Smart and Interactive Textiles Market Set for Rapid Deployment and Connection to Digital Healthcare Management
The smart and interactive textiles market is estimated to be valued at USD 8.33 Bn in 2024 and exhibit a CAGR of 15.1% over the forecast period 2024-2031. The rising demand for wearable technology across various application areas including healthcare, sports, and fitness is expected to boost the market growth.
Market Dynamics:
The smart and interactive textiles market growth is driven by rapid advancements in wearable technologies as well as increasing investments by major players in digital healthcare management. Wearable devices are becoming increasingly intelligent and able to monitor a variety of health vitals in real-time. This is enabling early detection of health issues as well as remote patient monitoring. Major players are also investing heavily in integrating these textiles with Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing. This allows for seamless data transfer to healthcare providers and at-home monitoring of chronic disease patients and elderly population. Additionally, smart textiles are finding new application areas in sports and fitness with the ability to track activity metrics. The convergence of textiles, healthcare and digital technologies will continue to propel the development of advanced smart and interactive textiles over the forecast period.
Increasing Demand for Wearable Healthcare Devices
The rising prevalence of chronic diseases and healthcare costs are creating demand for innovative solutions. Smart textiles that can monitor vital health parameters offer an affordable and convenient way for continuous health monitoring. These textiles can monitor conditions like heart rate, respiration rate, body temperature, blood pressure, ECG, and many more. They integrate sensors and other electronics into fabrics to transmit health data to connected devices and healthcare providers. This driver is expected to significantly boost the adoption of smart textiles in the coming years.
Growing Integration of IoT into Textile Industry
The integration of smart sensors and connectivity into textiles is allowing them to interact with the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT-enabled smart textiles can collect data about user activities and environment and transmit it over wireless networks. This allows developing advanced interactive applications across various domains like healthcare, fitness, entertainment, military, and industrial. Many textile manufacturers are focusing on producing IoT-integrated smart garments, safety wear, and sportswear. The increasing application of IoT in the textile industry is thus recognized as a key growth factor for this market.
High Production Costs of Smart Textiles
The integration of electronics and advanced technologies makes smart textiles expensive to produce compared to regular fabrics. Additional manufacturing processes and materials required for embedding sensors, conductive yarns, circuits, etc. significantly drive up production costs. These high costs pose challenges for mass adoption, especially in price-sensitive markets. Textile manufacturers must focus on cost engineering to make smart textiles affordable for mainstream consumers.
Unstandardized Regulation and Certification Protocols
Smart textiles combine textiles with electronics, raising new regulatory and safety concerns. There are no consistent and standardized regulatory guidelines or certification protocols for these hybrid products globally. Different regions and applications have different testing and approval procedures. This regulatory uncertainty increases complexity and compliance costs. Agreement on universal rules and standards is needed to streamline regulation and boost market confidence in smart textiles.
Growing Adoption in Military and Defense Sector
Smart textiles offer several advantages for military applications like health monitoring of soldiers, communication, navigation, camouflage, blast detection, and more. Many countries are investing in developing advanced military fabrics and uniforms integrated with sensors and connectivity. For instance, the U.S. Army is developing intelligent combat uniforms equipped with electronics. Such initiatives are opening new opportunities to drive the demand for smart textiles solutions in the defense industry.
Increasing Popularity of Smart Sports Apparel and Accessories
The sports industry is increasingly adopting smart textiles for applications like integrated heart rate monitors, therapy pads, impact sensors, GPS trackers, and more. Many sports brands are launching smart jerseys, gloves, socks equipped for biometric tracking, virtual coaching, and other interactive features. At the same time, new startups are entering this space with innovating interactive sports gear.
Link - https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/market-insight/smart-and-interactive-textiles-market-4764
Key Developments
- In February 2021, DuPont acquired Tex Tech’s Core Matrix Technology, a monolithic fabric structure that can significantly reduce backface trauma, while increasing ballistic and fragmentation performance for military and law enforcement personnel. This acquisition is going to add to the company’s already robust portfolio of life protection solutions, enabling the most flexible, lightweight ballistic solutions to meet new standards of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) for enhanced durability. In addition to enhanced protection, the new technology also increases the comfort of wearing bullet-resistant body armor.
- In February 2021, Interactive Wear AG launched Project Kickoff Eghi. This is a project within the framework of the “Adaptive Technologies for Society – Intelligent Interaction between Humans and artificial intelligence” program, sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Key Players
- E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Koninklijke Ten Cate, Toray Industries, Textronics, Inc., Sensoria, Inc., Milliken & Company, Globe Holding Company LLC, Interactive Wear AG, Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, Schoeller Textil AG, and Outlast Technologies LLC
