The pressing need to innovate is one of the characteristics that have invaded the world of industry in order to confront increased competitiveness in the current, globalised market. Aware of this, the LEITAT Technology Centre has been using its extensive experience to adapt its services and broaden its technological know-how in order to offer companies guaranteed solutions and tools to boost their productivity, promote technological exchange and favour the development of textile management. For all these reasons, technical and smart textiles have become one of the winning options in the relaunch of an industry, intrinsically traditional, but with multiple possibilities and functions.
An illustrative definition, but not too far from the reality, describes smart textiles as those materials that think or react autonomously. These effects are obtained through the inclusion of electronic devices or smart materials in the textile substratum. Despite the fact that, for some time, textiles of this type were already being used in safety and protective clothing, in recent times the concept has been stretched to include fashion, comfort and innovation with great success.

The stimuli capable of making smart textiles react can be of different natures: mechanical, thermal, chemical, electrical or magnetic sources. Depending on their function smart textiles can be classified into three categories: Passive Smart Textiles, sensitive to environmental conditions or stimuli; Active Smart Textiles, with the capacity to detect and act when confronted with a specified situation (chameleonic, water-repellent, thermo regulated, etc.); and Ultra-Smart or Third-Generation Textiles, capable of reacting and adapting to conditions and stimuli received, at the same time as being able to generate an inverse response in order to completely regulate the factor to be controlled.
Currently the production of ultra-smart textiles is a reality; they are the result of a propitious coming together of traditional textiles and other scientific disciplines such as the science of materials, structural mechanics, sensor technology, advanced detection-technology processes, electronics, communication artificial intelligence, biology, etc.
If some years ago smart textiles were presented as imaginary products belonging to a very uncompetitive market, the scientific efforts of research centres like LEITAT have brought this discipline to the vanguard of the textile industry's immediate future. LEITAT's capacity to adapt is due, in great measure, to its staff, a group of people highly qualified in different scientific disciplines who offer a complete service in everything related to research, development and technological innovation.

“Currently the production of ultra-smart textiles is a reality; they are the result of a propitious coming together of traditional textiles and other scientific disciplines such as the science of materials, structural mechanics, sensor technology, advanced detection-technology processes, electronics, communication artificial intelligence, biology, etc..”