Imagine wearing a T-shirt that can measure your breathing or gloves that translate your hand movements into commands for your computer.
Researchers at ETH Zurich, led by Professor Daniel Ahmed, are making this futuristic concept a reality with their innovative development called SonoTextiles.
Unlike traditional smart fabrics that rely on electronics, SonoTextiles use sound waves passed through glass fibers to detect movement, touch, and pressure.
This unique approach not only makes the measurements more precise but also results in lighter, more breathable, and easier-to-wash fabrics.
According to Ahmed, the technology is also cost-effective, as it uses readily available materials and consumes very little power.
The secret behind SonoTextiles lies in the integration of glass fibers into the fabric. These fibers are woven into the material at regular intervals, with each fiber having a tiny transmitter at one end and a receiver at the other.
The transmitter sends out sound waves, while the receiver measures any changes in those waves. Each transmitter operates at a different frequency, making it easy to determine which fiber has been affected by movement.
This method reduces the data overload and processing issues that have been challenges for previous smart textile technologies.
One of the major breakthroughs of SonoTextiles is its ability to measure even subtle movements.
For example, a smart T-shirt made with these glass fibers could track your breathing patterns, making it particularly useful for monitoring asthma patients or people with respiratory conditions.
During sports training, the fabric could analyze your movements in real time, helping athletes optimize their performance and prevent injuries.
The possibilities for SonoTextiles go beyond health and fitness. In the future, gloves made with this technology could translate hand gestures into text or speech, providing a new way for people who use sign language to communicate.
They could also enhance virtual and augmented reality experiences by making interactions with digital environments more responsive.
Additionally, these smart fabrics could be used to monitor posture, offering instant feedback to help people correct their stance and avoid back pain. For wheelchair users, the fabric could alert them when it’s time to change position to prevent pressure sores.
Although the concept has proven successful in lab tests, there are still challenges to overcome before SonoTextiles are ready for everyday use.
One concern is the durability of the glass fibers, which are fragile and could break during daily wear.
Professor Ahmed suggests that the glass fibers could eventually be replaced with metal, which also conducts sound effectively and is more durable. The research team is now focusing on making the technology more robust and integrating it seamlessly into everyday clothing.
SonoTextiles represents a significant step forward in smart clothing technology, opening the door to a future where our clothes can sense, respond, and even communicate with us in ways we once only imagined.
