Smart fabrics: a bacterium to activate aeration in outfits?

By

Matthieu Guinebault

Published
Nov 10, 2015

The MIT's Media Lab and the Royal College of Art have revealed a new fabric that incorporates micro-organisms capable of creating vents in case of sweating. The no-nonsense name given to the material is 'BioLogic'.
 

The process is based on the Subtilis, a bacterium which was discovered a thousand years ago in Japan, and is normally used for foodstuff fermentation.

When the micro-organism is positioned upon a membrane, it causes the latter to contract once in contact with humidity, only to return to its previous form when dry. The developers unveiled the manufacturing process in a stunning video.