This fabric can hear your heartbeat

Threads containing piezoelectric materials create electrical signals from sounds

image of experimental fabric made of woven blue, green and red thread

This experimental new fabric can capture sounds from the environment and, when integrated into clothing, inside of bodies. Such materials could provide a comfortable, nonintrusive — even fashionable — way to monitor body functions or aid with hearing.

Fink Lab/MIT, Elizabeth Meiklejohn/RISD

Someday our clothing may eavesdrop on the soundtrack of our lives, capturing the noises around and inside us.