SMART ePANTS: Active Smart Textiles

IARPA’s [Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity] SMART ePANTS initiative aims to create apparel equipped with built-in audio, video, and geolocation sensor technology, while offering the flexibility, durability, washability, and comfort of traditional textiles. By seamlessly integrating these devices into clothing, members of the Intelligence Community can effortlessly capture environmental data without the inconvenience of cumbersome, conspicuous gadgets. This advancement enables personnel to maintain optimal mobility, ultimately enhancing their ability to react swiftly in demanding situations. The initiative brings together a wide range of high level specialties, with the brightest minds in science, technology, functional fibers, and soft goods design collaborating to bring the vision to life.

What we did

  • User Case Studies + Garment Interaction
  • Garment Concept Development
  • Consultation on Textile Development
  • Technical Design Drawing

Clients / Collaborators

illustration of technology placement on garment
IARPA logo, SMART ePANTS logo

Project Description

The aim of the SMART ePANTS program is to build cutting edge sensor systems
that can be integrated into comfortable, flexible textiles. There are a number of highly specialized teams competing to achieve this lofty goal. These teams are at the forefront of the emerging field of Active Smart Textiles, textiles with the ability to adapt and change based on their environment as well as the needs and inputs of users. The objective is to create primary clothing (e.g. shirts, pants, socks, etc.) featuring these active smart textiles in a seamless fashion. The program research has three core tracks: audio recording, video and photography capture, and indoor geolocation. The key to achieving this goal is reflected in the project name: Powerfully Smart Threads® (contract number N6600123C4511). These are advanced flexible fibers that embed the technology being developed for the project. Spearheaded by Areté, the development team consists of subject matter experts from the fields of textiles, garments, electronics, sensors, optics, and batteries.

arete garment concept developmen
Arete Garment Concept Development

Use Cases

As the resident soft goods design and garment experts, Interwoven Design began with an analysis of several potential use cases for the technology, isolating key garment silhouettes that would be ideal candidates for AST integration within those use cases. Interwoven recommended a curated selection of garments to prioritize in the prototyping process, consulting on the textiles that would best allow seamless integration with the technology while also being suitable for the use case garments.

designers review fiber options on an ipad
Interwoven textile research flat lay

Development

Due to the varying dimensions of the audio and video/photography technology embedded, a thermally drawn fiber developed at AFFOA and MIT Lincoln Lab is being applied during textile production. Interwoven proposed specific swatch specifications for the project prototyping and sourced the recommended textiles. Interwoven identified
specific sections on the target garments as ideal for technology placement, considering the intersection of material opportunities and user needs. Reinforced sections of the garment, including the collar on a polo shirt and the pocket on a dress shirt, were confirmed as ideal locations for the integration of the necessary technology.
Interwoven was integral to helping the wider team understand the key challenges of the garment integration, providing technical drawings, illustrations, and diagrams to capture the synthesis of the technology and the textile at the level of the weave.

woven technology garment illustration
collaborator logos

SMART ePANTS Interview with IARPA PM Dawson Cagle