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Berlin. On the fabric, researchers have placed passive matrices of compact RGB LED packages. The
pixelated luminaries with relatively large distance between RGB pixels have been embedded in
everyday objects like cushions and floor mats.
The photonic textile can also be made interactive by incorporating sensors, like pressure or orientation
sensors, and communication devices into it.
Fig. 93 Photonic textile by Phillips [167]
The picture shows the photonic textile. As the fabric covering the tiny light source naturally diffuses
light, each pixel seems bigger than it actually is [167].
2.3.4.2 Patents published
2.3.5 Applications in the technical textile sector
2.3.5.1 Research projects and products
In the technical textile sector, optical fibres are often used as sensors to exploit the Bragg Effect.
At the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, a research group has developed several applications using
optical fibres to measure strain and temperature in composite structures [168, 169, 170, 171]. Fibre
optic Bragg grating sensors are attracting considerable interest for other sensing applications, like
pressure, chemicals and biological factors [172].There is a great interest in the multiplexed sensing of
smart structures and materials, particularly for the real-time evaluation of physical parameters at
critical monitoring points. Most of the sensing applications of Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors focus
on their reflection spectra, which depend on the relation between the Bragg wavelength and their
physical quantities.
Further, a research group at the University of Maribor is working on fibre-optic chemical sensors. In
this case, optical fibres act as remote sensors and can detect chemical contaminants. Light is
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