Design and evaluation of textile-based signal transmission lines and keypads for smart wear

  • Authors:

  • Jayoung Cho;Jihye Moon;Moonsoo Sung;Keesam Jeong;Gilsoo Cho

  • Affiliations:

  • Research Institute of Clothing and Textile Sciences, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea;Department of Clothing and Textiles, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea;Department of Clothing and Textiles, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea;Department of Medical Information System, Yong-in Songdam College, Yong-in, Korea;Department of Clothing and Textiles, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea

  • Venue:
  • HCI'07 Proceedings of the 12th international conference on Human-computer interaction: interaction platforms and techniques
  • Year:
  • 2007

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Abstract

The present paper was intended to prove the applications of surface-conductive fabrics as electronic textiles. First, we tested the electrical durability of a Cu/Ni electro-less plated fabric reinforced by PU(polyurethane) sealing. Using the fabric, we constructed textile-based signal transmission lines and textile-based keypads. For performance tests, we compared the output signals between the textile transmission lines and Cu cables and evaluated textile-based keypads by means of operation force and subjective operation feeling. PU sealing was effective to yield electrical durability for surface-conductive fabrics, thus the repeatedly-laundered fabric showed almost identical output signal with that of Cu, successfully operating an MP3 player. Subjective evaluation and operation force measurement identified that the rubber dome switch keypad was preferred due to a low operation force and less pressure on the skin when the keypad-mounted clothing is worn. The paper suggested specific applications and evaluation methods of electronic textiles as essential components for smart wear.