Clim8ology – Ep#1: Do You Really Know Smart Textiles?

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In this first episode, we have Anaëlle Talbourdet, one of our e-textile managers talking about the definition of Smart Textiles and the difference between E-Textiles and Wearables.

Transcript

Who are you?
So I’m Anaëlle Talbourdet, one of the e-textile managers at Clim8.

Can you tell us what is a smart textile?
We say that a textile is smart when we add a function that goes beyond the ordinary use of a textile today.

So smart textiles are textiles capable of interacting with their environment or with external signals that they will pick up. Those external signals can be all kinds of signals, such as temperature, heart rate, movements or ambient noise

Can you tell us what is an e-textile?
E-textile is a sub-category of smart textiles. So the “e” stands for electronic and when an e-textile is a smart textile too, it’s because it contains an electric device or a digital device inside. So basically, if we talk about an e-textile garment, it means that we have implemented electronics in its design. And so the electrical devices can be sensors, micro-controllers, LEDs, batteries, etc.

Can you tell us what is a wearable?
So the wearable is an electronic device that will be integrated into a garment or an accessory and that will be able to process and store data. So in general, the wearable can be taken everywhere because it is a garment or an accessory and it will be different from fixed objects that will stay in a room. And when we think of a wearable we often think of a connected watch, but in fact, a wearable can also be a smart textile.

And what about Clim8® in all this?
Garments that will integrate Clim8® technologies will be smart textiles, e-textiles and wearables. It’s a smart textile because it’s a textile that looks like a classic exterior textile but that will integrate a regulating system, that will regulate your temperature and that will interact with your environment, detect your temperature and react accordingly. It is an e-textile because it is a garment that will integrate electronics including a smart card and a battery, and a wearable because it’s a garment or an accessory and you can take it everywhere.