a team at otherlab, which has been involved in all kinds of interesting research projects focused on clean and renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, and robotics, has been using arpa-e funding (advanced research projects agency-energy) to develop a thermally adaptive material that passively changes thickness and insulation based on the ambient temperature.

the team at otherlab created a fabric that expands in the cold and shrinks in the heat. (youtube)

according to the team’s website, the fabrics change shape and increase in thickness and insulation based on the thermal environment. the material has been demonstrated to double in thickness in response to a temperature change of 10°c.

the site explained, “our goal is to make apparel with superior thermal comfort, both indoors and outside.”

the material is composed of standard fabrics such as nylon, polyester, and polyolefin, but the team paired textiles with different thermal expansion characteristics to achieve its goal. the website added, “as temperature changes, the lengths of the two materials change differently, causing the textile to bend and increase the thickness of the fabric.”

an article from ieee spectrum noted, “it might take a minute or so for the fabric to transform itself from completely flat to completely poofed and then another minute to go back, but that's certainly quick enough to be useful. at minimum poof, the fabric insulates you about as well as a heavy t-shirt. and at maximum poof, it's equivalent to heavy outdoor gear, nearly tripling its insulating ability in response to a temperature drop of 15 °c.”

the team hopes that this type of technology can lessen the dependence on air conditioning and heating processes that use up valuable resources. by making clothes that are reactive to the environment could increase comfort and require less consumption of fossil fuels.

to learn more about the technology, watch the video below: