1532-7590
1044-7318
HIHC
Intl.
Journal of HumanComputer Interaction
Interaction, Vol. 25, No. 6, June 2009: pp. 00
Review
Cho,
Lee,
and
and
Reappraisal
Cho
of Smart Clothing
1. INTRODUCTION
Clothing is a special environment that we need and use everyday. Clothing is an
environment that is personal, comfortable, close to the body and used almost
anywhere and anytime (Kirstein, Cottet, Grzyb, & Trster, 2005). People enjoy
clothing, with pleasures associated with its selection and wearing.
There is a need for an ambient intelligence where intelligent devices are
integrated into the everyday surroundings and provide a multitude of services to
everyone. As our lives become more complex, people want ambient intelligence
to be personalized, embedded, unobtrusive, and used anytime and anywhere.
Clothing would be an ideal place for intelligent systems because clothing could
enhance our capabilities without requiring any conscious thought or effort
(Mann, 1996). Clothing can build a very intimate form of interaction between
human and machine.
Smart clothing is a smart system capable of sensing and communicating with
environmental and the wearers conditions and stimuli. The stimulus and
We thank the Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy for the financial support (project
no. 10016447).
Correspondence should be sent to Gilsoo Cho, Department of Clothing & Textiles, College of
Human Ecology, Yonsei University, 134 Shinchon-Dong, Sudaemun-Gu, Seoul 120-749, South Korea.
E-mail: gscho@yonsei.ac.kr
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and data processing. Energy management relates to energy supply and storage.
Integrated circuits are miniature electronic circuits built on a semiconductor
substrate.
2.1. Interface Technologies
Input and output interfaces are used to transfer information between devices and
the wearer as well as between the wearer and environment.
Input Interface
In smart clothing systems, buttons and keyboards are used as input interfaces
that are relatively simple and easy to learn and implement (Tao, 2005a). For more
complex tasks, input interfaces such as voice recognition are needed. Devices
such as sensors are used to monitor context, which can be, for example, the physiological state of the wearer or the wearers location. Much effort has been made
on developing textile-based interface devices for use in smart clothing.
Textile-based buttons and keyboards. Conductivity in textiles is essential
in accomplishing smart clothing technology because the degree of electrical conductivity makes them pathways for carrying electronic information or energy for
a range of functions (Lam Po Tang & Stylios, 2006). Conductivity in textiles can be
imparted at various textile stages. Conductive polymers, fibers, yarns, fabrics,
embroidery, and finishing are vital components in constructing smart clothing
systems.
Textile-based buttons and keyboards have been developed based on various
mechanisms. The SOFTswitch (http://www.softswitch.co.uk) is one example
of a pressure sensitive textile material. It is made of conductive fabrics with a thin
layer of elasto resistive composite, which is called a quantum tunneling composite.
The composite has a characteristic to be an isolator in its normal condition and to
change in a metal-like conductor when it is compressed, transforming mechanical
pressure to electrical signals. The touch-sensitive material can be used as
switches and pressure sensors.
The Sensory Fabric (Swallow & Thompson, 2001) consists of two conductive
fabric layers separated by a meshed nonconductive layer. The system works by
contact between the two conductive layers through the holes in the nonconductive mesh when the material is pressed. This pressure-sensitive fabric can be used
for such items as switches, soft keypads, and pressure sensors.
Another system uses a multilayer structure to form a resistive touchpad.
ElekTex is a laminate of five fabric layers, in which the outer and central layers are
conductive and two insulating layers are around the central layer (http://
www.eleksen.com). When touched, the layers are compressed together to form an
electronic circuit and generate positional values (X and Y) with a low resolution
pressure measurement (Z).
A textile-based keypad developed at the Smart Wear Research Center, Yonsei
University is shown in Figure 1. The textile-based keypad was fabricated using a
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Switch fabric
Textile-based keypad
switch fabric in which stainless steel yarns are used as warp and filling with
other types of yarn and a metal dome switch is inserted. The switch fabric
works by contact between the conductive warp and filling yarns and the metal
dome switch when compressed.
Textile-based bio-monitoring sensors and electrodes. Sensors measure
and monitor biometric or environmental data and can act as an input interface
device. Fabric-based sensors and electrodes have been developed from conductive fabrics or fiber optics.
Biometric information. Textile sensors are used for the recording of electrocardiogram (ECG), respiration rate, heart rate, and so on. Conventional sensors
often cause problems because of their physical structure or functional requirements. They cause discomfort such as skin irritation either by the adhesive part of
the electrodes or the gel used with conventional ECG electrodes (Catrysse et al.,
2004). As an alternative to conventional sensors, textile sensors are developed to
overcome these inconveniences.
Van Langenhove and Hertleer (2004) reported developments of textile electrodes for ECG and heart rate measurements. The so-called Textrodes are made of
stainless steel fibers and have a knitted structure, making direct and close contact
with the body. They were incorporated into a belt to be worn around the thorax.
It was reported that the textile electrodes provide accurate signals, as compared
with conventional electrodes, despite the presence of additional noise. This
technology can be applied for monitoring of patients in clinical conditions and
healthcare, of sportsmen during intense physical activities, of professional workers
engaged in extreme environmental conditions, and so on.
