In the near future clothing will not only give expression to the wearer's personality and protect him or her from the weather conditions; it will also help in communicating, taking bearings and even preserving life in accident situations or extreme conditions. Finnish companies and universities are cooperating in developing new interdisciplinary concepts which will increase the 'smart' or 'intelligent' qualities in clothing by using, for example, electronics and mobile phone technology. Commercial applications are already on the market.

One area of application where additional smart qualities in clothing will clearly increase people's safety is trekking and outdoor activities in extreme conditions. Tampere University of Technology, the University of Lapland and the Finnish companies Reima Oy, Suunto Corporation and Polar Electro Oy have developed a prototype for an intelligent snowmobile outfit that keeps a check on the rider's vital functions and body temperature by means of a pulse monitor and different sensors, helps the rider find his bearings for the desired destination and even gives a warning for on-the-spot help in the event of an accident by using GSM and positioning technology.

T-shirt measures wearer's pulse

Reima, which is one of the pacesetters in the development of smart clothing, has established Clothing +, a clothing technology research centre that develops new kinds of smart-clothing concepts and carries out basic research in the field in cooperation with other specialist organizations. For example, Tampere University of Technology is primarily interested in research into interactive materials that react to the environment inside and outside a piece of clothing.

The qualities of these intelligent textiles include the transformation of a textile's colour under the influence of light and heat, the changing of the form of the fibre structure and the return to the original state according to outdoor conditions, the retention and release of thermal energy from clothing at a certain temperature, electrical conductivity etc. The areas of application for the intelligent textiles in question are extensive: in the future it may be possible to measure the pulse directly from a T-shirt or to embroider the keyboard of a mobile phone onto the sleeve of a jacket.

Already on the market

The rapid spread of mobile communications has made consumers accustomed to communicating wherever and whenever necessary. At the end of 2002 Reima's Clothing+ will be launching the Reima Wearaphone, which will make it easier to communicate in traditionally difficult situations such as cycling, taking outdoor exercise or snowboarding. The Wearaphone is a hands-free piece of equipment worn on the head. Its textile user interface makes it possible to communicate easily by pulling a tag, without the need to take off gloves while the wearer is skiing for example.

>> www.reimasmart.com
>> www.tut.fi/units/ms/teva/projects/intelligenttextiles