Apple researching how to embed tech controls into fabric, turning your outfit smart

Apple is investigating how to make even more things from our everyday life smart. A newly granted patent shows that Apple is looking into ways to make fabric touch-sensitive so it can embed controls and detect gestures.

The patent is about a “Fabric Sensing Device”, which won’t be limited to the regular form factors of devices that we have today. “Touch-sensitive textiles” would allow Apple to add controls to a variety of consumer products. One use-case example shown in the patent is of a user touching their sleeve. It seems like Apple is interested in making the shirt into… well, a smart shirt.

The patent (as is usual with patents) tries to cover every conceivable use of the technology, so the list of devices that could use fabric controls includes more than just an Apple Watch. The patent says the tech could be incorporated into “articles of clothing, clothing accessories, handbags, upholstered items, household textiles, and other items that may include a textile component or element.”

It’s more likely though that Apple will focus the tech on an Apple Watch band instead of completely making a smart shirt. But other possible uses are in a seat cover on the long-rumored Apple Car, or maybe you can use the arm of your couch to control an Apple TV.

Apple registers a lot of patents, and not all of them make it into an official product. So don’t expect an Apple iShirt or iBelt anytime soon. But hey, I do think it would be a cool thing to have an iBelt, for example, although it seems super exotic for me at the moment. Anyway, it’s always interesting to imagine what the future of tech will look like. Would you wear a smart T-shirt?