Modern day textiles do not stop at pleasing. They feel, think, and change shape too.

- The only limit is our imagination, Erik Bresky explains, project leader for Smart Textiles at the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås. With a mix of design, technology, and corporation-based projects the goal is to become the county's leading knowledge center - for the future textile industry.

Sweaters that measure heart rate and blood-vessels in textiles. Curtains that heat the room - after a hot day. Or a communicating collar. Those are the faces of them - the textile products of the future, products beyond mere cloth and clothing. They are called smart. And are developed in interdisciplinary collaborations between design and technology within the Smart Textiles project. The project is lead by the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås in collaboration with the SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden and IFP Research, the Institute for Fibers and Polymers.

Interview with Erik Bresky

Modern day textiles do not stop at pleasing. They feel, think, and change shape too.

Sweaters that measure heart rate and blood-vessels in textiles. Curtains that heat the room - after a hot day. Or a communicating collar. Those are the faces of them - the textile products of the future, products beyond mere cloth and clothing. They are called smart. And are developed in interdisciplinary collaborations between design and technology within the Smart Textiles project. The project is lead by the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås in collaboration with the SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden and IFP Research, the Institute for Fibers and Polymers.

The next generation of products is not merely a range of traditional textiles. They add some kind of value to that of the textile itself, Erik Bresky, Deputy Head of Department at the Swedish School of Textiles and project leader for Smart Textiles, narrates. The smart textiles react to their surroundings and are sensitive to for example heat, light, or pressure. They may alternate their colors, conduct electricity, or rise up to become for example sound insulating. They may be specifically useful or purely aesthetically appealing. In principle, there are infinite possibilities, Erik Bresky reasons. Smart textiles is a priority research field in the region. Also, the project has stated an ambition to develop cooperation between corporations in the textile industry and corporations from other industries.

We have created a platform and our vision is to provide a home for the top competence in smart textiles in Borås. We will not have all the knowledge here, but there will be a network for it, he says. - If you have an idea connected to textile fibers and processes it is to be tested here - and there should be no doubt that Borås is the best place to do it. According to Erik Bresky, the Smart Textiles project in Borås is a clear-cut example of the professional thought brought into practical use and evidence towards the fact that both the University College and the business life benefits from close cooperation. Smart Textiles is founded on what is called experimental research at the University College in Borås, the SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, and IFP Research alongside corporation-based projects.