Little has been done to address physical and cognitive limitations when developing these new products and services to ensure that they are appropriate to the culture and real-world needs of the variously described rapidly growing ‘Grey’, ‘Silver’, ‘Third Age’ or ‘Rainbow Youth’ market. Today’s older people have become competent users of high-technology ICT products where they perceive that those products deliver something of value to them (Metz, 2005). They are said to be capable at using technology but are slower. Currently, people over 50 are the fastest growing group of Internet users in UK and, as a group, spend more time on line than any other age group of the population. Continuing advances in microelectronics create new opportunities for assistive technology devices (Metz, 2005).
F. Saifee, in Smart Clothes and Wearable Technology, 2009
Design for disability
The term ‘Smart Wearable’ seems to embrace many aspects of design, textiles and applications. Design for disability is an area that has not been so easily embraced by the fashion-conscious design world. Even though a certain amount of knowledge and attention is needed to design garments for specific needs, there is no reason why there cannot be a cross-over into the main stream. Smart wearables are ‘smart’ for the reason that the thought processes encourage consideration of user needs, which results in an easy transition (overlap) from mainstream fashion to inclusive design. Someone who has explored this concept is Caterina Radvan. Caterina is a knitwear designer by profession, currently studying for a PhD at the London College of Fashion. Her research is concerned with using the inherent unique qualities of seamless knitting to design and create fashionable womenswear within the inclusive design discipline (see Fig. 6.8). This enables disabled women access to the full retail therapy experience that is available to non-disabled women and allows them equal access utilising clothing as a means of self-expression. The use of seamlessness allows for the subversion of normal ideas of back, front and left–right symmetry, and for the distorting of the garment shape; the rules governing the placing of seams is completely avoided. When worn, the garments produce drape in unexpected areas on the body, depending on the shape of the body wearing them (see Fig. 6.9). When this is applied to the disabled or unconventional body shape, an interesting and attractive look is created using the body form underneath. In this way disabled women are able to dress without the need or desire to camouflage or hide their unconventional shape, thus allowing for freedom of self-expression.
6.8. Seamless clothing for inclusive design.
(courtesy of Caterina Radvan)
6.9. Seamless clothing for inclusive design.
(courtesy of Caterina Radvan)
Rita Paradiso, … Maria Pacelli, in Wearable Sensors, 2014
Research and development in smart wearable systems for personalized services, especially for monitoring purposes, has significantly increased worldwide. Electronic textiles (e-textiles) are relevant promoters of technological progress for sectors like biomonitoring, rehabilitation, telemedicine, teleassistance, and sport medicine. The integration of biosensors into clothes enables daily physiological monitoring through a continuous and personalized detection of vital signs, while garments with strain- and stress-sensing capabilities enable tracking of posture and gestures of the subject. The e-textile systems comprise fabric electrodes and sensors capable of capturing bioelectrical and biomechanical signals like electrocardiogram, electromyogram, respiration, bioimpedance, skin conductivity, and sweat characteristics. This chapter begins with a detailed description of the technology for the design and the implementation of sensing textiles, starting from the fiber and ending with the final textile configuration in the garment. Several types of textile sensors for biomonitoring are described, and several examples of smart fabric and textile platforms developed for healthcare applications are reported.
J. McCann, in Smart Clothes and Wearable Technology, 2009
3.5 Conclusion: a new hybrid design process
The new design area of smart textiles and wearable electronics demands a merging of methodologies across disparate disciplines to inform the application of wearable technologies in smart clothes that have the potential to enhance the quality of life of the target wearer. A hybrid design-led methodology is proposed to provide guidance to designers and the product development team, embarking on co-design practice with end-users for the design of functional clothing within this rapidly developing cross-sector market (see Fig. 3.2). Experts familiar with the disparate topics may further elaborate the detail of the process tree. It may be refined and tuned to identify the needs of an individual wearer or a specified group. The implementation of a survey may uncover further relevant issues grounded in publications, conference proceedings and journals. A comparative review of existing products may be conducted through market research, attendance at international trade events and in findings from industrial liaison and visits. An on-going ‘technology watch’ should be maintained with respect to developments in the area of smart textiles, garment engineering and wearable electronics.
