What if your clothes gave you some vital feedback? And, what if your shirt told you that it was time for more deodorant, your socks alerted you that mosquitoes were biting your ankles and automatically applied insect repellent, or your underwear told you your glucose levels were falling fast and did something about it.

Garments that can do those things are in the works. Researchers in the Applied NanoBioscience Center at Arizona State University in Tempe say that the era of the smart bodysuit is about to begin.

Both versions of these smart bodysuits include embedded sensors to monitor the body.

They call their design the Scentsory Chameleon Bodysuit, and have put forth two versions. Their prototype biometric bodysuits can detect chemical attacks, deliver drugs to their wearers, and even spray perfume to cover up bodily smells, should your body temperature rise too much. The military version of the bodysuit incorporates a fuel cell to provide a lightweight source of power for the soldier's equipment.

The civilian version—for everyday use—monitors heart or blood pressure, delivers interactive games, administers insulin, and functions as a wearable computer, according to Frederic Zenhausern, director of the Applied NanoBioscience Center. He is one of the leaders of the project, which he said combines fashion and function.

The two very dissimilar-looking bodysuits both include embedded sensors and controls.

"These smart clothes will detect what the body needs right away," explained research assistant Kathryn Richardson.
Civilian wearers will even be able to download new colors and patterns from the Web to change their clothing's appearance. The present-day prototype of the civilian suit is made up of a white plastic undergarment dotted with sensors and covered by a clear vinyl dress or suit. The military version looks like the usual camouflage fatigues.

The suits showcase the effectiveness of the electronics and sensors, many of which were developed at Arizona State University laboratories, Zenhausern said.

"The biometric bodysuit shows how electronics and fluidics can be incorporated into clothing to perform a wide range of tasks, from the highly functional to the aesthetic," he said. "This will be the standard of the future for interactive personal communication systems."

Are you nibbled by mosquitoes? Kind of smelly? Embedded sensors can call upon your clothes to help fix the problem.

The camouflage smart suit might one day sense biochemical attacks and give future soldiers early warning. Pathogen detectors would sample bacteria, amplify the DNA, and look for the characteristics of specific pathogens, like anthrax or smallpox, so soldiers would know what they had been exposed to. Future versions might incorporate sensors that monitor a soldier's vital signs and level of fatigue, Zenhausern said.

A flexible electroluminescent display included in the military suit wraps around the wrist cuff to give wearers updated information. Ghassan Jabbour, an associate professor of optical sciences at the University of Arizona, helped with this function. He's an expert on flexible displays, which are composed of molecules that emit light under certain circumstances. The molecules can be placed on a flexible substrate like plastic to make a display screen that can move and bend.

The everyday civilian suit resulted from a collaborative effort between Zenhausern and Galina Mihaleva, a costume designer in the Arizona State dance department. The pair said they developed the suit to demonstrate how basic electronic, fluidic, and opto-electronic elements could come together in a fashionable design that people might actually wear.

"We've shown an outfit that could easily deliver a fragrance in response to some type of elevated human condition, like body temperature or heart rate," Zenhausern said. "Another application would be the delivery of drugs, say insulin to a diabetic, or even insect repellent in response to a cue from the body."

Before donning the garment, wearers could download designs from the Internet to change colors or patterns of the fabric, Zenhausern said.

Both versions could reach the market within a few years, he added.

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