A 6m long and 25cm wide woven Electroluminescent (EL) display has been created by an international team of researchers. An excellent and detailed paper describing the work has been published in Nature. The team have created an EL fiber (warp) which is woven with a conductive fiber (weft)and at the point of contact the EL fibre luminesces. THe fabric is stretchable, flexible and washable (over 1000 times). Although EL material is not so bright and requires high voltage AC drivers this appears a real breakthrough in terms of a robust, flexible
light emitting woven textile. The paper is also a masterclass in sharing the details of the development and performance, you should read it.
A video showing the textile in action
A close-up of the fabric, showing excellent uniformity of emission
Source: Nature