User requirements for wearable smart textiles: does the usage context matter (medical vs. sports)?

Abstract

Wearable smart textiles are a promising approach to provide health related services (e.g., permanent monitoring of vital parameters), and can be used in different context (such as sports or health care). But so far, smart textiles [ST] have not significantly penetrated the market. To identify possible reasons, the acceptance of important stakeholders must be investigated. This paper offers a first step in this direction by presenting a questionnaire study on user requirements of smart wearable textiles. To find out whether there is a generic attitude towards ST, this study is focused on a comparison of user requirements in two settings, sport and health care, as two central fields of application for this technology. First results show that there are differences in the evaluation of requirements of ST pertaining to ease of use, permanent information provision about one's health status, data security as well as the design of such textiles, based on the usage context.