3.2. The start of a process tree for examining the co-design area of smart clothing and wearable technology.
Primary qualitative research methods may be employed, in semi-structured interviews with wearers, to verify and elaborate design topics from the process tree and any further issues uncovered. An appropriate balance will be sought in terms of the technical demands of the body related to the specified end-use and relevant style considerations to do with textile selection and garment design, dependent on the life-style needs of the wearer. Aspects may be explored in relation to the design and comfort of existing clothing, the wearer’s degree of understanding of the attributes of existing smart textiles and the function and usability of a range of wearable technologies. Observation research techniques will support and verify the findings from the interviews. Expert input from academic collaborators and industry partners will aid the prioritisation of the issues uncovered. These findings will inform the drafting and refining of a comprehensive design brief. Verification of the findings will be carried out in the subsequent testing of initial to near-market prototypes. Final design specifications, with technical working drawings, explanatory text and a sequence of manufacture, will be drawn up and supported by a garment ‘sealing sample’. The detail of the wearable technologies embedded within the near market prototype will be integrated within the final specification. This product specification must be in a new, shared, cross-disciplinary language.
Ratula Ray, … Satya Ranjan Dash, in Sensors for Health Monitoring, 2019
8.3.1.1 Problem statement
The main concern associated with designing a smart wearable device for keeping track of asthma is the detection of the onset of the symptoms and to be able to differentiate between the different stages of severity associated with it. Warning the people against the triggers that can lead to cause asthma is the key to build a better model with a higher efficacy. Apart from keeping a check on the environmental factors responsible, being able to differentiate between the asthma and certain other diseases due to closely related symptoms is another factor to keep in mind.
Other factors that are to be noted while designing the device are an interactive cloud-based platform for general public to access; maintaining a digital diary associated with the frequency of the occurrence of the attacks, which can help in designing a personal medication regime for a particular patient; and an alert system, which will keep close contacts on the list of the patient and the doctor referred updated about the health of the patient.
Soo-Jin Park, … Young-Jung Heo, in Emerging Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage, 2018
6.4 Flexible and Large-Scale Electrode Materials for Wearable Applications
There is widespread interest in using portable smart devices and wearable electronic devices. Wearable smart devices are classified into three categories: accessories (portable products and accessories), integrated clothing (patches that can be attached to the skin or clothing), and body attachment/bio-implantable elements (implantable in the body or edible). With increasing interest in such wearable devices, there is an increasing demand for energy storage devices designed for them. In particular, electrode materials to be mounted on wearable electronic devices are required not only to be inexpensive but also flexible, lightweight, environmentally friendly, and large. To meet such demands, electrode materials have been developed that can be produced in various forms, including films, fibers, and yarns, and maintain energy storage performance even when bent or twisted.
Many studies using graphene or CNTs as electrode materials have been steadily carried out. Electrode materials of film or fiber type, composed of carbon materials or carbon/polymer composites, have been intensively developed. To make graphene films or CNT fibers directly, many studies have applied CVD methods using various transition metal catalysts such as nickel (Ni) and copper (Cu), and hydrocarbon gases as carbon sources such as ethanol, acetone, polyethylene glycol, 1-propanol, and diethyl ether [76–79]. However, graphene (or CNT) films or fibers prepared by CVD methods require high temperature, at least 1000°C; hence, CVD methods are inefficient for commercial use. Moreover, although it is possible to manufacture large-area films or long fibers, it is difficult to produce them on a large scale. Therefore, the use of graphene or CNT dispersions has attracted attention as a relatively simple procedure that is appropriate for mass production.
The most important factor in preparing graphene or CNT films or fibers from graphene or CNT solutions is to disperse these materials homogeneously in a solvent or specific solution. In particular, when graphene or CNTs are dispersed in a solution, large particles and a liquid crystalline state are required to produce large-area films and long fibers [80,81]. Because of this, to produce graphene films and fibers, GO, which has excellent dispersibility in water and is capable of producing relatively large graphene sheets, has attracted considerable attention. On the surface and edge of GO sheets are various oxygen-containing functional groups (mainly hydroxyl (OH) and epoxy (COC) groups on the surface and carboxyl (COOH) and carbonyl (C
O) groups on the edge). Because of the many oxygen functional groups present in GO, it is possible to prepare dispersions in water at high concentrations, through multiple hydrogen bonds with the water molecules. In addition, because GO has a sheet-like structure, it can be laminated by the strong hydrogen bonds between GO sheets after the solvent has dried, resulting in large-area films and fibers. The GO dispersion is made into fibers or films by various methods such as vacuum filtration [82], drop casting [83], wet-spinning [80], and electrospinning [84]. Subsequently, the graphene fibers or films are prepared through thermal or chemical reduction under specific conditions [83,85]. However, films or fibers obtained from GO or CNT dispersions have some disadvantages. These films or fibers have relatively low mechanical strength; thus, a slightly larger amount of GO or CNTs is required to produce intact films or fibers. Therefore, to develop graphene (or CNT) film or fiber electrodes with cost-effective materials, improved flexibility, and mechanical performance, while maintaining their electrochemical performance, several approaches have been researched, including carbon material coating on a certain substrate or composites with various polymers.
