A team of researchers from Nottingham Trent University (UK), Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy) has created washable and durable magnetic field sensing electronic textiles – thought to be the first of their kind – which they say paves the way to transform use in clothing, as they report in the journal Communications Engineering (DOI: 10.1038/s44172-025-00373-x). This technology will allow users to interact with everyday textiles or specialized clothing by simply pointing their finger above a sensor.