Smart Textiles in Building and Living Applications: WG4 CONTEXT Insight on Elderly and Healthcare Environments

Over the past 30 years, the development of new technologies and especially of smarttextiles has unavoidably led to new applications of traditional textiles in the built environment.Depending on special constructional needs (i.e., acoustic insulation, thermal insulation, shadingsystem, etc.) or health monitoring and supporting needs (i.e., for patients with chronical disease,etc.), an increasing number of possible applications has been proposed to improve human well-being.This is especially the case for healthcare environments (like elderly or nursing homes, etc.), butalso educational environments (like schools, etc.) where young or old customers can benefit fromtechnological innovation in several ways. As an ongoing activity of WG4 members for the CA17107"CONTEXT" European research network, this study presents a review on selected applications forbuilding and living solutions, with special attention to healthcare environments, giving evidence ofmajor outcomes and potentials for smart textiles-based products.