At the Smart Wear Research Center, Yonsei University, textile-based ECG
electrodes were developed using embroidery. Stainless steel yarns were used to
embroider electrodes as shown in Figure 2. The embroidered electrodes were
attached to three types of knitted shirts with different spandex content from 0 to 7%
to examine the effect of fabric elasticity on ECG monitoring and the wearers comfort.
The performance of embroidered electrodes is further discussed in section 3.5.
In the work of Loriga, Taccini, De Rossi, and Paradiso (2005), conductive and
piezoresistive yarns were integrated in a knitted garment and used as sensor and
electrode elements to monitor cardiopulmonary activity. Strain fabric sensors
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FIGURE 2
were realized based on conductive yarn as the piezoresistive domains. The fabrics
exhibited piezoresistive properties in response to an external mechanical stimulus, and a voltage divider was used to convert resistance acquired by fabric
piezoresistive sensors to voltage. Fabric electrodes were realized with a yarn in
which a stainless steel wire was twisted around a cotton-based yarn. Electrocardiogram and impedance pneumography signals were obtained from the fabric
sensors and electrodes.
Catrysse et al. (2004) developed a textile sensor, called the Respibelt, for
measuring respiration. Made of a stainless steel yarn and knitted in a Lycracontaining belt, the belt was able to provide an adjustable stretch. The Respibelt
was worn around the abdomen or thorax, and circumference and length changes
of the Respibelt from breathing were measured, which gives changes in resistance
and inductance. Thoracic changes in perimeter and cross-section were measured
through the resistance and inductance variation.
Brady et al. (2005) presented a foam-based pressure sensor that was integrated
into a garment for monitoring the wearers respiration rate. The sensor was fabricated by coating polyurethane foam with a conducting polymer, polypyrrole
(PPy). The conducting polymer coated foams were soft, compressible, and sensitive to forces from all three dimensions, unlike coated fabrics that work as twodimensional. The PPy coated foam sensors measure chest expansion based on
compression of the foam structure between the body and the garment, whereas
the conductive fabric sensors, described earlier, measure respiration rate based on
the expansion and contraction of the ribcage from the stretch of the sensor.
In recent years, fiber optic technologies have attracted much attention in that
they offer both sensing and signal transmission functions. Fiber Bragg-grating
(FBG) sensors are fabricated by modulating the refractive index of the core in a
single-mode optic fiber to detect the wavelength-shift induced by strain or
temperature change (Tian & Tao, 2001; D. Yang, Tao, & Zhang, 2001). FBG sensors
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contain a diffraction grid that reflects the incident light of a certain wavelength in
the direction from where the light is coming. The value of this wavelength
linearly relates to a possible elongation or contraction of the fiber. In this way, the
Bragg sensor can function as a sensor for deformation. They have been used for
the monitoring of the structural condition of fiber-reinforced composites, concrete
constructions or other construction materials. The potential applications of FBG
sensors in smart clothing include health monitoring, impact detection, shape
control, and so on.
Impact/hazard detection. In the work of Jayaraman and coworkers (Lind
et al., 1997; Park & Jayaraman, 2001), plastic optical fibers are used to monitor
fabric damage, which can provide a means of detecting location of impact
wounds for military applications. In the so-called wearable motherboard, plastic optical fiber is integrated into the garment during the fabric production process. Upon the penetration of a projectile, for example, bullets and shrapnel,
broken paths in the fabrics can provide information about the degree of damage
and location. This technology can be applied for protective clothing, providing
information on bullet penetration, chemical, thermal, physical, and biological
attacks. The information can then be used to provide medical treatment in the
event of injury.
El-Sherif, Yuan, and MacDiarmid (2000) developed fiber optic sensors and
integrated them into soldiers uniforms. The optical fibers have a chemical agent
or an environmentally sensitive cladding material, which can change the light
propagation characteristics of the fiber. The sensors can detect various battlefield
hazards, such as chemical, biological and thermal hazards.
Body movement/ body position of the wearer. Farringdon, Moore, Tilbury,
Church, and Biemond (1999) developed knitted stretch sensors that measure stretch
from resistive changes in knitted strips. Fabric is specially knitted to combine 10 mm
wide conductive threads. When the fabric is stretched, the resistance of these threads
alters, allowing monitoring the wearers movement.
There is growing interest on intrinsically conductive polymers (ICPs) for
use in smart clothing as sensors, actuators, and so on, as briefly mentioned in
the conducting polymer coated foam sensors. ICPs are promising candidates
for use in wearable systems because they possess mechanical properties as
well as the electrical, electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of a metal.
Examples of ICPs include PPy and polyaniline. ICPs alone or in blends with
conventional polymers can be used to produce conductive fibers or used as
coating materials.
De Rossi, Della Santa, and Mazzoldi (1999) reported that fabrics coated
with a thin layer of conducting polymers possess strain and temperature sensing properties. A combination of conducting polymer and fabric particularly
useful was PPy and Lycra because of high piezoresistive and thermoresistive
coefficients while being elastic and conformable to the human body. PPy-coated
Lycra fabrics compared well with sensitive strain gauge materials and inorganic
thermistors.
