Fabrics of the future

We can expect a lot more from our clothes and textiles now.

There are smart textiles that will change colour and shape and report back on your movements. Others can monitor your health, or light your way.

In New Zealand, companies like Zephyr Technology are exploiting the potential of smart textiles to go the extra distance to find markets.

Zephyr’s business is physical status monitoring. It has developed a BioHarnessTM that can be worn around the chest by defence and emergency personnel, and athletes, to measure heart rate, temperature, breathing rate and posture.

ZephyrTM uses smart fabric technology, which combines fabric-based sensors and electronics to monitor the person wearing the harness. It has been working with the US Defence Industry and research institutes, and with fire fighters in the US and Australia to develop the technology.

The BioHarnessTM has been worn by NASA pilots and astronauts – though not yet in space – and by a variety of US sports teams. Now Zephyr is about to launch a new product that integrates the technology with uniforms so the wearer doesn’t have to use a separate harness.

“We use the electro-conductive properties of fabrics,” says Zephyr product manager John Molloy. “We can conduct signals through those fabrics.”

In March this year, Zephyr moved its head office from Auckland to Annapolis on the East Coast of the United States. In June, Motorola invested in the company – one of four main investors.

The move to the US has broken down market barriers for Zephyr. “Putting ourselves on the East Coast, not far from Washington DC is very deliberate. From a practical point of view, we have noticed an immediate change,” he says.

“Our senior commercial people are now within two hours’ drive, or two hours’ flight of a large portion of our US market – particularly the key decision-makers.

We are now able to respond quickly from the same time zone. We also now have a US phone number and a US address, which assists us significantly when dealing with high-level contracts and contractors. They are far less apprehensive when dealing with a small US company than a small New Zealand company,” Molloy says.