What is ISO 17971:2025?

ISO 17971:2025 – Textiles: Smart textiles – Test method for determining the screen-touch properties of fabrics specifies a standardized laboratory procedure to evaluate how fabrics interact with capacitive touchscreens. This standard provides objective metrics for testing textiles (e.g., glove fingers, wearable interfaces) to reliably operate touchscreens, covering equipment, specimen preparation, conditioning, and test procedures.

Scope:

Applicable to all fabrics intended as interfaces for capacitive touchscreens.

Apparatus:

Mobile arm system with a reference capacitive screen.

Cylindrical test bar (diameter 6.0 ± 0.01 mm) made of conductive material compliant with IEC requirements.

Force sensor with a test range of 0.1–10.0 N, precision ≤1%.

Equipment position resolution 0.01 mm; Maximum Permissible Error 0.2 mm.

Specimen Preparation and Conditioning:

Minimum of five specimens from different fabric locations.

Specimen size ≥ 2 cm × 2 cm, laid flat without creases.

Conditioning per ISO 139: temperature 20.0 ± 2.0 °C, relative humidity 65 ± 4%; specimens ≥4 h, reference screen ≥2 h.

Test Procedures:

Blank/Control: Eliminates equipment-related deviations.

Single-Point Test: Measures positional accuracy, deviation, and response ratio.

Multi-Point Test: Determines minimum adjacent-touch distance (horizontal, vertical, 45°).

Slide Tests: Evaluates linearity and continuity of gestures (linear and circular slides).

Environmental and Equipment Requirements:

Reference screen must meet single-touch precision, sensitivity, and slide linearity requirements to ensure valid measurements.

Applications and Users:

R&D and quality control for smart textiles, conductive fabrics, and touchscreen-enabled gloves.

Product development for wearable interfaces, medical textiles, fashion tech, and industrial gloves.

Certification bodies, test laboratories, and procurement teams verifying touchscreen performance.

Supports objective product claims for integration with smartphones, tablets, and embedded displays.

Related Standards:

ISO 139 – Standard atmospheres for conditioning and testing.

IEC 62908-12-10 / IEC 62908-12-20 – Measurement methods for touch and multi-touch displays.

Qinsun Instruments is a professional instrument equipment manufacturer, providing one-stop solutions for smart textile testing and laboratory needs.

2026-01-07 18:11