Smart textiles for future intelligent consumer products

Dr. Sharon Baurley is to launch a network: smart textiles for intelligent consumer products, in November 2003, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The network will constitute a think tank for future intelligent/smart consumer products and applications in the context of societal futures and future markets, by bringing together all sectors [application based industries; defence; cognitive and social science; ambient/pervasive computing; electrochemistry; textile and fibre engineering; fashion, textile, industrial, interior and architectural design], that will be involved in the design, development and production chain. The principal benefit will be the development of a new multidisciplinary community that will arise out of a thematic approach to materials and product development, as textiles and electronics technologies converge. The network will generate research and development programmes and will form the framework for a new research centre in intelligent product research at Central Saint Martins.