The Smartwear Revolution research project will develop PLEXTEX, a radically new smartwear that addresses Canadian and global Assistive Technology needs, to innovate smart fibres.

Our transformative smartwear, PLEXTEX, will serve as clothing with adaptive mechanical properties that can seamlessly augment posture, balance, arm movements, and walking for persons with neuro-musculoskeletal weakness or motor impairment due to aging, congenital or acquired conditions; as well as preventing workplace injuries such as strains, back and shoulder injuries.

With adaptive properties built within the fibres of the PLEXTEX, a change to the clothing stiffness and shape can provide physical support and movement augmentation as needed. Smartwear fibres will include intelligent technologies to identify the user intent and change the fabric properties as needed by the wearer.

The Smartwear Revolution research project is a multidisciplinary team with co-design by PLEX [People with Lived Experience] through a transformative convergence of expertise across technology, textiles, art, design, and social justice. 

The PLEXTEX smartwear will be shared during a creative festival in 2028 and 2030, where artists and fashion designers will present an art exhibition, live performance, and fashion designs which demonstrate the potentiality of the smartwear, and unique collaborations with the technology and textiles research teams.