Smart threads: Sewing artificial intelligence-powered clothing

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  Quantumrun Foresight
• September 26, 2022

Insight summary

Smart clothing is transforming the textile industry with its ability to sense, compute, and even store energy. This technology integrates sensors into fabrics, enabling data collection and real-time analysis for various applications. From smart bandages that heal wounds to military gear that detects injuries, smart threads are creating a wave of versatile, intelligent textiles with wide-ranging impacts.

Smart threads context

With the development of smart clothing and artificial intelligence (AI), functional fibers with sensing, computing, memory, energy storage and harvesting, and display capabilities have generated much interest in the textile industry. The smart threads space is enabled by advancements in fiber electronics, such as flexible devices, responsive sensors, and soft materials. Because of their complexities, electronic fibers use various manufacturing processes, such as fused printing (used in 3D printing), spinning, electrodeposition (uses electric current), molding, and thermal drawing. 

While wearables and the Internet of Things (IoT) have created unique systems for real-time health monitoring and treatments, incorporating these devices into clothing can elevate their potential even further. This partnership can result in a versatile analysis system redefining medical and consumer electronics. For smart threads to work, there are three critical electroactive components. 

1. First is metallic threads, comprising thin metals such as gold, silver, or stainless steel filaments. 
2. The second is semiconductive threads, which enable transistors and energy storage capabilities. 
3. Lastly, there are composite materials, which are a combination of nanoparticles.

Disruptive impact

One of the companies leading the development of smart threads is Nextiles. The Brooklyn-based manufacturing startup incorporates sensor technology into fabric to create smart cloth using patented textile technologies. The company aims to capture crucial, advanced data sets missed by conventional wearables.

One of Nextile’s inventions is the smart fabric, a type of material with sensors sewn into it. These sensors can track and record data related to the movement and physical well-being of the person wearing them. Nextiles weaves sensors into everyday fabrics like cotton, polyester, spandex, and nylon; then, a Bluetooth device is installed inside the material to collect data. The information is streamed in real-time and may be tracked and analyzed locally or in the cloud instantly.

Meanwhile, in 2021, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers developed the first digital fiber with memory, temperature sensors, and a neural network program. The researchers built a fiber with a continuous electrical connection between digital chips over tens of meters. The fiber is slim and flexible and can be put through a needle, sewn into textiles, and washed at least ten times without breaking down.

The fabric takes a step forward into AI by including a 1,650-connection neural network within the fiber memory. After stitching it around the armpit of a shirt, the researchers collected surface body temperature data from a person wearing it and compared how they corresponded to various physical activities. The neural network accurately predicted 96 percent of the time what physical activity the person was engaged in.

Implications of smart threads

Wider implications of smart threads may include: 

• Smart bandages that can autonomously monitor and disinfect wounds.
• The military incorporating smart threads in their equipment to alert of injuries.
• Smart clothing that can adjust the temperature for its wearer’s optimized comfort and detect environmental hazards such as leaked gases.
• Smart clothing alerting nearby healthcare providers of a real-time medical emergency (e.g., a heart attack), especially useful for senior care.
• Athletes using smart-thread apparel to activate specific muscles or receive recommendations on optimized training.
• Smart threads enabling garments to generate energy from movement, reducing reliance on traditional power sources and promoting energy autonomy.
• Incorporation of smart threads in public transportation seats, providing real-time health and safety monitoring for passengers.

Questions to consider

• How might smart threads or clothing better assist in childcare?
• How else can smart threads help you in your work or daily tasks?