a feature article on IEEE's Spectrum called "Ready to Ware" talks about conductive fibers. it mentions some possible applications and refers to some innovations like France Télécom's networked woven optical fibers that can be controlled like a video screen, the SmartShirt, IFM's color-changing Electric Plaid, Infineon's motion-detecting carpet, Sensatex's baby monitoring outfit, and the Coatnet group's smart textiles research. (via core77)