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which were then developed into knitted structures. In a shirt developed by Corpo
Nove (http://www.corponove.it), SMA was woven with traditional textile material. The shirt shortens its sleeves when the temperature increases, and creases in
the fabric disappear when stimulated.
SMPs exhibit higher extensibility, superior processability, lower weight, and
better hand and touch, compared with SMAs (Lam Po Tang & Stylios, 2006).
Examples of SMPs include segmented polyurethane-based polymers, crosslinked
poly(cyclooctene) and poly(lactic acid) and poly(vinylacetate) blends. SMPs can
be extruded as fibers and used as filament yarns or spun in combination with
other fibers, which can be incorporated into knitted or woven structures (Chan
Vili, 2007).
2.2. Communication
Communication refers to information and power transfer between various components of smart clothing. Short-range communications include communications
within a wearable device and those between two wearable devices on the user.
Long-range communications refer to communications between two users (Tao,
2005a). Diverse techniques exist for textile-based networks.
Short-Range Communications
In smart clothing systems, on-body communications can be wired or wireless,
including embedded wiring, infrared, and Bluetooth technology.
Embedded wiring. Considerable work has been done on replacing traditional wires with textile-based networks for use in smart clothing. Different
techniques including conductive fibers, yarns, fabrics, embroidery, and optical
fibers have been examined.
In the work of Post and Orth (1997), electronic circuits were built using various
conductive textiles. Conductor lines were realized by embroidering metal fibers
or weaving silk threads that were wrapped in thin copper foil. Gripper snaps, a
common sewing closure, were used as interconnects between conductive fabrics
and electronics (Post, Orth, Russo, & Gershenfeld, 2000). Electric suspender
developed by Gorlick (1999) contains stainless steel conductors for power and
data buses.
In the work of Dhawan, Seyam, Ghosh, and Muth (2004), conductive threads
were woven to develop woven fabric-based electrically conductive circuits. Conductive and nonconductive threads were arranged and interlaced to form woven
conductive networks, and interconnects were developed at the crossover points
of orthogonal conductive threads.
Textile-based transmission lines shown in Figure 3 were developed using
Teflon-coated stainless steel yarns at the Smart Wear Research Center, Yonsei
University. The conductive bands were fabricated by weaving with the stainless
steel yarn as warp and polyester yarns as filling and warp. Five strands of signal
transmission lines were placed 2.54 mm from each other in the warp direction of
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the band, and the width of the band was set at 14 mm to allow easy connection
with regular connectors. The bands were very flexible as illustrated in the figure.
The transmission lines can be used as a textile-based network connecting various
electronic components in smart clothing.
Jayaraman and coworkers (Lind et al., 1997; Park & Jayaraman, 2001) developed a garment in which electrically conductive fiber and plastic optical fibers
transfer information from sensors to processing units. As mentioned earlier, the
garment was designed for military use, monitoring vital signs in combat personnel, detecting bullet wounds, and transferring information on bullet penetration.
These tasks were performed by interfiber electrical connections and connectors
for power and data interconnects to and from the garment.
Wireless short-range communications. Infrared communication is widely
used on remote controls, laptops, and digital cameras. Starner, Kirsch, and Assefa
(1997) reported the development of the Locust Swarm system, which provides
messaging and location information. The system used infrared to transfer indoor
position information. Infrared has the line-of-sight requirement, which can be a
limitation, but it is inexpensive and suitable for a short-range data transfer.
Bluetooth is a new technology that connects and transfers information between
electronic devices over a short-range radio frequency. Bluetooth technology has
been used for a short-range data transfer in various smart clothing systems (Hung,
Zhang, & Tai, 2004; Naya, Noma, Ohmura, & Kogure, 2005). Hung, Zhang, and Tai
(2004) investigated use of Bluetooth technology in combination with wearable
sensors to provide real-time vital sign monitoring of remote patients. In the work
of Naya et al. (2005), a Bluetooth-based indoor proximity detection method was
proposed for location awareness in nursing context. Proximity information
exchanged between Bluetooth devices attached to people and medical apparatus
helps estimating location of a nurse, patient, and medical equipment.
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energy supplies is required. For real wearability, issues such as maintenance and
durability need to be addressed as well. Human aspects in smart clothing, which
is another integral part to consider in smart clothing, is discussed in the following
section.
3. HUMAN ASPECTS IN SMART CLOTHING
Because smart clothing pursues integration of clothing and electronic devices, it
must create the functions that users would like their clothing to exhibit, not mere
miniaturization of electronics. To make smart clothing to effectively interact with
users and environments, it is necessary to consider human aspects in smart clothing.
Human aspects of smart clothing are derived from the integrated characteristics
of both clothing and electronic devices. As shown in Figure 4, the characteristics
of electronic devices are usability, functionality, durability, and safety, whereas
the characteristics of clothing include comfort, fashion, durability, and safety.
Thus smart clothing needs to be simultaneously equipped with the usability and
functionality of electronic devices along with the comfort and fashion of clothing,
in addition to the safety and durability, the two common features shared by both
clothing and electronic devices.
3.1. Usability
Usability is a key factor associated with interfaces of smart clothing. In other
words, it should provide easy input and output interfaces. As Nielson (1993)
pointed out, usability has multiple components and is traditionally associated
with these five usability attributes: learnability, efficiency, memorability, errors,
and satisfaction.
