GOOGLE’S NEW SMART TEXTILE TECH LETS YOU CONTROL MUSIC BY PINCHING A CORD
Google has been actively exploring ways to expand virtual interactions beyond touchscreens and voice assistants. After pioneering touch-sensitive denim jackets and hands-free radar phone controls, Google’s research division is now experimenting with weaving technology into fabrics.
Called “E-Textiles,” the concept takes advantage of textile braiding techniques to enable cords to sense gestures. This could potentially allow people to, for instance, control their music by pinching the wire of their headphones or skipping the track by twisting their hoodie’s strings. Google says the research, for now, exclusively focuses on “drawstrings in garments and as wired connections for data and power across consumer devices,” since they’re commonly used.
Instead of using three or more material strands to form a braid, Google’s project involves interweaving a series of electrically conductive textile yarns. When the user performs an action like pinching a wire, these yarns transmit signals that tell the connected device to perform the assigned task. In addition, this design is interlaced with fiber optic strands that can display color and offer visual feedback whenever someone interacts with the cord.
To read more and watch the video demonstration click here or on the picture.