An appreciation of the advancement made in the smart performance and application of textile articles is definitely interesting for those learning and working in the areas of smart textiles, and at the same time it indicates the directions currently pursued in smart textile research and development.

The unique combination of properties like flexibility, softness, permeability, strength, thermal, and electrical resistance of textiles provides several reasons to attract the innovation interest for research and development. Such combination of properties is not seen in several other materials including metal, ceramic, plastic, wood, glass, paper etc. It has resulted in attractive interdisciplinary applications of textiles where electronic textiles are setting interesting examples. The time has come when user will see the electronics that are wearable and water- washable.

Electronic textiles (e- textiles) are the textile fabrics with electronics and interconnections woven in their structure. They possess the physical flexibility and size not known in conventional electronics. Components and interconnections are intrinsic to the fabric structure with reduced chance to be seen, tangled together or snagged by the surroundings. Thinking for electronics that can be draped over a vehicle or a tank is achievable using textile fabrics.

The use of fabric as station to deploy electrical components results in wearable electrical/ computing devices. It makes easier to move with computing devices with less consumption of human energy and efforts. Moreover the flexibility of fabric provides the opportunity to modify the shape for conforming new requirements of applications. The relative position of components including sensors, actuators, processing elements can be altered.

Research studies at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University indicated that future studies and advancement in the area of electronic textiles would introduce numerous applications ranging from simple computing devices to advanced protective and sensing textiles. Embedded system technologies and smart materials can be integrated and interfaced in e- textiles; such design will accommodate hardware and software applications.

The design process of an e- textile should appreciate the complexity, cost, and effectiveness of system. This process must be based on a set of percept derived from the experience and developing concepts. Software/ hardware architecture of an e- textile using defined percept would facilitate the future research, and produce applicable models. An understanding of theories, fabrics, embedded conductive threads/ fibres, and the connections in electronics and fabric are significant in producing a prototype.

Computing elements, sensors, and actuators can be seamlessly configured in known textile products such as shirts, hats, parachutes, and blankets. Sophisticated fibre technology is introducing new fibres that may function as batteries, durable wires, and speakers. The current research and innovation in e- textiles is addressing the matters in computing the infrastructure, and examining the applications. An example is the acoustic beam former that senses the presence of a large vehicle and report its position and direction of motion. The system receives acoustic data through microphones and processes it, and communicates the result to outside world or peer system.

Electronics and computer peripherals are now start coming in market and a stream of electronic items is expected to emerge that are soft, compact, flexible and portable. There are two areas where textiles and electronics are taking the directions. First the smart textile interface fabrics are adding value in electronics. In the other area, electronics are enhancing the functional textiles; for example the sensor and communication technology are used in protective wear, out door sports, children wear, and medical applications.