How often do you reach for your phone just to check something quickly?
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you → reach → something
Maybe you're walking the dog or carrying groceries and don't feel like digging through your pocket.
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you → walk → pocket
Now, scientists are working on a way to put a touchscreen directly into the clothes you wear.
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you → work → clothes
Yes, your sleeve could eventually become a screen you can tap with your finger.
uncertain
you → become → finger
Researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed what they describe as the world's first touchscreen woven directly into a garment.
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they → develop → garment
Their prototype uses specialized electronic fibers to display images, play videos and respond to touch.
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prototype → use → touch
Even more surprising, the technology survived 50 machine-washing cycles while maintaining nearly the same performance.
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technology → survive → performance
The breakthrough, recently published in the journal Nature, could change how we interact with wearable technology.
uncertain
we → publish → technology
Join our upcoming CyberGuy LIVE class: 5 Ways to Travel Smarter and Save Money
In this free live online class, Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson will share five practical ways to protect your trip and your wallet this holiday travel season.
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Knutsson → join → trip
You’ll learn how to secure your phone and personal information, find better travel deals, avoid common scams, save money on bookings and use technology to make your travels easier and less stressful.
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travels → learn → technology
No technical experience is needed.
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experience → need → ?
How scientists turned clothing into a touchscreen
Here's how it works.
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it → turn → touchscreen
Each fiber contains tiny light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, along with an electronic layer that senses touch.
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that → contain → touch
When someone presses the fabric, the sensing layer identifies the location and activates the corresponding pixels.
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layer → press → pixels
This allows the garment to respond much like a traditional touchscreen.
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garment → allow → touchscreen
The system can also recognize multiple touches, allowing more than one area of the display to respond at the same time.
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area → recognize → time
To build the prototype, researchers threaded 54 specialized fibers into the forearm of a sleeve.
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researchers → build → sleeve
Each fiber contains 96 LEDs, creating a 96-by-54-pixel display measuring approximately 6.6 by 4.1 inches.
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fiber → contain → inches
The researchers also developed a manufacturing technique that connects more than 5,000 microchips through over 20,000 electrical connections.
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that → develop → connections
Using this process, they created electronic fibers roughly one millimeter thick and 10 meters long.
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they → use → fibers
That engineering allows the fabric to bend with the wearer's movements while keeping its digital display functional.
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fabric → allow → display
Each fiber also has its own control channel, so a problem with one fiber doesn't automatically shut down the others.
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problem → have → others
It brings us closer to clothing that can interact directly with electronic devices.
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that → bring → devices
The research team, led by Assistant Professor Tural Khudiyev at NUS's College of Design and Engineering, developed the technology to bring digital displays and touch controls directly into fabric.
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team → lead → fabric
What can this touchscreen sleeve actually do?
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sleeve → do → What
The prototype already handles several functions you would normally associate with a smartphone.
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you → handle → smartphone
For example, it can display a photo gallery and run a calculator.
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it → display → calculator
It can also work as a digital compass and display body temperature readings from a sensor positioned under the arm.
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It → work → arm
The screen refreshes at 30 frames per second with 8-bit color depth, although that drops to 25 frames per second when playing synchronized audio.
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that → refresh → audio
Researchers also integrated a microphone and speaker into the garment through additional electronic fibers.
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Researchers → integrate → fibers
The sleeve can receive images over Bluetooth and respond to voice commands.
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sleeve → receive → commands
It can even adjust its brightness automatically based on surrounding light.
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It → adjust → light
The interface also rotates its content when the wearer changes orientation.
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wearer → rotate → orientation
However, the prototype has only demonstrated specific wireless functions, including receiving images over Bluetooth.
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prototype → demonstrate → Bluetooth
Researchers have not shown it replacing a smartphone screen or displaying all your phone's notifications.
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it → show → notifications
Of course, the 96-by-54-pixel resolution means you won't be watching your favorite movie in stunning detail.
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you → mean → detail
Still, the ability to watch moving images on something you can fold and wear is pretty remarkable.
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you → watch → something
Can touchscreen clothing really survive the washing machine?
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clothing → survive → machine
After all, clothes get stretched and tossed into washing machines.
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clothes → stretch → machines
Nobody wants to worry about destroying an expensive touchscreen every time they do laundry.
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they → want → laundry
…and 71 more, not listed.
The Aporia
