Slip Back in Time
History of Electronic Textiles
(Electronic textiles are fabrics that have electronics woven into them.)
1970s First Interactive Fabric - The first interactive fabric was made in the 1970’s. It had rows and columns that looked like a keyboard. When you pressed two points together, two conducting layers had a current flowing through them.
1996 Smart Shirt - The SMART shirt was introduced in 1996. A SMART shirt can take and send data about the wearer, and record heart rate, respiration, body temperature, and pulse.
2000 Jackets with Wearable Electronics - The first wired electronic garments were introduced in 2000 by Levi Strauss & Co, and Philips Research Labs. These were wired jackets with wearable electronics. These jackets connected to MP3 players and mobile phones. They had hidden wires in the fabric that allowed the user to operate the devices with a remote control.
2004 Two Rings of Light-Sensitive Semiconductor Material in Fiber - Researchers created the world’s first metal insulator semiconductor fiber device that detected light in 2004; then it was used in 2009 by Yoel Fink when he discovered how to make fabrics operate like a camera. It is a fabric that can see using a new generation of fibers.
In 2012 a New Electronic Textile is Made From Layers of Carbon Nanotubes - They are woven into a new material called Power Felt. It is a thermoelectric fabric. This material is flexible and changes body heat into an electric current.