SonoTextiles: What if Your T‑shirt Could Listen?

ETH Zurich researchers, led by Prof. Daniel Ahmed, have crafted "SonoTextiles"—smart fabrics that ditch traditional electronics in favor of acoustic waves zipping through glass microfibers. The result? A lightweight, breathable, washable, and low-power smart garment that can precisely sense touch, pressure, movement—and even your breathing.

Lab-proven for now, the team is exploring more durable materials—think metal fibers—and smarter integration of electronics to bring these futuristic textiles into everyday life.

“While research has already been conducted into smart textiles based on acoustics, we are the first to explore the use of glass fibre in combination with signals that use different frequencies,” explains Yingqiang Wang  , the first author of the study that has been published in the journal Nature Electronics.