INTERACTIVE ELECTROTEXTILES - ON THE WAY TO THE TEXTILES OF THE FUTURE

As a result of changing needs and technological developments; interactive technologies became a part of our daily life. Among the other structures, textile based interactive products are getting more and more attention because of their flexible, comfortable and cleanable characteristics with other structural advantages. In the early stages of the investigations, the combination of electronics and textiles were seemed not to be practicable in view of their opposite properties. With the successful results of scientific studies, the integration of electronic components into textiles offers great advantages. These products, called 'the textiles of the future', involve different functions like protection, actuation, communication etc. Various industries such as medical, security, entertainment and sport/well-being develop different types of new generation product using these functions. The development of smart wear is a new challenge for the textile and clothing industry. It has to develop products based not only on design, fashion and comfort concepts but also in terms of functions. In this study, recent developments about smart/interactive garments have been reviewed. Major application areas and futuristic R&D directions for smart textiles were investigated. Recent trends, market researches, future projections and latest developments about interactive electrotextile products have been introduced.