Report Details Global Market for Smart Fabrics and Interactive Textiles
The global market for smart fabrics and interactive textiles is projected to reach $2.6 billion by the year 2017, according to a new report from Global Industry Analysts Inc. Growth will be primarily driven by developments in material science and fiber technologies (i.e., nanofibers, conductive pressure-sensing fabrics and other hybrid fabrics), as well as the growing miniaturization of electronics, increasing use of electronic textiles in the emerging generation of wearable computing smart products, and rapid expansion into newer application areas.
Textile structures can represent an attractive platform for integration and encapsulation of sensing, computing, and communication capabilities, in furtherance of the envisioned goal of pervasive computing. The focus on building an intelligent environment into everyday items is leading to the rapid evolution of wearable computers and electronics, which is thus poised to amply benefit the market for smart fabrics and interactive textiles. The market also reportedly stands to benefit from technology developments and innovations in the field of integration of electronic devices into textiles at the yarn level, as well as performance and functionality improvements in integrated textile sensors, switches, interconnects etc.