T he electronic devices of the future may all be pliable, soft and supremely portable, thanks to studies under way using “wired fabrics.” Research is currently happening to develop handkerchiefs that serve as keyboards, floor mats with built-in integrated circuit tags and other products that fuse hard electronics with soft fabrics.
These new wired fabrics are lighter than traditional electronic parts and can be easily installed in a wide variety of locations.
In one example at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, a thin cloth similar to a handkerchief measuring about 10 centimeters by 25 centimeters was laid before a personal computer.
The cloth was connected to the computer. When a researcher tapped the cloth in the same way as one would type on a keyboard, letters began to appear on the screen.
Seiichi Takamatsu, 33, a researcher of the AIST’s Research Center for Ubiquitous MEMS and Micro Engineering, said, “You can fold this device and keep it in your pocket.” MEMS stands for “micro electromechanical systems.”
Pressure-sensing threads are woven into the cloth in gridlike patterns at about two-centimeter intervals.
The diameter of a single thread is 485 micrometers. When a user taps the cloth, the cross-section of the sensor thread flattens into an elliptical shape to change the status of electrical currents in the section touched, and signals are transmitted to the computer.
Conductive polymer coating the surface of the threads makes the transmission possible. The cloth functions like a plastic that also conducts electricity.
Hideki Shirakawa, professor emeritus at the University of Tsukuba, is a pioneer in the field who made great contributions to the development of the technology.![]()
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