The Wonderful World of Wearables
Login or register now to gain instant access to the rest of this premium content!
We hear a lot about Industry 4.0 and how we can benefit from connecting our production equipment to other parts of the plant, or to the outside world. Now Industry 4.0 is coming to your closet – in the form of connected clothing and other wearable items – and even to fabric-based home interior items such as carpets, drapes, shades and more.
Sound like a futuristic fantasy? It’s not as far away as you might think. I recently spoke to Sasha Stolyarov, CEO of Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA), one of nine Manufacturing USA institutes. AFFOA has been a leader in research and development for fiber and fabric computing, a key to creating next-generation wearables – although Stolyarov prefers not to use that term.