Design of co-evolving textiles applied to smart products

Abstract

Among the main barriers to the production of smart textiles on an industrial scale, there are the difficulty of integration of electronic and textile raw materials; the maintenance of textiles, especially with regard to their washing; and the poor durability of smart capabilities associated with the textile structure. Moreover, most breakthroughs in the development of smart textiles occur in a limited way and targeted to meet the specific features of the project or wearable product. This article proposes the hypothesis of co-evolving smart textile as a contribution to overcome these problems. Memorization and customization features are viable due to nanotechnology and assigned to the textile basis. These characteristics aim to contribute to the progress in the design and production process of smart textiles in large scale, aimed at daily use, and able to co-evolve with the user’s body and the surrounding environment.