Philips Electronics filed a patent application in September 2004 for a new invention that allows displays on fabric.  This new technology, invented by George Marmaropoulos, is said to be applied to clothing or furniture and can be applied to already tailored items that will support the technology.

According to the patent application, the furry fabric, through activation by the user, is electrostatically charged causing the furs to repel from the surface and each other in a substantially vertical orientation with portions of the furs extending cut of the surface, therefore revealing the color of the fabric surface.  The fabric comprises of at least one conductive layer which carries a positive or negative charge on its outwardly facing surface so that the electrostatic field exists within the surface.  The conductive layer also couples to a power source and fabric circuit.

The surface of the fabric can be divided into a number of patterns and different colors, and by charging or discharging certain areas, a change in contrast can be achieved which can form a binary image or pattern.  The different type of fabrics that can be used are cotton, polyester, spandex, or a combination.  They can be non-woven, knitted, as long as the conductive layer is present, which can be printed on the fabric or mounted by adhesive tape.

The idea behind the invention is to implement communication and informational or decorative display into clothing, furniture, or other locations.  The application also states that dynamically changing the appearance of the fabric of a garment would be very desirable in the fashion industry, where other display devices are already in application, such as embedded LEDs, thermochromic liquid crystal, and electroluminescent materials.