Learnability: The system should be easy to learn so that the user can rapidly
start getting some work done.
Efficiency: The system should be efficient to use, so that once the user has
learned the system, a high level of productivity is possible.
Electronic devices
Clothing
Usability
Durability
Comfort
Functionality
Safety
Fashion
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Memorability: The system should be easy to remember, so that the casual user
is able to return to the system after some period of not having used it, without having to learn everything all over again.
Low error rate: The system should have a low error rate, so that users make
few errors during the use of the system. When and if they do make errors,
they should be able to recover from them easily. Furthermore, catastrophic
errors must not occur.
Satisfaction: The system should be pleasant to use.
ISO 9241-11 (ISO, 1988) suggests measuring usability on three levelseffectiveness,
efficiency, and satisfaction. Therefore, usability in smart clothing could be a function of the cognitive requirements associated with interactive matters.
Research on usability of smart clothing and wearable computers can be found
in several papers. Gorlenko and Merrick (2003) discussed the usability of smart
clothing in a general way. However, Chae and colleagues (Chae et al., 2007a; Chae
et al., 2007b) focus on the establishment of a usability test tool and evaluation of
smart clothing products using the test tool.
Gorlenko and Merrick (2003) discussed the challenges of usability for mobile
wireless computing. The most obvious challenge is dealing with the requirement
of mobility. The complexity of wearables presents serious challenges not only in
the design process but also in the design methodology. To ensure the userorientation of the products, the goal of usability assessment should make the user
part of the design process, reducing the need for producing expensive and timeconsuming physical prototypes.
Chae et al. (2007a) developed a usability evaluation tool consisting of 53 questionnaires on the usability of smart clothing. The questionnaires obtained from
observations and wearing tests include five categories: social acceptance, feeling
of wearing, utility, easiness of maintenance, and safety. They have also applied
the tool in evaluating the MP3 smart clothing products (Chae et al., 2007b). Their
result indicated that improvement on the keypad interface is the most frequently
requested improvement.
3.2. Functionality
To implement the five kinds of technologies (interface, communication, energy
management, data management, integrated circuits) in the smart clothing system,
the wearable technology should be applied to each of them. The functionality of
each smart clothing technology needs to be evaluated. Currently, the textile-based
input interface and communication devices have been actively developed: textilebased keypads, textile electrodes for interface technology, and textile-based signal
transmission lines for wireless communication technology. Functionality of smart
clothing has been dealt with in a few papers. We introduce three works regarding
the functionality test on keypads and ECG electrodes.
To test the functionality of keypads, Cho, Moon, Sung, Jeong, and Cho (2007)
compared subjective evaluation and measured operation forces of the two types
of keypads, one with metal domes and the other with rubber domes. The result
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showed that rubber dome keypads with 62 gf of operation force were preferred to
metal dome keypads with 320 gf of operation force (Figure 5). Likewise, optimization of the feedback is a key aspect for keypads construction.
There have been researches on the performance of textile-based ECG electrodes,
which were developed to replace AgCl ECG electrodes commercially available for
medical use. Jang, Cho, Jeong, and Cho (2007) developed a type of electrode made
of Cu-sputtered polyester fabric, and Cho, Jang, and Cho (2007) constructed
another type of electrode by embroidering stainless steel yarns on a cotton fabric.
To make Cu-sputtered fabrics for ECG electrodes, Cu-sputtering was performed on water-resistant nylon fabrics in a vacuum chamber by applying a high
voltage across a low-pressure argon gas. For the ECG measurement, the textile
electrodes were prepared in the size of 1.5 cm 3 cm. Then, they were placed on
both wrists and on one right ankle replacing the conventional AgCl electrodes.
Generally, the signals of both AgCl and Cu-sputtered textile electrodes
represented similar wave patterns as shown in Figure 6. But it was found that the
Cu-sputtered electrodes showed wider range of voltage than the AgCl electrodes
did. This is because of wider contact area of the textile electrodes than the commercially available AgCl electrodes, which were 1 cm in diameter.
On the other hand, the other types of electrodes were constructed by embroidering stainless steel yarns. The electrodes were attached into three positions of
right and left chests and left abdomen of mens sleeveless shirts. By conducting
wear test, the R-peak detection rates were obtained from ECG signals (Figure 7).
The reason why the embroidered electrodes had lower accuracy than the
Cu-sputtered textile electrodes is because of the lower conductance of stainless
steel yarn and much smaller contact area.
3.3. Durability
Durability is another important requirement because clothing is supposed to
withstand harsh conditions during launderings and everyday use. All electronic
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FIGURE 7
operated an MP3 player using the laundered fabric by replacing the middle parts
of earphone lines, the earphones successfully worked and no sound quality difference was subjectively perceived. Therefore, the metal plated fabric with PU
double sealing exhibited almost the same performance as the conventional Cu
earphone lines (Figure 8).
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3.4. Safety
Safety is the state of being safe, the condition of being protected against physical,
social, psychological, or other types of harm. The mechanical feature of the smart
clothing may be accrued as a result of functional error. Providing safe smart clothing
requires consideration of physical forms, electromagnetic waves, electric current,
and so on.
