E-textiles

E-textiles, also known as "electronic textiles" are fabrics that enable computing and digital components and have electronics embedded in them. It is used to develop intelligent clothing or smart clothing. This allows for the incorporation of built-in technological elements in our everyday textiles and clothes. It does not strictly encompass wearable computing because emphasis is placed on the technology not being visible on the fabric and a computer is not actually embedded into the fabric. While not part of the mainstream form of fashion, its popularity is increasing and more research is being devoted to it [http://www.ccm.ece.vt.edu/etextiles/] .

Some e-textiles incorporate LED components in them. A developed e-textile in an intelligent clothing product that is already available is a snow jacket that allows its wearer to control his/her music while listening to it.

See also

wearable computers intelligent clothingANOTHER DEFINITION BY NKElectronic textiles (e-textiles) are fabrics that have electronics and interconnections woven into them, with physical flexibility and size that cannot be achieved with existing electronic manufacturing techniques. Components and interconnections are intrinsic to the fabric and thus are less visible and not susceptible to becoming tangled together or snagged by the surroundings. An e-textile can be worn in everyday situations where currently available wearable computers would hinder the user. E-textiles can also more easily adapt to changes in the computational and sensing requirements of an application, a useful feature for power management and context awareness.