The wearables revolution and Big Data: the textile lineage

Abstract

John Kay’s invention of the flying shuttle in 1733 sparked off the first Industrial Revolution, which led to the transformation of industry and subsequently of civilization itself. While Basile Bouchon’s work led to the concept of a stored program, it was Joseph-Marie Jacquard’s automated punched card system that made it a viable industrial reality. The Jacquard loom proved to be the inspiration for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine and then Hollerith’s punched card. Thus, an invention in the textile industry was instrumental in bringing about one of the most profound technological advancements known to humans, viz., the second Industrial Revolution also known as the Information Processing Revolution or the Computer Revolution. In the late 1990s, the successful development of the wearable motherboard gave birth to the new paradigm of an interactive fabric-based wearable information infrastructure, which has played a key role in today’s emerging wearables revolution, further illustrating the textile lineage of some of the most important innovations that have transformed society. We begin with a historical walk bridging the fields of textiles and computing leading to the wearables revolution in progress today. We present the Laws of Internet-o-Dynamics that are fueling the “Big Data” movement. We discuss the characteristics and value of Big Data along with the role of wearables in furthering this movement. We define the ideal characteristics of wearables and introduce the concept of a meta-wearable. We then discuss the role of textiles (and clothing) as the meta-wearable with the ideal form factor incorporating these attributes. We then present the versatility of textile-based wearable systems as the bridge integrating the emerging concepts of Internet of Things and Internet of People in the context of Big Data. Finally, we attempt to glance into the future of wearables and Big Data further illustrating the lineage of textiles and its role in transforming the quality of life in society.

Keywords:

• Big Data
• wearables
• smart textiles
• meta-wearable
• wearable motherboard
• Internet-O-Dynamics
• Jacquard
• Internet of Things
• Internet of People