Textile Insight

textileinsight.com IN THE MARKET | SMART FABRICS SUMMIT Fiber Devices Developing a Roadmap to Drive Growth & Gain Acceptance. By Emily Walzer mart textiles continue to generate ideas and spark industry interest, yet wearable garments have failed to excite a mainstream audience. So the ques- tion is, how to hasten growth? The Smart Fabrics Summit provided some answers. The need for a multi-disciplinary approach, gaining a better understanding of what the consumer really wants, and the role standards play to enhance growth as the category evolves emerged as major themes throughout the daylong April gathering. Intellectual property protection and data security and privacy were also topics of discussion at the Washington, DC event co-hosted by IFAI and Department of Commerce. The strongest statements about the direction of smart textile development came from Dr. Qaizar Hassonjee and Yoel Fink. Both execs believe a successful future for smart fabrics requires thinking differently about how products are made and what these innovations deliver to the end user. "From a business point of view, we have to feed the market. Right now there is more technology than business," stated Hassonjee, who ushered in "smart" innovations including the Textronics heart-rate monitoring sports bra and the adidas MiCoach. According to Hassonjee, to accelerate growth from its current "snails pace," requires embedded tech that offers compelling experiences. He advised the audience, "To look at the market, look at the experience you can bring through textiles, and figure out the technology to do that. I believe that is a better, faster route to success." Textiles cannot go it alone. Systems are key to smart fabrics growth. "Universities have resources, and they have students. Together this can create things that go direct to consumers. Here is an opportunity," said Hassonjee, who currently teaches an inter-disciplinary program involving students from fashion, business and engineering in wear- able development at the University of Delaware. Fink, CEO, Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AAFOA) tipped his hat to Hassonjee's market assessment and also suggested new thinking that regards "fibers as devices, and functional fabrics as delivering a service." "An idea is not enough, material is not enough, and it's not enough just having a process. But these three things together are what takes an idea and turns it into a product that transforms our lifestyle," said Fink, a MIT professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Joint Professor of Electrical engineering and computer science. To encourage growth of commercial smart textiles, Fink identifies the need to change the nature of thread, fiber and yarn by combining different materials into a single fiber. In other words building in different capabilities into the fiber architecture. In tandem with advancing functional fibers, AAFOA has created an integrated prototyping network that extends across the country. Developing this roadmap will allow AAFOA members to go from the design of the fiber to the creation of the fabric, and into yarn and then into a product in a four-week cycle. "No single company can do this from beginning to end but this network becomes a trajectory to execute rapid prototyping and USA-made product," Fink stated. Stats & Standards Currently sports and fitness is the fastest growing category in the smart fabrics market, and represents just 17 percent of the worldwide share of sales, according to Jeff Rasmussen, IFAI director of market research, who projected 2018 overall size of the U.S. market at $1.45M, with an annual growth rate around 20 percent for the past few years. "Standards are really needed because it gives consum- ers confidence that the product is reliable, and that will enhance and drive demand," said Rasmussen. An interactive session that tested the audience's knowl- edge of standards quickly made clear not only the complexity of government standards, but also the pervasive lack of understanding around the subject. The audience had trouble coming up with the correct response to a hand- ful of questions during a standards presentation. See Pop Quiz, for one of the scenarios. Standards specialists urged audience members not to be afraid to reach out to organizations for information, and to ask questions. "We need to know what you need to know," said Grace Kim, attorney/advisor for the Office of Trade. O S A compression shirt is imported with sensors, data module, and a USB cable. The shirt features compression throughout to increase blood circulation and 3 sensors to monitor the heart rate and breathing. The data module snaps into the module port and acts as a gyrometer and an accelerometer. The sensors feed data to a smartphone application via Bluetooth. The essential character is imparted by the compression shirt with the sensors. A) True B) False answer: True Summit sponsor exhibitor Namics offers advanced stretchable material for wearable applications. POP QUIZ

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