Wearable tech: how the human body can help power the future of smart textiles

Whether it is a T-shirt that can display changing messages or a carpet that can sense where you are standing, the future of smart textiles has often seemed rooted in science fiction.

Researchers in China say they have created fibre-based electronics that harness electromagnetic energy in the atmosphere, using the human body as part of the circuit.

By controlling various aspects of the system, such as the area of fibre in contact with the body or the diameter of the fibres, these wireless signals can be programmed, Hou added.

The team say the approach removes a key challenge faced when attempting to incorporate electronic systems into textiles: the need for rigid components.

They also created a wireless haptic carpet that glows underfoot which not only provides a form of emergency lighting at night, but can also wirelessly transmit signals that can be used to control switches on appliances in the home, such as lights.

Writing in the journal Science, the team said that the fibres are composed of three layers, made from low-cost raw materials, and are durable, washable and sweat-resistant.

Writing in an accompanying article, Yunzhu Li, from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Yiyue Luo, from MIT, suggest such technology could also have applications in robots and robotic prosthetics, as well as offer a way to gather tactile information to better understand interactions between humans and the objects around them.

Dr Luigi Occhipinti, director of research in smart electronics, biosystems and AI at the University of Cambridge, also said the approach has potential.