Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 18/02) - Don't count on it being cheap, but Andre Bernasson may have invented the parlour trick of the century: TV on a T-shirt.

It might not be completely surprising, given the enormous advances in fabric and ink technology in the past few decades. But the Frenchman's invention is going to make Gore-Tex look like loincloths in the dinosaur age.

Since 1993, Bernasson has worked on creating "side-emitting" fibre optics which project light along their length -- kind of like a fluorescent light tube -- instead of just transmitting it. His T-shirt -- he hopes to have a model in production sometime next spring -- takes those supple fibre optic strings and weaves them into a shirt.

Apply a current and the T-shirt glows with different colours or different patterns. What's on the T-shirt is the wearer's choice. Its power and the ability to upload text come from a cell phone. The battery lasts about four hours.

So far, Bernasson has only created the capability of scrolling text on a shirt, but he says he has had interest from across the world and hopes to market the shirt early next year.

Bernasson is only one part of a continuing trend that is literally electrifying the clothes you wear.

On this side of the pond, North American inventors have been busy marketing a bevy of heated clothing products. You may have heard of electric socks, but it doesn't end there: a number of vendors are selling electric gloves, jackets and pants.

The clothes are expensive and for the most part only well-suited to powered activities: snowmobiling and motorcycling. That's because they plug into 12-volt receptacles. Pat Widder, owner of Widder Enterprises which makes electrically heated clothing, said battery technology hasn't advanced far enough to make electric pants or vests portable.

"I'm talking about skiers: if a vest is drawing three amps, to have a battery that will last two or three hours you're looking at around 15-20 pounds. ... NASA might have that capability (lightweight battery cells) but of course they can afford it."

The idea behind electric clothing is simple: pass a current through the clothes so they heat themselves, and you have to wear fewer layers. All of Widder's clothes are designed as undergarments -- but with electric power, the need to bulk up is diminished. That can be a real asset on a frigid day while snowmobiling.

But be careful, said Doug Witty, owner of Force One, who stocks only insulating gear. Electric heat requires electricity -- and if you get into equipment trouble at - 35 C you might not have enough insulation to keep you warm.

But an electric jacket could be useful while ice fishing, said Bill Stirling, owner of Overlander Sports. The North Face is producing a $900 battery-powered jacket this year -- but Stirling isn't even stocking it because it's so pricey. An electric jacket does have advantages.

"You're going to save energy, your body's not going to be burning as many calories. You've got this other thing that's generating its own heat," he said.

Of course, while the North Face may have a new jacket, electric clothing isn't particularly new.

"My father was a World War II pilot and he used to wear 24-volt heated suits in the B-25s," said Widder. "We're basically using the same kind of heating element that was used then."