In 1993, a film was released called “The Wrong Trousers.” It featured a pair of robotic pants that allowed its user to walk along walls and even ceilings.
While robotic pants seem like something from the distant future, they may be coming to stores sooner than you think.
Scientists have started to research robotic clothes. In England, scientists took inspiration from the film and made their own robotic pants: “The Right Trousers,” which were pants equipped with electrical pumps that could help blood circulation. Scientists believe that robotic clothing could eventually help people across the world have more healthy lives.
Researchers all over the world are working on this project. In Australia, researchers created robotic textiles that can move fabric around. Researchers in MIT made threads that could be programmed by a computer, and the intelligence community is looking to make robotic clothes to help soldiers and spies.
“We’re sort of at the pre-iPhone announcement [stage],” said Yoel Fink, one of the professors at MIT working on making the clothes. “It’s very, very exciting.”
Some companies have already begun releasing clothing with special modifications. Google partnered with multiple clothing brands such as Adidas to put sensors inside of clothes that can be connected to their phones, allowing users to use sleeves to swipe through their phone.
However, there are still many challenges that need to be overcome to release better robotic clothing. The added electronics are too big and add too much bulk to the clothing. The current robotic tubes have 0.5mm diameter, and they are aiming for a diameter of only 0.1mm.
Another problem is how to design the clothes. Fink says that the clothing must “look exactly, feel exactly, wear exactly, wash exactly like the fabric you’re wearing right now.” However, this is a challenge, as the clothes still need to be durable enough to survive going through the washing machine without breaking the robotics.
Even with these challenges, researchers will be able to persevere, according to Yale University professor Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio.
“Recent breakthroughs,” she said, “point toward a not-so-distant future where smart textiles will be a part of our everyday wardrobe.”
Source Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/07/29/robot-clothes/
While robotic pants seem like something from the distant future, they may be coming to stores sooner than you think.
Scientists have started to research robotic clothes. In England, scientists took inspiration from the film and made their own robotic pants: “The Right Trousers,” which were pants equipped with electrical pumps that could help blood circulation. Scientists believe that robotic clothing could eventually help people across the world have more healthy lives.
Researchers all over the world are working on this project. In Australia, researchers created robotic textiles that can move fabric around. Researchers in MIT made threads that could be programmed by a computer, and the intelligence community is looking to make robotic clothes to help soldiers and spies.
“We’re sort of at the pre-iPhone announcement [stage],” said Yoel Fink, one of the professors at MIT working on making the clothes. “It’s very, very exciting.”
Some companies have already begun releasing clothing with special modifications. Google partnered with multiple clothing brands such as Adidas to put sensors inside of clothes that can be connected to their phones, allowing users to use sleeves to swipe through their phone.
However, there are still many challenges that need to be overcome to release better robotic clothing. The added electronics are too big and add too much bulk to the clothing. The current robotic tubes have 0.5mm diameter, and they are aiming for a diameter of only 0.1mm.
Another problem is how to design the clothes. Fink says that the clothing must “look exactly, feel exactly, wear exactly, wash exactly like the fabric you’re wearing right now.” However, this is a challenge, as the clothes still need to be durable enough to survive going through the washing machine without breaking the robotics.
Even with these challenges, researchers will be able to persevere, according to Yale University professor Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio.
“Recent breakthroughs,” she said, “point toward a not-so-distant future where smart textiles will be a part of our everyday wardrobe.”
Source Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/07/29/robot-clothes/
