Dressware: wearable hardware

Conventional fabrics coated with a thin conducting polymer layer are described which possess remarkable properties of strain and temperature sensing. Sensing figures of merit are comparable to those of sensitive strain gauge materials and inorganic thermistors. Also, spun conductive polymer fibers show electromechanical actuation. The isometric contractile stress of the actuating fibers is higher than skeletal muscle, between 1 and 15 times. The fabrication of active electronic and electromechanical systems onto substrates which are not only flexible, but ideally conformable to the human body may represent a breakthrough in man–machine interface technology.