To improve the safety performance of conductive narrow fabric for signal
transmission, Y. Yang, Sung, Cho, Jeong, and Cho (2007) investigated whether
Teflon-coating on the metal yarns, used for constructing conductive narrow
fabric, provide better safety function. After external physical force (bending/
abrasion) has been applied to the fabric, their functionalities with respect to
electric insulation and electrical interference between neighboring lines were
compared. The result verified that the narrow fabric utilizing Teflon-coated signal
transmission lines had superior safety performance in maintaining electric insulation and preventing electrical interference (Figure 9).
For the mass-production of smart clothing, the safety functions of smart
clothing should be studied further from more diverse aspects. Through that
process, a standard index needs to be established for both manufacturers and
consumers.
(a) Without Teflon coating (before abrasion) (b) With Teflon coating (before abrasion)
FIGURE 9 Conductive narrow fabrics for signal transmission lines before and after
abrasion.
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3.5. Comfort
Generally, comfort can be defined as freedom from discomfort and pain. It is a
neutral state. According to Hatch (1993), comfort can be divided into three
aspects: thermophysiological comfort, sensorial or neurophysiological comfort,
and body-movement comfort.
Comfort relates to the way in which clothing affects heat, moisture, and air
transfer as well as the way in which the body interacts with clothing (Barfield
et al., 2001). This aspect of comfort is referred to as thermophysiological comfort. In addition, comfort is related to the issue of how consumers actually feel
when clothing comes into contact with the skin. This is referred to as sensorial or
neurophysiological comfort. Finally, comfort is related to the ability of clothing
to allow freedom of movement, reduced burden, and body shaping as required.
This is called body-movement comfort.
So far, comfort assessment has been carried out for wearable devices such as
helmet or arm-worn devices (Robinette & Whitestone, 1994; Stein, Ferrero,
Hetfield, Quinn, & Krichever, 1998; Whitestone, 1993 ). However, comfort assessment has been conducted using limited dimensional scales without considering
various aspects.
Cho, Jang, et al. (2007) developed ECG monitoring shirts varying in the
spandex content (0%, 5%, and 7%). Subjective evaluation for ECG shirts was
conducted through wear test, using questionnaires including tightness, irritation, and easiness of movement. As the result, the shirt with 5% spandex was
preferred.
Most of the researches on evaluation of smart clothing have been carried out by
Knight and Barber. They developed the comfort rating scales (CRSs) specifically
to assess the comfort of wearable technology (Knight & Barber, 2005; Knight,
Baber, Schwirtz, & Bristow, 2002). The CRSs attempt to gain a comprehensive
assessment of the comfort status of the wearer by measuring comfort across six
dimensions. These dimensions are (a) emotion (concerns about appearance and
relaxation), (b) attachment (comfort related to non-harmful physical sensation of
the device on the body), (c) harm (physical sensation conveying pain), (d) perceived change (nonharmful indirect physical sensation making the wearer feel
different overall with perceptions such as being awkward or uncoordinated), (e)
movement (awareness of modification to posture or movement due to direct
impedance of inhibition by the device), and (f) anxiety (worries as to the safety of
wearing the device and concerns as to whether the wearer is using it correctly or
it is working appropriately).
The CRSs run on a 20-point scale and require that the users rate their level of
agreement from low to high to statements associated with each of the dimensions. The CRS have been used to assess the comfort of a number of wearable
technologies and in different situations (Bodine & Gemperle, 2003; Knight &
Baber, 2005; Knight, Baber, Schwirtz, & Bristow, 2002).
When we compare CRSs with the conventional criteria for clothing comfort,
which includes thermophysiological, sensorial, and body-movement comfort,
CRSs deals with psychological or emotional aspects in smart clothing as importantly as it deals with the physical and physiological aspects.
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blood pressure. The initial system consists of three lead ECG, heart rate monitor,
and respiration monitor. The SmartShirt uses electro-optical fibers embedded in
the fabric to collect biomedical information. The information is sent to a transmitter at the base of the shirt where it is stored on a memory chip or sent to a doctor,
coach, or personal server via a wireless network like Bluetooth, RF, wLAN, or cellular. This item is equipped with basic components for a smart clothing system,
but only a limited textile technology is used on communication.
The VivoMetricss flagship product, Lifeshirt, is an ambulatory monitoring
vest that monitors respiration by means of thoracic and abdominal inductive
plethysmography bands sewn into a Lycra vest. In this case, the shirts input
interface system is functionalized with carbon-loaded rubber piezoresistive fabric
sensors, used to monitor respiration trace (Grossman, 2003). Lifeshirt also
includes an ECG sensor, which is usually used for medical purposes. Once the
data are gathered, they are stored in Lifeshirt recorder. This data management
system is incorporated into a customized Handspring worn on the patients belt
or carried in a pocket. After gathering the data, the patient will upload the data
via the Internet to the VivoMetrics secure data center. Then the data are reviewed
by technicians and physicians. Lifeshirt is a commercial product that collects, analyzes, and reports on the individuals pulmonary, cardiac, and posture data
(Solaz et al., 2006).
