A team of researchers from Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal in Canada has focused on making soft versions of multitouch screens, batteries, microchip transistors, and other electronics. Those technologies could lead to "smart clothing" that, for example, monitors a person's health signs, or even acts as a wearable computer. The researchers wove signal-conducting fibers into an experimental touchpad that showed off partial multitouch capability similar to what smartphones or tablets feature. Although smart clothing may seem just around the corner, manufacturers are hesitant to work with completely new fibers, and the soft textile version of transistors are also difficult to build.

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