Adding some spark to fashion
Is that a battery in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me? Oh, your whole pocket is actually a battery? Well, maybe not yet, but clothes that function as capacitors might be on the horizon.
A paper [PDF] by published in the American Chemical Society's Nano Letters reports new breakthroughs in creating fabrics that can store electricity. The researchers used carbon nanotubes (is there anything those little critters can't do?) to create 'ink' that can be bound to clothes, and which displays excellent energy storage qualities.
What does this mean, in the long term? We may end up with a T-shirt that you could recharge overnight, and then plug your iPhone into (assuming that we can stop it giving us a shock). If we can integrate this technology with other kinds of printed circuitry, we may be able to create clothes that also function as solar cells, enabling you to generate your own power from the sun as you walk around.
Research into clothing that integrates electronics is ongoing - companies have been researching ways to dispence with battery packs for soldiers in the field for years - but there have already been some commercial successes. We've seen coats, for example, that integrate controls so that you can control your iPod using fabric buttons built into your sleeve. The idea of distributing power around the body is the next step.
Other researchers have been working on flexible, low-power displays that could be integrated with fabrics. This could give us, say, backpacks that display your school class schedule. Or luggage that tells you where it is, so that you don't have to consult a GPS. How about a T-shirt that tells others what kind of mood you're in?
We could find fashion in a few years' time that is as sophisticated technically as it is good looking physically. What would your clothes say, if you could have them say anything?
Danny Bradbury, MSN Tech & Gadgets
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Posted by: T.M.G.U. | Feb 12, 2010 10:10:17 AM
Hey, u know those cool vests 4 fishing with all the pockets 2 hold tackle? I use mine as a music tote. I always hav my ipod charger, spare earbuds & splitter so a friend can listen as well, my mini speaker etc... I'm seriously considering gettin another 1 that will act as an overnight bag 2 carry make-up, toilettries, hair things & so on. Has no one else thought of this b4?