Taccini, Loriga, Dittmar, Paradiso, and Milior (2004) presented the Wealthy
system, that integrates several function modules such as sensing, conditioning,
preprocessing, data transmission, and remote monitoring. The Wealthy system
also contains a prototype of a respiration sensing device that uses impedance to
derive the respiration of the wearer. The main respiration and movement activity
come from piezoresistive sensors, which are used in the input interface, sampled
at 16 Hz. Signals from them are transmitted with no local processing. The coated
Lycra fabric was used to detect respiration signals. Strain fabric sensors based on
piezoresistive yarns and the fabric electrodes realized with metal-based yarns
enable the realization of wearable and wireless instrumented garments capable of
recording physiological signals. The Wealthy system is to be used during the routine activity and to be worn in place of a classical garment without any discomfort
for the user. The most innovative character of this system consists in the use of
functionalized materials in the form of fibers and yarns which can be knitted or
woven into a multifunctional sensing fabric (Taccini et al., 2004).
Sensate Liner was designed by Lind and Eisler (1997) to implement a manageable cost-effective systems approach to monitoring the medical condition of personnel by way of an instrumented uniform. The Sensate Liner textile consists of a
mesh of electrically and optically conductive fibers integrated into the normal structure (woven or knitted) of fibers and yarns selected for comfort and durability. The
Sensate Liner consists of a form-fitting two-piece jumpsuits, which contain and
interconnect sensing elements and device to an electronics pack containing a
processor and a transmitter. The structure contains regularly spaced yarns acting
as sensing elements and precisely positioned yarns for carrying signals from the
sensors to the Personal Status Monitor. The fabric substrates are also suitable for
incorporation of optical sensors, reflective or camouflage materials, communications networking, or fiberoptic cable interfaces.
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FIGURE 10
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Body Movement
Motions, motion patterns, gestures, and postures are basic elements characterizing human activity. Tracking of body motions, gestures and positions provide
information useful for activity classification, for denoising of other biosignals, and
for interpretation of the physiological status (Trster, 2004). Accelerometers,
gyroscopes, magnetometers, piezoelectric sensors and global positioning system
(GPS) are often combined to detect motion.
Many studies have been conducted on the methods of measuring human
motions in various areas, making use of such equipment as wearable computers
or smart clothing. Most of them have utilized motion capture systems and
acceleration sensors. However, this technique causes inconveniences to users and
requires many devices such as cameras and image analyzing systems. Thus,
textile-based motion sensors can be an alternative to motion capture systems
(Sung, Cho, Jeong, & Cho, 2007).
Sung, DeVaul, Jimenez, Gips, and Pentland (2004) presented a wearable realtime shiver monitor based on the MIThril Live Net system, a flexible distributed
mobile platform that can be used for a variety of proactive health care applications. In this exploratory study, they have demonstrated that shivering can be
accurately determined from continuous accelerometer sensing. They attempted to
develop a real-time wearable monitor that is capable of accurately classifying
shivering motions through simple accelerometer sensing and statistical machine
learning techniques. Motion sensing is accomplished via two embedded microcontroller-based sensors based on the Analog Devices ADXL202 accelerometer
part. As moderate cold exposure occurs, this shivering can become intense,
uncontrollable. This exploratory research anticipates the emergence of real-time
health monitoring systems capable of classifying the cold exposure of soldiers in
harsh cold environments with noninvasive sensing and minimal embedded
computational resources.
Motoi et al. (2006) developed a wearable system for monitoring static and
dynamic posture together with the walking speed, reporting its usefulness in the
rehabilitation field. Using the new system, a quantitative assessment of the patients
motion can be carried out during rehabilitation programs. In the dynamic posture, the angle change is obtained by integrating the gyro-sensor signal. By using
a CCD camera and capture board, the movements of four markers attached on the
subjects are simultaneously recorded with a frame speed of 30 frames per second.
Posture changes of participants are also recorded using a digital video camera.
Despite the precise evaluation, this system still needs to be flexible by applying
the electronic textile technology.
Inductive fiber-meshed transducers were developed by Wijesiriwardana
(2006), which can be integrated into garments for angular measurements. The
inductive fiber-meshed transducers can be integrated into sleeves of the garments
and they can be integrated at the tights and the calf of leggings. Knitting technology is used for its construction and metallic as the materials. A single coil based
on variation in self-inductance or electromagnetic induction is used for the measurement of angular displacement. The input interface incorporating knitting
technology provides more body movement comfort than any other materials.
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Gibbs and Asada (2004) created wearable conductive fiber sensors for measuring
joint movements that provide a technique that uses conductive fibers as part of a
wearable sensor for continuous monitoring of joint movements. To measure such
joint movements, an array of 11 conductive yarns across the knee joint is used for
the input interface. Each yarn is separated by a distance of 5 mm, and each has an
unstretched length of 55 cm. The threads are silver-plated nylon 66 yarns produced by embedding tiny particles of electrically conductive carbon powder into
the surface of a nylon fiber.
A sensing and monitoring system was developed by Michahelles and Schiele
(2005) for professional skiers. The system based on wearable sensors and video
recording can reveal important features describing the athletes motions, helping
trainers to identify the skiers strengths and weaknesses. Using force-sensing
resistors, they placed sensors on 3 points on the foot in the shape of a triangle and
averaged the pressure to obtain a center of pressure. When the skiers foot applies
pressure, semiconductive ink in the sensor produces a shunting of the electrodes,
which we measure as a resistance value. The system can provide autonomous
teaching of snowboarding, skateboarding, and cycling.
