SMART Textiles: The Use of Embedded Technology on Tactile Textiles as Therapy for the Elderly

Abstract

This research project focuses on the therapeutic abilities of Tactile Textiles for the use of the elderly in Singapore as a form of touch therapy, especially for those with deteriorating senses. The main aim of the project is to use the technique of heat setting to form Tactile Textiles to stimulate the sense of touch. With the use of embedded technology, a series of textile-based cushions with tactile surfaces responding to the patient’s sense of touch and sight have been developed and tested by the elderly in an eldercare centre.