By: Richard Huang

As technology improves, some researchers now are striving to

improve our daily life and overall health.

Inspired by the clay-animated movie “The Wrong Trousers,” British

researchers developed “The Right Trousers,” a “new soft robotic

technology that will help older people and people with disabilities to

live more independently and with greater quality of life.”

The artificial muscles in the trouser can help to restore mobility and

strength, and this trouser contains many unique and helpful features

that can benefit disabled individuals.

“We’re sort of at the pre-iPhone announcement [stage],” said Yoel

Fink, a materials science professor at MIT. “It’s very, very exciting.”

On June 30th, a group of researchers in Australia announced that

they created robotic textile fibers, which can be programmed by

computer.

“The new smart textiles are highly flexible, conformable, and

mechanically programmable, enabling multimodal motions and

shape-shifting abilities for use in broader applications,” the paper

said. “[And] the proposed smart textiles are expected to contribute to

the progression of smart wearable devices, haptic systems, bioinspired soft robotics, and wearable electronics.”

At the University of New South Wales in Australia, a team of

scientists have created small silicon tubes that can be weaved into

normal textiles. The function of these tubes is to turn the fabrics into

shapes that scientists have programmed.

However, in order to truly transform normal clothing, scientists need

to find a way to place computer powers in these textiles so that they

can collect and monitor the data from the human body. These

scientists are now trying to construct a fabric that can receive signals

from the human skin in order to make adjustments and help alleviate

some discomforts.

“Software is going to determine what services you’re receiving,”

Fink said, “and that thing is going to look like your T-shirt and your

pants that you’re wearing right now.”

Another difficulty that researchers are facing is the size of the cloth.

Since the new, revolutionary clothes contain many computer

mechanics, the overall weight of the cloth will be heavier than most

of the fiber T-shirts. The scientists will need to balance between the

mass and the technology inside the cloth. In addition, “The added

bulk of specialized fibers could make wearable smart textiles

uncomfortable or difficult.” says Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio, a

professor of mechanical engineering at Yale University.