E-textiles

Levi's and Google are launching new denim jackets that can answer phone calls and control your music. As with the original version of the Jacquard-equipped Levi' Trucker, this new version features an ever-expanding range of digital technology, accessible via gestures on the cuff that are conducted through an electronic cuff tag smaller than a stick of gum.

Researchers have used stretchable materials to develop a battery that can be bent, stretched and twisted. For applications in bendable electronic devices, this is precisely the kind of battery they need.

As the microelectronic industry is now shifting toward wearable electronic gadgets and electronic textiles, the comprising electronic materials, such as ferroelectrics, should be integrated with our clothes.

A new addition to your wardrobe may soon help you turn on the lights and music - while also keeping you fresh, dry, fashionable, clean and safe from the latest virus that's going around.

Research has found how plastics commonly found in food packaging can be recycled to create new materials like wires for electricity - and could help to reduce the amount of plastic waste in the future.

Commercial efforts around electronic textiles have been prominent for at least 25 years, starting with early patents and then early products throughout the 1990s. IDTechEx's latest research report in the area "E-Textiles 2019-2029: Technologies, Markets and Players", looks at how e-textile products have changed over time, both in terms of the hardware and the more general business model.

Statex and Laird Performance Materials have announced a joint and new capability which creates selective plating and high electrical conductivity onto both sides of stretchable fabrics. Potential uses will range from components found in consumer/professional wearable products to medical devices to military/aerospace and automotive critical systems.

The new version of the IDTechEx report "E-textiles 2019-2029: Technologies, Markets and Players" includes brand new data about e-textiles revenue. The main forecast in the report focuses on specific product revenue across different sectors (including biometric monitoring, heating, lighting and other e-textiles), but for the first time, this report includes additional historic data and short term estimates for the total revenues of companies working in the space.

IDTechEx focuses on many different emerging technologies, many of which are related to the development of new form factors in electronics.