Specialty Fabrics Review September 2020 - 34

FUTURE

ENDEAVORS
Wondering what technology
advancements or projects
are on the horizon? Here's
a sneak peak:
We're working on systems
that would allow smart
capability to be protected
by the surrounding textile
construct. The textiles
we're developing can
measure stress and strain
and transmit that data to
a collection point. Analysis
of this data has potential to
predict product wear and
potential system failure, as
well as useful product life.

TED FETTERMAN
BALLY RIBBON MILLS

We're most excited about
the unspooling device
we've patented, which can
potentially have up to 22 or
more materials unspooled
into a machine, in the same
footprint of the machine.
We've been successful in
unspooling and embedding
many types and sizes of
materials and combination
of materials into fabrics.

CONNIE HUFFA
FABDESIGNS INC.

more independently. However, there
are challenges. One of the biggest is
washability. Whether in industrial laundry
systems or those for home use, there is
twisting and agitating that can damage even
flexible electronics. Another is recovering
materials and the electronic/smart
components from a product at the end of its
lifecycle-an issue Fabdesigns is exploring
with experts in the electronics field.
"There's one company in Germany
that has a process for removing the resin
from composites," says Huffa. "It's not
inexpensive, but there's an expense to our
environment if we're not mindful of the
product monsters we create."
MERGING TECHNOLOGY,
ARCHITECTURE AND DATA
Founded in 2010 in Ithaca, N.Y., the
Jenny Sabin Studio (JSS/Jenny Sabin LLC)
"explores the intersections of architecture
and science, applying insights and theories
from biology and mathematics to the
design, fabrication and production of
material structures and human-centered
spatial interventions," explains Jenny
Sabin, founder and principal of JSS.
The studio's range encompasses facades,
installations, pavilions, canopies and
architecture, says Sabin, adding that on
every project the company works alongside
fabricators and collaborates regularly with
knit manufacturers. The JSS client portfolio
includes companies such as Nike, Microsoft
and Cooper Hewitt.
JSS has created a variety of high-tech,
digitally-knit, responsive outdoor and
indoor installations. One is "Ada," a
suspended structure composed of 3D
printed nodes, fiberglass rods, integrated
LED and fiber optics, all covered in
knit photoluminescent yarns. Ada, the
studio's most recent indoor installation,
was undertaken in collaboration with
Microsoft Research. The intent was to
marry technology and data, imbuing the
structure with the ability "to facilitate and

reveal hidden expressions and emotion
in the built environment," says Sabin.
"Ada celebrates AI [artificial intelligence],
an architecture that is 'happy to see you'
and 'smiles back at you,'" Sabin says. "A
network of sensors and cameras located
throughout Microsoft Research's building
gathers anonymized data, including facial
patterns, voice tones and sounds that are
processed by AI algorithms and correlated
with sentiment.
"Three scales of responsive and
gradated lighting-including a network of
addressable LEDs integrated into the fabric
structure, a custom fiber optic central
tensegrity cone and five external PAR
lights-respond in real time to continuous
data streams," she continues. "Specific
sentiment data are correlated with colors,
spatial zones within the project, and
responsive materials."
Sabin predicts demand for indoor
smart fabrics will continue as people look
for more sustainable methods to heat,
cool and light buildings, as well as ways
to reduce the carbon footprint associated
with traditional construction processes.
"From AI and data-driven responsive
surfaces to textiles that emit light and
respond to local environment through
UV-activated fibers, smart textiles are at
the very beginning of opening new and
exciting markets," she says.
WIRING NARROW FABRICS
For a number of years, OTEX Specialty
Narrow Fabrics® (formerly Offray) has
been involved in the design, development
and manufacturing of e-textiles and smart
fabrics, says Eric Aerts, director of R&D/
marketing for the company. Located in
Bernardsville, N.J., OTEX manufactures
high-performance, mission-critical,
narrow textiles utilizing specialized fibers
and other materials for applications like
personal protective equipment (PPE)
and apparel, industrial and mechanical
products, and aerospace and defense

34 REVIEW SEPTEMBER 2020

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Specialty Fabrics Review September 2020

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