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MagyarSmart clothing: Programmable fiber changes fabrics by pushing a button
It sounds like the antithesis of fast fashion and all trends that aim for more and faster-changing clothing: An interdisciplinary team at MIT has presented a fiber that adapts to environmental conditions.
It can contract at low temperatures to make a jacket denser and more isolating. When it gets warmer, it expands again until the fabric falls loosely. Once programmed, no electronics or other hardware is said to be necessary.
In the best case, the jacket, coat or sweater will always fit properly, even after interval fasting. And they're just as warm on a spring day as they are when winter sets in.
Quite practical
However, the emphasis is not only on the fact that no further technology is required or that electricity can also be used as a triggering stimulus - which then does require further technology, but the clothing can be adjusted by pushing a button.
The goal was to develop a material that can change silently and without significant wear. The result is liquid crystals that are incorporated into a network of elastomers.
Depending on the composition, the temperature range that causes a reaction or the type of change in the material can be precisely defined. And the fact that liquid crystals can change by means of minimal electrical currents can be seen every day on the digital radio alarm clock or the computer screen.
And that's not all for the positive properties: even the production process is said to be comparatively unproblematic. The material mix can be assembled in a process similar to a 3D printer with resin. Currently, 20 cents per meter of thread is being quoted.
So it seems quite conceivable that at some point we will actually encounter this fiber in jackets, hoods or a smart wearable, controlled by smartphone, air temperature or entirely different triggers. The fashion for the actual breakthrough should look just a little fancier than the examples currently presented by the MIT researchers.
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