Smart Textiles and Smart Personnel Protective Equipment

Abstract

Wearable computing and smart textiles are the enablers for smartPPE (Personnel Protective Equipment). Was wearable computing first the idea to integrate computing power into clothing to, e.g., access information, we observe in recent years a split into two domains: wearable computers as smartphones, glasses and wristbands on one side and smart textiles on the other side. The research here described in some detail deals with a specific domain where these two developments meet: the smartPPE where the smart textile gathers sensor information and the wearable computer automatically generates context information to protect the health status of the person wearing the smart textile. This can be necessary due to perilous environments or chronic diseases.