skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Unfabricate: Designing Smart Textiles for Disassembly
Smart textiles development is combining computing and textile technologies to create tactile, functional objects such as smart garments, soft medical devices, and space suits. However, the field also combines the massive waste streams of both the digital electronics and textiles industries. The following work explores how HCI researchers might be poised to address sustainability and waste in future smart textiles development through interventions at design time. Specifically, we perform a design inquiry into techniques and practices for reclaiming and reusing smart textiles materials and explore how such techniques can be integrated into smart textiles design tools. Beginning with a practice in sustainable or "slow" fashion, unravelling a garment into yarn, the suite of explorations titled "Unfabricate" probes values of time and labor in crafting a garment; speculates how a smart textile garment may be designed with reuse in mind; and imagines how electronic and textile components may be given new life in novel uses.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1755587 1943109
PAR ID:
10162022
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Page Range / eLocation ID:
1 to 14
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; (, CHI '19 Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems)
    Woven smart textiles are useful in creating flexible electronics because they integrate circuitry into the structure of the fabric itself. However, there do not yet exist tools that support the specific needs of smart textiles weavers. This paper describes the process and development of AdaCAD, an application for composing smart textile weave drafts. By augmenting traditional weaving drafts, AdaCAD allows weavers to design woven structures and circuitry in tandem and offers specific support for common smart textiles techniques. We describe these techniques, how our tool supports them alongside feedback from smart textiles weavers. We conclude with a reflection on smart textiles practice more broadly and suggest that the metaphor of coproduction can be fruitful in creating effective tools and envisioning future applications in this space. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; (, Advanced Energy Materials)
    Abstract Due to the ubiquity of textiles in the lives, electronic textiles (E‐textiles) have emerged as a future technology capable of addressing a myriad of challenges from mixed reality interfaces, on‐garment climate control, patient diagnostics, and interactive athletic wear. However, providing sufficient electrical power in a textile form factor has remained elusive. To address this issue, different approaches are discussed, starting with supercapacitors' advantages and limitations and material choices for textile‐based supercapacitors before discussing proper data analysis and design considerations of textile‐based energy storage to power wearable electronics. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
    Textiles hold great promise as a soft yet durable material for building comfortable robotic wearables and assistive devices at low cost. Nevertheless, the development of smart wearables composed entirely of textiles has been hindered by the lack of a viable sheet-based logic architecture that can be implemented using conventional fabric materials and textile manufacturing processes. Here, we develop a fully textile platform for embedding pneumatic digital logic in wearable devices. Our logic-enabled textiles support combinational and sequential logic functions, onboard memory storage, user interaction, and direct interfacing with pneumatic actuators. In addition, they are designed to be lightweight, easily integrable into regular clothing, made using scalable fabrication techniques, and durable enough to withstand everyday use. We demonstrate a textile computer capable of input-driven digital logic for controlling untethered wearable robots that assist users with functional limitations. Our logic platform will facilitate the emergence of future wearables powered by embedded fluidic logic that fully leverage the innate advantages of their textile construction. 
    more » « less
  4. ; (, Applied Physics Letters)
    Using infrared electrochromism as the strategy to combat the fluctuation of environmental conditions, wearable variable-emittance (WeaVE) devices are able to integrate the functionality of personal thermoregulation and closed-loop control into the future textile, featuring its large tunable range, ultra-low energy consumption, lightweight, and wearability. Recently, this new wearable technology has evolved beyond planar electrochromic cells and is moving closer to woven textiles. To further improve electrochromic performance and wearability, comprehensive progress is necessary from materials science to fabrication techniques. In this Perspective, we elaborate on the mechanisms behind electrochemically active WeaVE devices, analyze how dynamic and fundamental studies may improve the electrochromic performance, and explore the possibility of incorporating nanophotonic designs in the development of this future smart textile through research. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; ; (, Journal of Applied Polymer Science)
    Abstract Smart textiles are currently being pursued for actuation and sensing for their potential to directly incorporate “intelligence” into the fabric, in contrast to wearable technologies. In smart textiles, smart materials (e.g., piezoelectric) are formed into yarns that are woven into fabrics for clothing. One immediate requirement for such textiles is their stability during washing cycles, as expected of any clothing items, which has been largely lacking so far. Here, we investigate the washing stability of nanofibrous piezoelectric textiles. Our results reveal that electrospun textiles exhibit remarkable structural stability from the fiber microstructure to the textile level. Overall fiber crystalline composition and electroactive phase remain stable within 1% of ~47% and ~85%, respectively. Mechanically, the textile displays sustained performance, with only negligible changes observed. The yield strain and stress only show a ~8% and 9% differences, respectively. Moreover, piezoelectric stability is confirmed through phase preservation and slight variation in voltage output of ~6%. These results prove the candidacy that the processing of electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) fibers to woven textiles is applicable to the demands of smart textiles, which is expected to accelerate the commercialization of such textiles for wearable robotics and health monitoring. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email