Published Date : Apr 06, 2016
The demand for a variety of smart and interactive textiles is seeing a significant rise in the transportation industry. Smart and interactive textiles have several applications in aircrafts, racing cars, and passenger vehicles. With the rising adoption of integrated communications systems and other technologically advanced systems in passenger cars, use of smart textiles can leverage the potential use of technologies and help in elevating comfort and convenience for passengers.
There have been some discoveries in the smart textiles section especially meant for the transportation industry that, when put to actual use, can heighten the potential of the integration of smart textiles with technologies in vehicles. One of these is the smart seat belt. Researchers say that smart seat belts can help the user keep track of bodily functions such as the rate of heartbeat. Seat heating technologies and multi-functional steering wheels are also pushing the overall growth of the smart and interactive textiles market, expanding growth avenues in the transportation industry.
Consumer applications are also considered one of the most lucrative segments for the global smart and interactive textiles market, with immense opportunities in several fields of application. Integrating smart textiles with fashion is being increasingly considered as a way to offer more value to consumers. As designers come up with new ideas in which smart and interactive textiles can be put to use in making clothes more attractive or aesthetic, the demand for such textiles will see an upward trajectory in the fashion industry.
Fashion labels are projected to soon become important demand drivers for the global smart and interactive textiles market. However, the industry will have to be able to effectively tackle issues related to washing and maintenance of smart and interactive textiles, as most of these products are embedded with electronic components. Besides this, ensuring that the apparel fabricated from smart and interactive fabrics are not too heavy or uncomfortable for wearing is also a major challenge that may restrict the large-scale adoption of smart and interactive fabrics in the appliances and fashion industry.
As time progresses, companies are projected to address these issues with consistent research and development efforts.