Cellulose-based materials (e.g., paper and tissue) or polymer films (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate and polyimides) have been used as substrates for graphene or CNT coatings [86–89]. Cellulose-based substrates, such as paper towels, filter paper, and tissue, have flexibility, moderate mechanical properties, and a relatively large area, and can be mass produced at a low cost. In addition, polymer substrates are promising candidates for producing flexible electrodes because they can be manufactured in large-area films at a relatively low cost. Graphene- or CNT-coated cellulose paper or polymer substrates were prepared by various approaches such as vacuum filtration [90], dipping [91], bar-coating [92], and electrospray deposition [93].
Because flexible supercapacitors are intended for use as practical energy storage devices, their mechanical properties are important for evaluating their potential in wearable, flexible, and foldable applications. Films prepared employing carbon materials alone have poor mechanical properties and their overall performance deteriorates by repeated deformation. On the other hand, films fabricated by coating a flexible substrate with carbon materials can maintain their electrochemical performance even with repeated deformation because they are flexible and light, and because of the mechanical strength of the substrate. In particular, the cellulose-based substrate is not only flexible, it has a macroporous network structure, which increases the area of contact with the electrolyte ions of the carbon materials that coat the surface of the cellulose fibers. Therefore, the electrochemical performance can be improved compared with nonporous polymer films. Cheng et al. [90] reported that flexible graphene-cellulose paper membranes were prepared by vacuum filtration. The graphene nanosheets penetrated throughout the cellulose filter membrane and formed a conducting network around the cellulose fibers. Thus, the graphene-cellulose paper electrodes showed good cyclic stability (99.1% retention at 5000 cycles) and high areal capacitance (81 mF cm−2 at 1 mV s−1).
In addition to the films, flexible yarn-based supercapacitors were developed for wearable devices such as microrobots, implantable medical devices, and wearable electronic textiles [71,94]. Yarns, which are a long continuous length of interlocked fibers, are suitable for various applications in knitting, weaving, crocheting, and textiles. Linear yarn-type supercapacitors have attracted tremendous attention owing to their short charge–discharge time, high specific power, and excellent cyclability. Yarn supercapacitors can be prepared through a variety of methods such as twisting, wet-spinning, and electrospinning using common carbon–polymer composite materials [95,96]. Kim et al. [71] reported that weavable, braidable, and knottable yarn pseudocapacitors with high rate capabilities and energy storage densities could be made by a process called biscrolling. The yarn pseudocapacitors, consisting of PEDOT/MWCNT yarn, had a volumetric capacitance of up to 179 F cm−3 and retained more than 90% of capacitance after 10,000 cycles. Furthermore, the capacitance did not decrease after 2000 cycles in a flexed state. Table 6.1 summarizes the various types of flexible supercapacitors and their electrochemical performance. However, there is still a need for research into the production of long fibers on a large scale, because current production technologies cannot apply yarn-type graphene or CNTs practically to wearable devices.
Table 6.1. Electrochemical Performance Comparison of Flexible Supercapacitors With Different Fabrication Approaches
| Sample | Type (Substrate) | Fabrication Method | Specific Capacitance (Rate, Electrolyte) | Cycle Stability (Cycles) | Capacitance Changes by Repeated Deformation (Bend, Fold, Twist, etc.) | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reduced graphene oxide foam | Foam (PET) | Vacuum filtration, leavening | 110 F g−1 (at 0.5 A g−1 in 1 M H2SO4) | – | – | [82] |
| Graphene-based in-plane interdigital micro-supercapacitors | Film (silicon wafer, PET) | Spin-coating, plasma | 78.9 μF cm−2 or 17.5 F cm−3 on PET (at 10 mV s−1 in H2SO4/PVA gel) | 99.1% retention at 200 V s−1 (100,000 cycles) | No changes after bending 100 times | [88] |
| Hybrid fiber (porous carbon- or copper hexacyanoferrate- coated carbon fiber) | Fiber (carbon fiber) | Dip-coating | 19.2 F g−1 or 68.2 mF cm−2 or 3.1 F cm−3 (at 0.5 mA in KCl/PVA gel) | 84% retention at 2 mA (3000 cycles) | 96% retention after bending 200 times | [89] |
| Graphene-cellulose paper | Paper (filter paper) | Vacuum filtration | 81 mF cm−2 (at 1 mV s−1 in 1 M H2SO4) 46 mF cm−2 (at 2 mV s−1 in H2SO4/PVA gel) | 99.1% retention at 50 mV s−1 in H2SO4 (5000 cycles) | – | [90] |
| Single-walled CNT/polyaniline nanoribbon paper | Paper (Kimwipes tissue) | Dip-absorption- polymerization | 0.33 F cm−2 or 40.5 F cm−3 (at 0.2 mA cm−2 in 1 M H2SO4) | 79% retention at 0.2 mA cm−2 (1000 cycles) | No changes after bending and folding 1000 times | [91] |
| PEDOT/multiwalled nanotube yarn | – | Biscrolling | ∼180 F cm−3 (at 0.01 V s−1 in H2SO4/PVA gel) | 92% retention at winding state (10,000 cycles) | – | [71] |
| RGO + CNT at carboxymethylcellulose yarn | – | Wet-spinning | 177 mF cm−2 or 158 F cm−3 (at 0.1 mA cm−2 in H3PO4/PVA gel) | almost 100% retention at 1 mA cm−2 (2000 cycles) | No changes after bending 1000 times | [95] |
CNT, carbon nanotubes; PEDOT, poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene); PET, polyethylene terephthalate; PVA, polyvinyl alcohol; RGO, reduced graphene oxide.
Deepak P. Dubal, in Emerging Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage, 2018
7.2.2.3 Textile Substrates
Textile-based electronics such as e-textile, smart textile, or wearable electronics could potentially be used in the future for high-tech sportswear, work wear, portable energy systems, health monitoring systems, and military camouflages [64]. These integrated devices for wearable electronics need an energy source, and textile-based SCs holds great promise for use in these systems (Fig. 7.5A). Common textiles such as cotton, polyester, and acrylonitrile are reusable, cheap, flexible, and hydrophilic [65]. As far as flexibility and stretchability are concerned, textile-based substrates have many advantages over plastic- or paper-based substrates [65]. For example, the porous structure of textiles provides abundant support for the loading of active materials and facilitates the rapid absorption of electroactive materials owing to their hydrophilic nature, which results in much higher areal mass loading of active materials and therefore higher areal power and energy density [68]. Low-cost and highly efficient textile-based SCs are already integrated into prototype wearable electronics. For instance, CNTs were directly grown on carbon cloth to fabricate conducting electrodes with a 3D porous network architecture [69]. The assembled FSCs exhibited extraordinary electrochemical performance, such as a capacitance of 106 F g−1 (areal capacitance of 38.75 mF cm−2), an ultralong life cycle of 100,000 times (capacitance retention 99%), a high energy density (2.4 μWh cm−2), and a high power density (19 mW cm−2). In addition, the device sustains its excellent performance even under harsh conditions such as shape deformation (bending, folding, etc.), high mechanical pressure (63 kPa), and a wide temperature window (up to 100°C). Likewise, nitrogen-doped single crystalline silicon carbide NWs (SiCNW) were grown directly onto flexible carbon fabric, as shown in Fig. 7.5B [66]. The cell fabricated with this architecture had an areal capacitance of 4.7 mF cm−2, which translates into an excellent power density of 72.3 mW cm−2 (considerably higher than electrolytic capacitors) and an energy density of 0.12 μWh cm−2, in association with its superior rate ability and cyclability (almost 100% after 10,000 cycles) (Fig. 7.5C–E). The SiCNW-based textile FSC can be operated at an ultrahigh rate up to 30 V s−1, which is twofold higher than that of conventional SCs. Wang and coworkers [67] developed vertically aligned graphene nanosheets (VAGNs) enhanced with Co3O4 nanoparticles on carbon fabric for FSCs, as presented in Fig. 7.5F. The hybrid Co3O4@VAGNs exhibited a capacitance of 3480 F g−1 (close to the theoretical value 3560 F g−1). In addition, the device delivered a capacitance of 580 F g−1 under normal and bending conditions with good cycling stability (Fig. 7.5G–I).
Figure 7.5. (A) Schematic illustration of applications of textile-based supercapacitors for wearable electronics. (B–E) SEM image of single crystalline silicon carbide (SiC) nanowires on carbon fabric (CF), Digital photographs of symmetric FSC based on SiC with corresponding coefficient of variation (CV) curves under normal and bending conditions, and cycling stability under bent and twisted conditions, respectively. (F–I) Steps involved in the synthesis of VAGNs decorated with Co3O4 nanoparticles, SEM image of VAGNs on CF; CV curves for Co3O4/VAGNs/CF solid-state cell under different bending conditions and corresponding cycling stability, respectively. EDLC, electrical double-layer capacitor; FSC, flexible solid-state supercapacitor; SEM, scanning electron microscopy; VAGNs, vertically aligned graphene nanosheets.
(A) Reproduced with permission from K. Jost, D. Stenger, C.R. Perez, et al., Knitted and screen printed carbon-fiber supercapacitors for applications in wearable electronics, Energy Environ. Sci. 6 (2013) 2698–2705. Copyright 2013, Royal Society of Chemistry. (B–E) Reproduced with permission from Y. Chen, X. Zhang, Z. Xie, Flexible nitrogen doped SiC nanoarray for ultrafast capacitive energy storage, ACS Nano 9 (2015) 8054–8063. Copyright 2015, American Chemical Society. (F–I) Reproduced with permission from Q. Liao, N. Li, S. Jin, et al., All-solid-state symmetric supercapacitor based on Co3O4 nanoparticles on vertically aligned graphene, ACS Nano 9 (2015) 5310–5317. Copyright 2015, American Chemical Society.
Dominique Paret, Pierre Crégo, in Wearables, Smart Textiles and Smart Apparel, 2019
14.2 In conclusion
If the marketing department of your company thinks that the planned smart Wearable application (20,000 units produced) can appeal to five different clients, we need to be sure that for each of the target clients, the sum paid in CAPEX for the company (even before the first unit is sold) of (20,000/5) × €200 excluding VAT = €800,000 = €800k represents a genuinely worthwhile investment producing a return, before beginning any work at all.
In conclusion, let us look again at the well-known mantra we cited earlier: “the ‘saleable’ sales price of the product must correspond to the ‘buyable’ cost price from the point of view of the end client to whom we wish to sell it”.
Now all you need to do is decide on your own approach!
R. Jansi, … S. Radha, in Telemedicine Technologies, 2019
Abstract
This paper presents the design and development of a textile-based wearable smart vest that can be used to monitor children who are suffering from chronic illness. This system provides essential information for real-time monitoring of such children so that immediate actions can be taken in case of an emergency. Parents/Caretakers are continuously notified about the health conditions and the activities performed by their children using a smart android application. Three different sensors were fabricated on the vest that includes Lilypad accelerometer, pulse oximeter, and Lilypad temperature sensors. The activities performed by children with chronic illness need to be monitored continuously because certain activities like run if performed for a long duration might result in serious fatigue conditions. Hence in this work, the Lilypad accelerometer is used to identify the actions performed by the children. A new sparse representation-based classification algorithm was used to classify activities like walk, run, jump, hop, sit and stand. The proposed classifier achieved a high recognition rate of about 97.49%. Pulse oximeter provided the values of oxygen saturation level (in %) and heart rate (in bpm). Lilypad temperature sensor was used to monitor the body temperature level of the child. The identified activity along with the values of oxygen saturation level, heart rate and temperature are indicated to the parents/caretakers using a customized mobile application. This aids in taking immediate action in case of abnormal conditions.
J. Bougourd, in Textiles for Cold Weather Apparel, 2009
8.5.2 Wearable technologies
Branded fibres, incorporated into branded fabric assemblies and garments, are beginning to be co-branded with smart textiles and wearable electronics. Relationships have been established between such providers as Polar, the Finnish electronics firm, and the sportswear brand Adidas, while Apple is in collaboration with Nike.
SeamfreeSantoni, a knit technology, is being used for high-performance base layer sports garments. Tops, leg wear and full body suits are design engineered by organising of polyester, polyamide, polypropylene and elastomeric yarns in stitch structured zones to provide varying degrees of stretch, strength, protection and wicking. Garment design may be geared to sailing (with a high content of hydrophobic polypropylene content), to climbing (lighter constructions in polyester) and to motorcycle wear exploiting the enhanced strength of polyamide (Tecso, 2009). Padding may be incorporated in the seat area for enhanced comfort, comparable with cycling pants (X-Bionic, 2009). Santoni technology has also been used in the application of textile sensors for vital signs monitoring (Textronics).
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