Taelman et al. (2006) suggested contactless EMG sensors for continuous monitoring of muscle activity to prevent musculoskeletal disorders. The sensors are
developed to construct a wearable textile with integrated EMG sensors capable of
measuring muscle activity in an unobtrusive way. The developed sensors do not
require electrical contact with the skin because they detect an electric displacement current by means of a capacitive coupling to the body. For the integration of
the sensors, embroidery with conductive and insulated threads is used. The
avoidance of direct skin contact gives the opportunity to wear the vest above
other clothing. The design of a contactless sensor developed by the integration of
electronics in textile provides the user with comfortable clothing.
Rocha and Correia (2006) designed a wearable sensor network for body
kinematics monitoring. The sensor measures the body kinematics such as posture,
gesture, heart rate, respiratory rate, and temperature of a patient during treatment. In this case, sensing modules composed of 3-axis accelerometers, 3-axis
magnetometers, and interface electronics are integrated in a swimming suit and
connected to a microcontroller by a serial interface. The suit integrates the floats
and electronic components such as sensors and assures the monitoring of the
patients kinematics.
The main characteristic of the application is the wet environment, which adds
unique development constraints. Therefore, customized sensing microsystems
inserted in waterproof pockets can be integrated in the textiles. The body
kinematics monitor microsystem is a sensor network composed of five modules.
Both the gravitational force and the earth magnetic field are used to detect the
posture of the main body articulations.
Garments that can gather body context information were developed by
Dunne, Brady, Smyth, and Diamond (2005). The key component is a pressuresensitive PPy-coated foam to gather the body context information. Instead of
monitoring changes in limb position or body length or circumference measures,
information is gathered from the preexisting dynamic physical forces that operate
between the wearers body and a garment during physiological functions or
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Switches are freely placed on the font bodice, representing different symbols for
MP3 player operation.
The Smart Wear Research Center has also presented a photonic dress which
illuminates on the fabric surface when combined with a LED as a light source. The
basic type of photonic dress is based on the POF fabrication technique and the
etching technique on the POF surface. To make the POF fabric evenly illuminate,
the etching effect should be uniform and the amount of etching should be controlled which is also related to fabric durability.
The color-responding photonic dress can change its color according to the
environment. When a certain color is sensed by the color sensor, the color is
characterized by a specific value. After a corresponding color is matched by using
three colors of LEDs, and the light is emitted through the POF fabric.
The sound-responding photonic dress (Figure 11) can change its color by the
environment sound. Because a microcondensor is controlled to sense a low
frequency of sound, the corresponding frequency (e.g., drum sound) changes
resistance and capacitor. By connecting this sound-sensing module to an LED, the
POF fabrics can be illuminated like an equalizer. The components of the soundresponding photonic jacket are POF fabrics with an LED, an LED control module,
and rechargeable batteries.
Vilkas and Kukkia, designed by Berzowska and Marcelo (2005), are expressive
and behavioral kinetic sculptures. Vilkas is a dress with a kinetic hemline on the
right side that rises over a 30-sec interval to reveal the knee and lower thigh. It is
constructed of heavy handmade felt that contracts through the use of handstitched Nitinol wires. Nitinol, an SMA made of nickel and titanium, has the
ability to indefinitely remember its geometry if once treated to acquire a specific
shape. Using this characteristic, the Nitinol can be used to create a wrinkling
effect.
FIGURE 11
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The Kukkia dress is decorated with three animated flowers that open and close
over a 15-sec interval. When heated, the wire shrinks and pulls the petals
together, closing the flower. As it cools down, the rigidity of the felt counteracts
the shape of the wire, allowing the flower to open. This dress is operated by a
microcontroller triggering drivers that send power to the Nitinol. Also, it uses a
small rechargeable lithium polymer cells that can power the dress for 2 hr. As the
output interface, the shape memory embedded fabric is used.
Touch is a powerful conduit for emotional connectedness. Haptic research
includes the design of interactions employing devices through which virtual
physical models can be felt, just as we display to our visual sense with graphical
displays. Using haptic communication, separated individuals interact with one
another through a pair of haptic displays, which are themselves connected via a
computer running coupled virtual physical models (Smith, 2007).
The Sensor Sleeve, which was designed by Randell et al. (2005), is a cloth that
enables emotional messages to be exchanged remotely between people who are
relationally close, by conveying a sense of touch and presence. The sleeve detects
embrace and stroke actions centered on the arm. A smart textile system comprising
of textile circuits with gesture and touch sensors, together with microcontroller
and Bluetooth devices, is integrated into the sleeve of a garment.
Cutecircuits Hug Shirt (http://www.cutecircuit.com) is a shirt that makes
people send hugs over distance, using a wearable Bluetooth for a mobile phone.
It has detachable pads containing sensors that sense touch pressure and heartbeat. The actuators reproduce the sensation of touch and warmth. When touching
the red areas on the shirt, the mobile phone receives the sensors data via
Bluetooth and then delivers it to the other person. The Hug Shirt is built using
textile pad type of interfaces, wireless communication, integrated circuit, and
rechargeable batteries. The military sees the usefulness in the Hug Shirt by allowing their soldiers to exchange their loved ones far away at home. After nominated
as one of the 2006 innovations of the year by Time magazine, the Hug Shirt is
being prepared to enter the market.
