Smart Materials

1
Smart Materials

• Lesson objective to understand that the
  development of smart materials allows the
  designer to meet a variety of user needs in new
  and exciting ways.

2
Do you know what smart materials are?
Smart textiles must be comfortable, their
technology must be unobtrusive, they must
withstand a difficult and variable environment
and, particularly for medical and emergency
applications, they must be absolutely reliable.
Smart materials respond to the environment in
which they are being used. They will turn back to
their original state once the environment changes
again.

• Lesson objective to understand that the
  development of smart materials allows the
  designer to meet a variety of user needs in new
  and exciting ways.

3
Do you know what smart materials are?

• What is meant by the term smart material?
• Name and describe, a product you are familiar
  with which uses a smart material
• Choose a product that you are familiar with and
  suggest ways in which it could be improved with
  smart materials
• There is growing demand for intelligent
  fabrics, what do you think this term means?

• Lesson objective to understand that the
  development of smart materials allows the
  designer to meet a variety of user needs in new
  and exciting ways.

4
Intelligent fabrics
Dow Corning's latest material news is called APS
or Active Protection System, an "intelligent"
fabric that consists of three-dimensional spacer
textile treated with a specially formulated,
responsive silicone coating. It remains soft and
flexible under normal conditions. But when
stressed under high-impact force, the material
instantly becomes rigid, and then immediately
returns to a flexible state.

• Lesson objective to understand that the
  development of smart materials allows the
  designer to meet a variety of user needs in new
  and exciting ways.

5
iFabric.ID

• All products marked with the distinctive
  iFabric.ID trademark are engineered to release a
  unique and eco-friendly vapour with a pleasant
  aroma, that will provide you with continuous
  protection against mosquitoes, midges, stable
  flies, ticks and other unwelcome insects.

• Lesson objective to understand that the
  development of smart materials allows the
  designer to meet a variety of user needs in new
  and exciting ways.

6
"Exciting progress in the booming, intelligent
clothing and textiles industry means mobile-phone
shirts (just speak into the collar) and socks
that mend themselves could soon be a reality.

• Lesson objective to understand that the
  development of smart materials allows the
  designer to meet a variety of user needs in new
  and exciting ways.

7
smart clothing

• In recent years, smart clothing has progressed
  significantly from wearable computers - where
  devices such as MP3 players or mobile phones are
  seamlessly integrated into clothing - to
  "intelligent" fabrics and clothes that can
  conduct electricity, change shape and even
  colour."

• Lesson objective to understand that the
  development of smart materials allows the
  designer to meet a variety of user needs in new
  and exciting ways.

8

• European researchers have developed a smart
  fabric that can monitor muscular overload and
  help prevent repetitive strain injury, or RSI.
  (Credit Image courtesy of Biotex)