Lately, while driving, I've rediscovered my love for the Rolling Stones' live album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out. The cut of Midnight Rambler off this album has long been an anthem of mine and it's typically blasted at top volume.
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But whenever I twist the volume knob on my truck's stereo, it makes these annoying little beeps that taint the song. What I need is this: seats upholstered in smart fabric so I can crank up the tunes with a swipe of my finger.
Thanks to researcher Maksim Skorobogatiy and his team of developers at the Polytechnic School in Montreal, we all may be sitting on smart fabric sooner than we think. They've developed a soft polymer-based fiber with electrical properties and it can be woven into fabric.
"In essence we are trying to reproduce the smartphone experience in textile form," Skorobogatiy told New Scientist. "We are looking for applications where we can weave in sleek, non-invasive control, avoiding blocks of push buttons."
Cooler, still, is how this fiber is created. First, the team takes a copper wire and rolls it in conducting and insulating polymer to create a cylindrical capacitor two centimeters wide. Next, they heat the cylinder to 392 degrees Fahrenheit and stretch it out like taffy to create a fiber that is .9 millimeters in diameter.
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And good news -- the fiber is easily cleanable so you don't have to curb your drive-thru guilty pleasures.
For the record, as my defense to state troopers everywhere, I usually start speeding around the 2:22 mark of Midnight Rambler. It's beyond my control.
[Via New Scientist]
Credit: Hugh Sitton/Corbis
Tags: Auto, Cars, Music, Transportation, Travel
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