
Alexander is a writer, traveler, and serial digital entrepreneur. He’s the founder of the Frontend Lists, the Gen X personal growth newsletter Further, and offers small business advice at Unemployable.


Twitter

Linkedin

Facebook

Director and Chief Evangelist

Alexander Hipp


Anil is a content-obsessed marketer who loves driving organic traffic for outstanding companies. He is also the creator of Hack the Content, co-host of The Runner, and owner of several digital commerce sites.

Managing Partner

Anil Vugels


Monika is a writer, musician, and content strategist with a passion for language. When she isn’t helping clients, you can find her writing songs, hiking in a northern forest, or furiously journaling.

Director of Operations

Ann Monika


Robert is a creative writer who loves learning new skills, and helping others. He’s the author of several novels, and in his free time, you can find fim swimming, reading, or baking.

Content Specialist

Robert Britt


About eight or ten years ago, I was excited about smart fabric and connected textiles —  especially about what the next generation could be once the materials evolved. Now, Microsoft’s got me excited again, and, well, skeptical.

Smart fabric refers to textiles that embed technology such as sensors and conductive thread into the structure and function of the material.

In the case of Microsoft, the patent is for fabric in a jeans’ pocket. The fabric is embedded with layers of connected sensors that can recognize an object or gesture.  

And, it’s more than just sewing in a few sensors. The patent also details the development of data processing circuitry. It can receive, process, and transmit data from the smart fabric.

Then, there’s a computing system containing a machine learning module. It receives and processes incoming data and builds prediction models. These can recognize an object placed next to the piece of smart fabric or a touch gesture applied to it. 

The computer system can recognize objects commonly held in a pocket and their absence. For example, your pocket sends a reminder to your phone when it fails to detect coins for parking meters or your hand sanitizer. 

As for gesture recognition, rubbing the phone against your pocket could quickly trigger a command on your phone via NFC. It could also have applications in gaming and various consumer products.

### Not Microsoft’s first rodeo

Microsoft’s been interested in smart fabric and smart clothing since the mid-2010s, filing various patents, such as electronically functional yarn for smart shirts and gloves. 

The current patent is most likely an extension of a 2020 project called Capacitivo, where a smart fabric tablecloth identifies foods, such as specific items of fruit placed on the table, or even liquid inside glasses. It’s a somewhat strange use case. 

<div class="ratio ratio-16x9">
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ITYGILCULPo"></iframe>
</div>


About eight or ten years ago, I was excited about smart fabric and connected textiles —  especially about what the next generation could be once the materials evolved.

Innovation

Msoft's smart fabric that can detect objects and gestures