After helpful swimsuits now its time to focus on Interactive textiles that enhance basketball and netball players skills thus helping them to throw better shots. CSIRO Textile and Fiber Technology scientist, Dr Richard Helmer, is working with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) to develop new interactive textiles 'wearable body-mapping garments' designed to help athletes improve their skills. To elucidate- "To help players find their ideal shot-making rhythm and motion the system plays a series of beats in-sync with their arm and wrist movements as they take a shot. The beats are triggered as the limbs move through certain positions. If the motion is 'correct' – i.e., indicative of a more successful natural action – the beats, which sound like parts of a disco drum rhythm, describe a recognizable pattern. This enables the netballer to maintain the dynamics of her natural shot-making action in stressful situations simply by repeating the rhythm in her head." Interactive textile devices can be used in various fields including entertainment, education, sport, military, rehabilitation and medicine.

AIS skills acquisition specialist, Dr Damian Farrow says the system allows athletes to move 'in the groove'. "While we now have the capability to provide real-time feedback of athlete movements, more importantly we can control the feedback content and delivery to optimize the athletes' rate of learning, thanks to our ability to work with CSIRO scientists," Dr Farrow says.

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