We introduce a knitted inductive flex sensor which seamlessly integrates a coil and a capacitor into a soft and flexible tubular knit. By knitting enameled copper wires, we form a self-supporting coil, whose inductance changes with stretching and bending. Knitting both a coil and a parallel-wire capacitor, we create a textile resonant LC circuit, while preserving the softness, elasticity, and breathability of knitted textiles. In this paper, we present the fabrication process using an industrial knitting machine, evaluate sensor sensitivity and hysteresis over 100 bending cycles, and demonstrate the sensors versatility across joints of different radii. Our results show that knitted inductive sensors combine the wearability of soft textiles with the stability of inductive sensing, opening new sensing opportunities in healthcare, rehabilitation, and interactive electronic garments.

This pictorial explores textile-specific interaction and various signifiers to communicate them. In a textile workshop, nine designers created 50 samples of potential interfaces, based on everyday actions people perform with textiles and with a specific focus on signifiers. The samples were analysed and categorized as annotated portfolios, which revealed three categories of signifiers relevant to textile-specific interaction design: Visual signifiers, Textile signifiers, and Staging signifiers. The pictorial offers more details on each category and further discusses the Staging category. Following the annotations, a subset of the textile samples from the workshop was further explored in an exploration session to gain insights into users' perceptions and interpretations of signifiers and interactions. The paper concludes with a high-level reflection on the use of signifiers in textile-specific interaction design, as well as considerations for future designers of smart textile interfaces.

Textile fabrication, an ancient human technology, has evolved over millennia, transitioning from a focus on affordability and speed to a current emphasis on sustainability. With Textile ID, we envision a digital garment passport that seamlessly incorporates directly into textile surfaces as a design element to bridge the gap between sustainability and consumer engagement, transforming garments into interactive storytellers of their ecological journey. The visual surface of the garment can be scanned with a smartphone to access a unique identifier embedded within the fabric, which provides essential information about the product’s lifecycle. This work discusses the design space of various visual and textile parameters, proposes design possibilities and insights for implementation. Finally, we showcase a set of sample garment designs and provide design recommendations for designers to use in their future work.

Integrating sensors into knitted input devices traditionally comes with considerable constraints for textile and UI design freedom. In this work, we demonstrate a novel, minimally invasive method for fabricating knitted sensors that overcomes this limitation. We integrate copper wire with piezoresistive enamel directly into the fabric using weft knitting to establish strain and pressure sensing cells that consist only of single pairs of intermeshed loops. The result is unobtrusive and potentially invisible, which provides tremendous latitude for visual and haptic design. Furthermore, we present several variations of stitch compositions, resulting in loop meshes that feature distinct response with respect to direction of exerting force. Utilizing this property, we are able to infer actuation modalities and considerably expand the device’s input space. In particular, we discern strain directions and surface pressure. Moreover, we provide an in-depth description of our fabrication method, and demonstrate our solution’s versatility on three exemplary use cases.

With spaceR, we present both design and implementation of a resistive force-sensor based on a spacer fabric knit. Due to its softness and elasticity, our sensor provides an appealing haptic experience. It enables continuous input with high precision due to its innate haptic feedback and can be manufactured ready-made on a regular two-bed weft knitting machine, without requiring further post-processing steps. For our multi-component knit, we add resistive yarn to the filler material, in order to achieve a highly sensitive and responsive pressure sensing textile. Sensor resistance drops by ~90% when actuated with moderate finger pressure of 2 N, making the sensor accessible also for straightforward readout electronics. We discuss related manufacturing parameters and their effect on shape and electrical characteristics and explore design opportunities to harness visual and tactile affordances. Finally, we demonstrate several application scenarios by implementing diverse spaceR variations, including analog rocker- and four-way directional buttons, and show the possibility of mode-switching by tracking temporal data.

This pictorial explores the design space for communicating surface gestures to users of textile interfaces by experimenting with the interfaces’ physical design and affordances. First, we created a collection of functional and non-functional textile samples. Their development was based on three aspects: design, fabrication, and sensing. The design aspect covered different visual (shape, color) and haptic (details, textures) designs, fabrication explored three textile-specific fabrication methods, and electronic sensing offered options for adding touch-sensing capabilities. Second, we reflected on created samples and their characteristics contrasting different designs and speculating on why some work better than others. Our main findings and insights are presented in five clusters: ergonomics, visual affordances, perception of textures, the direction of movement, and the economic usage of design elements. This intermediate-level knowledge can provide a starting point for each professional or novice designer to take inspiration from, when creating their own textile user interfaces.