https://www.google.com/atap/project-jacquard/
A Google project about using conductive yarn in standard industrial looms. Sounds really interesting, I don't know if this is state of the art or what, but bring on the reactive-video t-shirts, mu-mus and hoodies!
Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group is one of the most exciting divisions of any major technology company: It’s where Project Ara, Google's modular phone experiment, and Project Tango, Google's 3D-mapping tool, were born and are continuing to be incubated. Now, Google is shooting for the moon with another big idea—Project Jacquard.
Project Jacquard is an effort to invisibly incorporate computers into objects, materials, and clothing. Everyday items such as sweaters, jackets, and furniture will be turned into interactive surfaces that can be used as trackpads, buttons and more. The objects will receive information directly from the surface of the material used to build them, eliminating the need for bulky plastic or metal parts. The objects will then transmit information to a nearby smartphone or computer using low-powered Wi-Fi.
http://www.popsci.com/googles-levi%27s-computers-clothing-project-jacquard
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 01 2015, @05:42AM
I watched the video of the Project Jaquard announcement at I/O and they were mostly talking the difficulties of scaling things up. The section started with saying the problem they want to solve is not how to make "smart" garments, but how to make it so every clothing manufacturer can make them. The main part is a new way of doing conductive thread that they claim can scale up to industrial clothing production and be different colors and intermix with different fabrics. They also talked about making it easy to plug into.
Not sure I really believe in their vision, but they seem to be addressing the right problems.