Electronic textiles are an expanding field, yet their sustainability challenges demand urgent attention. Recent research highlights the broader inclusion of biomaterials to reduce their environmental impact. This has opened up new functionalities by combining biomaterial properties, textile techniques, and electronics. Nevertheless, an underexplored aspect is their aesthetic dimension, which plays a critical role in the user’s experience with them. To address this gap, we created a collection of five bio-based eTextiles artefacts and introduced them to participants in an aesthetics-focused user study.

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The development of functional fibres, active materials, and flexible electrical components has introduced new ways of embedding interactive capabilities within textiles. However, this seamless integration poses challenges in terms of materials, disassembly, and disposal, revealing an urgent need to address the issue of sustainability when creating new electronic textiles. Authors have proposed eco-design guidelines that emphasise the use of renewable and biodegradable materials. Despite these recommendations, the potential of biomaterials in eTextiles remains largely unexplored. This integrative literature review showcases how biomaterials emerged as catalysts for expanding possibilities within eTextiles and HCI, not only through their environmental sustainability but also through their dynamic and transformative nature, fostering a realm of novel interactive experiences. We suggest the potential of developing fully bio-based eTextile systems, the need for broader sustainability and aesthetic studies, the relevance of DIY methods, and the urgency of textile knowledge integration.

Most textiles in day-to-day use are products of weaving. The versatility of this manufacturing technique, which readily supports a multi-layered structure, inclusion of several yarn types, malleability and other valuable characteristics, has attracted attention from HCI researchers intrigued by its potential to expand the interaction capabilities of e-textiles. Research nonetheless has barely scratched the surface of the wealth of weaving techniques and woven structures available. Therefore, a design-research project anchored in practice investigated how touch-sensitive e-textiles’ capabilities might be enriched via advanced multi-layer weaving techniques. The research process, which drew inspiration from literature both on textile design and on woven e-textiles, produced 25 distinct e-textile samples. Results from evaluating the structural properties, electrical capabilities and overall utility of each point to numerous unexplored opportunities from woven multi-layer e-textiles. Even holding potential for entirely new forms of interaction, these represent promising starting points for in-depth investigation.

The development of smart textiles with interactive capabilities has introduced new ways to embed functional fibers, electrically active materials, and electrical components within textiles. Nevertheless, this ubiquitous integration will bring challenges regarding materials resources and their disposal. To seek bio-based alternatives for the current unsustainable components, the present work explores the integration of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) optical waveguides into yarn structures to create textile-based optical sensors.

Global and systemic sustainability challenges increasingly require innovation teams to incorporate holistic, long-term thinking into their ideation. Since a comprehensive foresight process would prove too burdensome, faster methods are needed. The Future Ripples method was devised to meet this need through reflective practice in four consecutive workshops. It builds on the well-known Futures Wheel foresight method, which offers a collaborative process for brainstorming consequences and impacts. Additionally, the new approach encompasses scanning for weak signals and trends while catering to innovation teams. Analysis of the workshop activities and outcomes suggests that the Future Ripples method can nurture the anticipation skills of innovation teams and help them develop diverse, novel, yet plausible futures. The paper also discusses the role of reflection, metaphors, and the balance between critical and creative thinking in developing holistic futures.

Advances to functional materials and flexible electronics have yielded new means of integrating electrical properties into textile materials, which invite researchers in various fields to apply woven-textile construction methods in eTextile development. However, common ground for woven eTextiles’ prototyping is still taking shape. This calls for greater understanding of how the knowledge now scattered across diverse research fields can benefit the textiles’ development for HCI. To investigate how eTextile research has employed weaving and extract insight for HCI purposes, the authors reviewed and categorised applications of woven structures and electrical functions, then identified specifically HCI-relevant qualities and means of creating them via weaving. The paper outlines those woven structures useful for HCI and advocates consistent weaving-related terminology, to improve knowledge transfer across disciplines. In addition, the results point to research opportunities involving haptic qualities, the ability to weave multiple layers, functionality integration, and tools and methods.

To situate the skills of the textile designer within the HCI-process, we present a case of a hand puppet with a purpose-woven smart textile pattern. The qualities found in traditional textile design are tacitly synthesized into the eTextile-design process. We see this mentality as having a natural dialogue with HCI-practice. The hand puppet consists of two layers: an inner sensor glove, designed to detect the movements of the user's fingers, and a woven outer layer that has a touch sensitive user interface integrated into its woven structure. The two interfaces can be operated simultaneously by two separate users; an adult and a child. Our interest is to understand better how the traditional textile design variables can be utilized in the user interface and -experience design. We aim towards the synthesis of woven eTextile design, consisting of user interface design, pattern design, sensor structure design and textile layout design.