TEXTILES.ORG
Hohenstein Institut für Textilinnovation (HIT) has set out to measure the cooling effect of intelligent textiles. The Institute has created thermophysiological methods and models to objectively determine comfort levels for the wearer.
The Institute’s new physical measuring method includes a heat release tester called WATson. The HIT thermophysiological evaluation system will compare the results of the WATson heat loss tester to data from experiments on subjects in a climate chamber under a range of ambient conditions.
The research will include examining different cooling textiles and a variety of ambient conditions (temperature, humidity, wind); the cooling effect of textiles on different parts of the body; and the cooling effect of textiles under different levels of physical exertion.
Hohenstein says that data derived from the research will drive the industry’s success by allowing companies to prove and improve their competitive ability to offer the functionality required by customers.
The Hohenstein Institute was founded in 1946 as an independent and privately owned research and teaching center for the textile and clothing industry, and for commercial textile care companies.