Dunne (2004) designed massage shirts to use vibrotactility for a simple application
that is required for communication or information display. During testing of the vibrotactile shoulder pad display, a common subject response to the tactile stimulus is that
the stimulus felt relaxing or comforting or soothing. Thus it is hypothesized that
a massage function, based on the use of the same vibrating motors used in the shoulder pad, would be an attractive functionality. To achieve the vibrating massage, each
shirt contained six to eight flat vibrating motors powered by one 9-volt battery.
Communication-Wear designed by the Sharon Baurleys research team is a
wearable technology clothing concept that augments the mobile phone by
enabling expressive messages to be exchanged remotely, by conveying a sense of
touch and presence (Baurley, Brock, Geelhoed, & Moore, 2007). Actuation of hug
message takes place via generation of a warming sensation using heatable textiles, symbolizing the warming sensation felt when touched by another person.
When a hug or embrace gesture is sent, the heat pads in the back of the jacket
heat up. Communication of touch messages takes place between garments via
Bluetooth. Physiological arousal, as detected by the GSR sensors, is relayed to the
partner by light being emitted from the fiber-optic section.
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This garment contains a circuit board where a PIC microcontroller for processing
is mounted. The jacket also has a 7.2-volt rechargeable battery. This CommunicationWear also contains input interface like touch sensing method or textile-based GSR
sensor, output interface (heat-emitting fabric, light emitting fabric), and communication interface such as Bluetooth, integrated circuit, and battery.
As affective computing grown out of wearable computing was suggested by
Picard and Healey (1997), smart clothing has started to become concerned with
clothing that has the skills to recognize physical and psychological patterns and
translate these into emotions. Expressions of emotion also include changes in the
autonomic nervous system activity such as accelerated heart rate or increasing
skin conductivity (Baurley, 2005). This is potentially very useful in engineering
smart clothing equipped with a series of function sensing of the wearers physiological signals, analyzing the collected data, and actuating by providing the wearers
with appropriate responses.
The Scentsory Design (http://www.smartsecondskin.com) project chooses
scent as a tool to improve the mental and physical well-being. The designs speak
for the wearer through the sense of smell, by reading and interpreting emotions,
enabling the wearer to express their feelings through the delivery of color and
scent emitted from clothing. Thus, the item produces a very personal scent, delivering sensations on demand. This kind of smart clothing can alleviate mental and
physical health problems through the delivery of odorant benefit chemicals in
controlled ways responding to personal needs.
Marrin (1999) developed the Conductors Jacket, one of the physiological
sensing systems that are robust to motion artifacts. This highly expressive wearable system is associated with patterns of muscle tension and breathing with
expressive gestures that the conductor uses to shape the music. Seven EMG and
one respiration sensors for the input interface are included. The EMG sensors are
attached with custom-fit elastics sewn into the shirt, so that they remain snug
without strong adhesives and yet do not move as the arms are moved. This
wearable system was designed first to measure how professional and student
conductors naturally communicate expressive information to an orchestra. After
analyzing real conducting data from six participants, Marrin found thirty significant expressive features related to muscle tension changes.
4.3. Information
In recent years we have seen a tremendous rise of portable devices. These
products are designed to be carried around by the body. The demand for smart
clothing will grow as applications for networking computer-based devices on the
body are increased. Potential applications go beyond communications, emails,
and organizing personal data. These devices have their own proper input and
output devices. To provide the clothing with information functions, input and
output interfaces should be designed for better efficiency.
The Communication Jacket developed by Fraunhofer research team integrated
a mobile phone into clothing. The I/O modules have been interconnected by
embroidered lines and metal snaps make it easy to detach a display module for
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washing. Although input device is made of textile material, output device is still
packaged in a hard case, making it difficult to completely integrated.
Randell (2001) from the Bristol Wearable Computing project team developed a
CyberJacket, which provides a platform for developing and testing wearable computing applications. The CyberJacket has a network computer along with a number
of context sensing devices including a GPS receiver, ultrasonic indoor location sensors, an electronic compass, and accelerometers. The user interface includes speech
recognition and audio playback, and displays can be handheld, headmounted, or
worn on the sleeve. When the CyberJacket detects that the user is approaching a
certain place, a short audio message is played through an earpiece. If the user reacts
by stopping, a page of relevant information appears on the sleeve. The devices in
the CyberJacket are still in the early stage of integration into clothing.
5. REAPPRAISAL OF SMART CLOTHING
We have reviewed technology developments and applications of smart clothing.
Based on the current status of smart clothing, this section suggests the direction of
the development of smart clothing and future work.
5.1. Future Development of Smart Clothing
With the growing interest on smart clothing from industry as well as academia, it
is anticipated that the area of smart clothing will continue to expand. Growth is
expected to occur not only in the applications where certain functions or specialized activities are required but also in everyday clothing in which the wearers
emotions could be recognized and expressed.
Figure 12 summarizes the components of smart clothing technology, the services
that smart clothing can provide, and examples of the applications. Individual
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