Active smart wearables

Active smart wearables which are able to react by sensing stimuli om the environment or the user through embedded sensors with the integration of actuators that act autonomously or by following orders from a base station ... 

Sport activities are an area that has highly benefited from developments in smart wearables and WSNs. Since sports include physical practice and exertion, it is important to be able to monitor the vitals of the athletes while they are practicing or competing in a game, in order to prevent any potential injuries or help to increase performance levels. 

Y.-D. Leea, W.-Y. Chungb, Wireless sensor network based wearable smart shirt for ubiquitous health and activity monitoring. Sens. Actuators B Chem. 140 (2) (2009) 390—395. 

Textiles are not only to protect/cover or skin but show self-expression, taste, and personality of the wearer. They can also demonstrate socioeconomic status and cultural movements. Moreover, in the modem fashion world, textiles are highly relied on for their beauty and aesthetic appeal. Recent advancements in wearable devices have extended the functionality of textile materials to smart textiles. Now the term smart textiles is referred to as active or passive depending on the placement of actuators. If the actuator is embedded in the textile, then it is active otherwise is passive. Smart textiles play a key role in our day-to-day life, including the fields of health monitoring, personal trackers, military use, education, home appliances, transportation, gaming, entertainment, and music. Table 9.3 shows the applications of smart/inteUigent textiles to various areas. 

Among the various categories of smart textiles and flexible materials, which include optically, mechanically, chemically, electrically, and thermally activated substances/ stmctures (Tao, 2001), several have shown large opportunities of applications in PPE. This includes wearable electronics, for example, physiological condition, temperature, and humidity sensors, power and data transmitters, and end-of-life indicators, which are the subject of the next chapter of this book. Various types of smart flexible materials have also found their way into PPE, for instance, as responsive barriers, self-decontaminating membranes, thermoregulating layers, and shock-absorbing patches. 

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