Scientists including one of Indian-origin have created fabrics and fashion accessories that can store data\u2014from security codes to identification tags\u2014without needing any on-board electronics or sensors.The data can be read using an instrument embedded in existing smartphones to enable navigation apps, according to a paper presented at the Association for Computing Machinery\u2019s User Interface Software and Technology Symposium (UIST 2017) in Quebec, Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a completely electronic-free design, which means you can iron the smart fabric or put it in the washer and dryer,\u201d said senior author Shyam Gollakota, Associate Professor at the University of Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can think of the fabric as a hard disk\u2014you\u2019re actually doing this data storage on the clothes you\u2019re wearing,\u201d Gollakota said.<\/p>\n
To create the smart fabric, the researchers leveraged magnetic properties of off-the-shelf conductive thread.<\/p>\n
Most people today combine conductive thread\u2014embroidery thread that can carry an electrical current\u2014with other types of electronics to create outfits, stuffed animals or accessories that light up or communicate.<\/p>\n
But the researchers realised that this off-the-shelf conductive thread also has magnetic properties that can be manipulated to store either digital data or visual information like letters or numbers.<\/p>\n
This data can be read by a magnetometer, an inexpensive instrument that measures the direction and strength of magnetic fields and is embedded in most smartphones.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are using something that already exists on a smartphone and uses almost no power, so the cost of reading this type of data is negligible,\u201d Gollakota said.<\/p>\n
In one example, they stored the passcode to an electronic door lock on a patch of conductive fabric sewn to a shirt cuff.<\/p>\n
They unlocked the door by waving the cuff in front of an array of magnetometers.<\/p>\n
The researchers said they also created fashion accessories like a tie, belt, necklace and wristband and decoded the data by swiping a smartphone across them.<\/p>\n
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