Textile Waste and Haptic Feedback for Wearable Robotics

Abstract

Recent textile innovations have significantly transformed both the material structures of fibers and fabrics as well as their sphere of use and applications. At the same time, new recycling concepts and methods to re-use textile waste are rapidly being developed and many new ways to make use of recycled and reclaimed fibers have already been found. In this paper, we describe how the development of a new textile, making use of recycled fibers, sparked the development of Textile Reflexes, a robotic textile that can change shape. This paper elaborates on the development of the new textile material, the multidisciplinary approach we take to advance it towards a robotic textile and our first endeavours to implement it in a health & wellbeing context. Textile Reflexes was applied in a vest that supports posture correction and training that was evaluated in a user study. In this way, the paper demonstrates a material and product design study that bridges disciplines and that links to both environmental and social change.