R&D update
Space-age wool
Imagine flying down the ski slopes with your favourite music playing on your Apple iPod.
You want to repeat the song that just played but in the sub zero conditions it’s too cold to take your gloves off.
Not a problem.
Simply press the controls incorporated into the sleeve of your jacket to operate your iPod.
This technology, known as Softswitch™ may just be the next big thing in the textile industry. It is one of a new breed of smart textiles that have the ability to sense and respond.
Smart textiles can remotely activate electronic devices, generate heat, monitor vital signs, detect dangerous environments and communicate messages.
Softswitch™ has already been incorporated into textiles by Nike, The North Face and O’Neill.
With this technology, Merino wool can be fitted with any type of electronic device, providing on/off switching and proportional control.
A number of products using smart textiles are in the pipeline, but designers must be able to incorporate the intelligence without losing the characteristics of the underlying textile.
AWI is working with a number of groups to make sure that Australian Merino is a global leader in the development of these smart textile technologies.