IMAGINE a tablecloth that could play music, a jacket that controls a

computer, a television remote control in the arms of a sofa or light switches embedded into curtains and carpets.

They are all now possible thanks to a revolutionary new electronic fabric developed by an Ilkley company.

The technology has been used to make a jacket with integral mobile phone keypad on the chest and controller for a CD player on the sleeve, and the jacket has now gone on display in a new exhibition at London's Science Museum.

The same technology has been used to make a torch that shines brighter the harder you squeeze it and a touch-sensitive fabric piano keyboard.

Developed by scientists at the materials company Peratech, in collaboration with Ilkley-based international textile R&D organisation WRONZ Inc, the fabric has just won the annual Saatchi and Saatchi Innovation in Communication Award, beating off strong international competition.

The touch-sensitive technology, called Softswitch, could soon mean a truly wearable computer, styled and coloured to match the rest of your wardrobe, computers could be the latest fashion accessories.

All the fabrics contain a touch-

sensitive fabric that conducts more electricity the harder you press. Tiny metal specks in the material are

covered in a plastic layer that lets

electricity flow only when the plastic is distorted. Dr Dianne Jones, the research leader at WRONZ Inc, of Little Lane, said: "Currently, the Softswitch interfaces are designed to be detachable from the electronic hardware they control.

"This means that interface fabrics can be removed and rolled up, changed, cleaned or perhaps even

disposed of and replaced as wear or fashion dictates.

"Ultimately, the keypads and switches will not be tethered by wires and cables to the devices they control but will work using remote data

transfer."

Immediate applications for the technology and controls for toys, games and computers, where there is an opportunity to soften existing

plastic components.

The technology can also be adapted to produce fabric sensors that are able to detect pressure or movement.

"Potential applications for Softswitch technology might only be limited by the imagination," said Dr Jones.