Smart clothing is refueling by mobile

Your t-shirt may quickly track your workouts, monitor your health and control your phone – all without battery or bulky gadgets. Scientists created special threads that transform regular clothing into a technical center, using only the body’s dynamic movement.

The new technology, recently published in wearable electronics, weaves electronic power directly into fabric fibers, just like regular clothing.

“We focus on the mechanism of three functions of fiber-optic energy generation, signal sensing and wireless transmission, and designed an automatic wireless intelligent clothing system.”

There is a major problem with current wearable technology – it is not very wearable. Smartwatch pinches your wrist, fitness trackers require constant charging, and “smart clothing” often feels stiff and uncomfortable. This new approach solves these problems with a line-like design that can be bent and stretched naturally with fabrics.

The magic happens in the three-layer design of the fiber. As you move, the outer layer creates tiny charges through friction. The intermediate layer prevents these charges from dissipating, while the inner copper core converts them into wireless signals. No battery required – your movement powers everything.

In real-world tests, researchers created outfits with touch areas that allow users to control the game of smartwatches by simply tapping their sleeves. They also made fitness clothes to track specific body movements and detect sweat composition for health monitoring.

What makes this breakthrough practical is that it is easy to integrate with existing manufacturing industries. The team has produced hundreds of meters of these electronic wires and demonstrated how standard embroidery machines sew them into conventional fabrics.

Unlike other smart textiles, these electronic fibers keep fabric breathable (a key factor in comfort) and extend machine washing – two obstacles keep the former smart clothing concept from reaching the closet.

For athletes, this could mean training clothing that provides detailed performance data without uncomfortable sensors. For patients, it may enable everyday clothing to monitor health without the stigma of medical equipment.

“Our results demonstrate the potential of electromagnetic reproduction around the human body using clothing and provide a starting point for converting the concept of wearable electronics into textile platforms for wireless sensing, signal processing and energy transfer,” Wang noted.

While these high-tech threads still need improvement before they get onto the store shelves, they represent a fundamental shift in our interaction with technology – not like what we wear on our bodies, but an invisible, seamless part of the clothes we already love.

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