By: Lucas Ji
Researchers in England are trying to make robotic clothes. These clothes were inspired by robot suits and clothes that were worn in movies, but were mostly special effects.
But, this one isn’t going to be made with CGI. The purpose of the clothes are to help elderly people get up from chairs and improve blood circulation. These pants are called “The Right Trousers”, which is a trouser with air pumps in it that supports people’s legs to help them get up.
University labs are now trying to make this with programmers , fabric designers, and material scientists working to make the idea a reality. Yoel Fink, a materials scientist at MIT believes that the trousers are still at a pre-release stage, and they have lots of work to do.
Australian researchers have already designed and created a robotic fabric that can move on its own. This fabric is made with battery gels in the fabric and with threads that can be controlled by a program. There are also silicone pipes that are as thick as yarn that can change the shape of the fabric.
Other types of “Smart Clothing” that have been released are shirts that can connect to your phone’s Bluetooth. Google has partnered with famous clothing brands. To make this, they put sensors that connect to phones in the clothing. Wearablex has also made clothes like this but for yoga, which has sensors which vibrate when your posture is not accurate.
Robot clothes are a new topic, and many still are curious to find out more about it. Scientists estimate that in a few years these fabrics will be a part of our daily outfits.
Sources: