Full Text:
Researchers who are working to develop wearable electronics have reached a milestone: They are able to embroider circuits into fabric with 0.1 mm precision -- the perfect size to integrate electronic components such as sensors and computer memory devices into clothing. The researchers have taken the next step toward the design of functional textiles -- clothes that gather, store or transmit digital information.
With further development, the technology could lead to shirts that act as antennas for your smart phone or tablet, workout clothes that monitor your fitness level, sports equipment that monitors athletes’ performance, a bandage that tells your doctor how well the tissue beneath it is healing, or even a flexible fabric cap that senses activity in the brain.Image credit: Photo by Jo McCulty, courtesy of The Ohio State University
