INTRODUCTION

The network has arisen as a result of shifts in the textiles industry, where the technical textiles sector is growing, shifts in developed economies towards the Information Age, the increasing impact of science and technology on all aspects of our lives through products and services, and changing consumer requirements. Smart textiles is not yet a discrete area. Its evolution will require input from a number of disparate sectors spanning science and technology, to design and the human sciences. It is a new channel of communication between such disparate sectors that the network aims to build.

The convergence of textiles and electronics will spawn the next generation of smart fibres and textiles that are truly smart. There are many electroactive polymers currently being developed by the electrochemistry industry, a convergence of electronics and chemistry, for what are being termed plastic electronics. Examples of these include polymer light emitting diodes for the next generation of displays and packaging; and polymeric semi-conductors for plastic electronic circuits. Electroactive actuator and sensor polymers are also in development. The future of smart textiles lies in the potential of technology convergence where these polymers are processed into fibres and fabrics. This convergence will enable soft intelligent textile products that have a broad spectrum of functions and capabilities, found in hard electronic products today. The network will highlight the need for different sectors to collaborate to address future commercial imperatives, gain access to new markets, and in so doing help de-mystify disciplines by transcending barriers, languages and cultures. The network is comprised of application based industries; defence agencies; cognitive and social scientists; computer scientists; electronics specialists; electrochemistry specialists; textile and fibre engineers; fashion, textile, industrial, interior and architectural designers; economists; future trend forecasters.

A principal aim of this network is to excite development in smart textiles and systems through cross-sectoral consultation, where users and designers are brought together with materials developers and designers. Technology-specific workshops will be held over the three-year period of the network, each of which will cover a specific technology area, e.g., sensors and actuators, display materials, circuits, antennas, switches, etc. It is hoped that ideas for research programmes will result from these workshops, which can be put forward for funding to the DTI’s Technology Programme or to the EPSRC.

The experience of products is becoming a new commercial imperative. The transition from making and marketing a product to developing intangible concepts that satisfy the demand of higher order needs such as creativity, sensory and emotional fulfilment, is underway and gaining momentum. As we advance further into the Information Age material technology is forecast to disappear into our material environment, making these objects responsive and intelligent. This will have an impact on established cultures of products, the development process and consumption. As much of our material environment is composed of textiles, they will be the targets for smart engineering, enabling a move away from the traditional cold and hard face of technology.

No one knows how people will accept technology on their bodies and in their environments. The aim of the network is also to project what the future demand of these materials might be. There will be one seminar/workshop each year that will look at the bigger picture exploring the consumer of the future, future society and future economic ideas in relation to smart/intelligent technology. The network will seek to explore and translate future projected societal, cultural, technological and consumer shifts into product and market ideas through collective brainstorming, to enable members to understand what these changes mean for them and their sectors. The process of networking is becoming increasingly important in understanding how specialisms inter-relate with each other; to allow specialists to look at all dimensions, not just their own; for sectors to innovate and access new markets, and develop new systems for materials and product development. The network seeks to promote understanding between disparate disciplines. The activities will encourage exchanges of approach, thinking, methodology out of which may arise new methods, new R&D programmes, and even new hybrid sectors.

Sharon Baurley, Reader
School of Fashion & Textile Design
Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design
University of the Arts London