TBIS 2026, Lille, France 

General presentation:

Five Special Forums will be held on the afternoon of 27 August, addressing the transformation of textile and fashion systems in the era of digitalization, Human-Centric innovation, and interdisciplinary convergence. The forums will cover key domains including Digital Product Passports in textile supply chains, intelligent manufacturing systems, textile safety and health, interdisciplinary creative economy, and sport bioengineering. Beyond traditional academic sessions focused on specific scientific advances, the TBIS2026 Special Forums are designed as integrative platforms bringing together academic researchers and industrial professionals to explore application-driven innovations. Through a combination of expert presentations and round-table discussions, these forums aim to foster cross-disciplinary dialogue, align technological developments with real-world challenges, and articulate a shared vision for the future of intelligent, sustainable, and human-oriented textile ecosystems.

Special Forum 1 – Digital Product Passport for Traceability and Circular Textile Systems (organizer: Henry Yi Li)

Click for details : Prof. Henry  Yi LI / The University of Manchester, UK)

Objective: To explore how digital infrastructures, including Digital Product Passports (DPP), enable traceability, transparency, and circularity across textile supply chains.

Core Research Questions:

1) How to implement DPP in real textile supply chains by 2027?

2) What are the first actionable steps for companies to implement DPP in the next 12–24 months?

3) How to ensure interoperability across global value chains?

Presentations (30 min each):

“From Data to Value: Architectures for Scalable Digital Product Passports in Textile Supply Chains” (Henry Yi Li, University of Manchester)

“European project ECHT: Establishing chemicals traceability for implementation of DPPs” (C. Magniez and M. Vouters, Teams 2 Industrial Competitiveness Cluster)

“Leveraging LLMs for automated data harmonization in textile digital product passports” (V. Kumar, University of Boras)

Round Table on Industrial challenges & solutions (30 min):

Theme: From Regulation to Implementation: Making DPP Operational in Textile Industry

Guiding Questions:

1) What are the main barriers to industrial deployment of DPP?

2) How to balance data transparency and data sovereignty?

3) What role for European standards and policies?

Special Forum 2 – Human-Centric AI for Adaptive Textile Manufacturing Systems (Organizer: X.Zeng)

Click for details: Prof. Xianyi Zeng / professor (exceptional class) in ENSAIT Textile Engineer School

:Objective: To investigate how AI-driven systems can enhance adaptability, efficiency, and worker well-being in textile manufacturing

Core Research Questions:

1) How to integrate human factors into AI systems without reducing productivity?

2) How to improve productivity and worker acceptance with AI systems?

3) What productivity gains can realistically be expected from AI deployment?

Presentations (30 min):

“Human-Centric Intelligent Textile Manufacturing: concepts, tolls and methods of implementation” (X. Zeng)

“Intelligent Robots and Human-Robot Cooperation in manufacturing”

“Explainable AI and Trust in Industrial Human–Machine Collaboration”

Round Table on Industrial challenges & solutions (30 min):

Theme: Human–AI Collaboration in Industry 5.0: Reality or Vision?

Guiding Questions:

1) How far are we from real Human-Centric smart factories?

2) What are the risks of over-automation?

3) How to measure worker acceptance and trust?

Special Forum 3 – Human-Centered Textile Safety Systems: Protection, Health and Methodological Innovation (Guowen Song)

Click for details: Prof. Guowen Song    lowa State University, USA 

Objective: To advance the design, evaluation, and deployment of textile-based systems for safety, health, and protection by integrating materials innovation, human factors, and rigorous methodological approaches. The forum aims to foster interdisciplinary research towards high-performance, evidence-based, and inclusive protective solutions across occupational and health-related domains

Core Research Questions:

1) How can textile systems ensure reliable protection while maintaining comfort and usability?

2) How to integrate human factors (ergonomics, physiology, perception) into protective system design?

3) How to rigorously evaluate performance under realistic conditions?

4) How can digital tools (simulation, sensing, digital twins) enhance safety system design and validation?

5) How to develop inclusive and adaptive protective solutions for diverse users and environments?

Presentations (30 minutes):

“Designing High-Performance Protective Textile Systems: Integrating Materials, Function and Human Factors” (Guowen Song)

“Real-Time Risk Monitoring through Wearable Textile Systems”

Round Table on Industrial challenges & solutions (30 minutes):

Theme: Towards Intelligent Safety Systems: Challenges and Industrial Adoption

Guiding Questions:

1) What are the limitations of current protective systems?

2) How to ensure reliability in real conditions?

3) How to integrate safety systems into industrial workflows?

Round Table on Industrial challenges & solutions (30 min):

Theme: Towards Reliable and Human-Centered Protective Systems: Bridging Design, Evaluation and Real-World Use

Guiding Questions:

1) How to reconcile protection, comfort, and usability in real conditions?

2) What are the current limitations of testing and certification methods?

3) How can digital tools improve reliability and predictive evaluation?

4) How to ensure adoption and acceptance by end-users?

5) What are the challenges in designing inclusive protective systems?

Special Forum 4 – Unleashing the Creative Potential: Textiles as Catalysts for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Commercialization (Organizers: L. Li and T. Mok)

Click for details: Prof. Li LI, Prof. Tracy Mok / Hong Kong University of Science and Technology , Hong Kong, China

Objective: To explore how textiles, as versatile and expressive soft materials, act as catalysts for interdisciplinary innovation, enabling new forms of creativity, cross-sector applications, and value creation within the emerging creative economy

Core Research Questions:

1) How can textiles serve as platforms for interdisciplinary innovation across sectors?

2) How do tactile, aesthetic, and functional properties enable new user experiences?

3) How can creative textile concepts be translated into scalable commercial solutions?

4) What new business models emerge from textile-driven innovation ecosystems?

5) What are the fastest pathways from creative concept to market?

Presentations (30 minutes): 

“Textiles as Catalysts for Interdisciplinary Innovation: From Material to Experience” (L. Li)

“From Creative Exploration to Commercial Value: Pathways for Textile Innovation” (T. Mok)

“Smart and Sustainable Textiles in Emerging Application Domains”

Round Table on Industrial challenges & solutions  (30 minutes):

Theme: From Creativity to Commercial Impact: Building the Future Textile Innovation Ecosystem

Guiding Questions:

1) How can we better connect designers, engineers, and entrepreneurs?

2) What are the main barriers to commercializing textile innovations?

3) How to balance creativity, functionality, and scalability?

4) What is the role of AI and digital tools in creative processes?

5) How to structure sustainable and interdisciplinary innovation ecosystems?

Special Forum 5 – Textile Bioengineering for Sports Performance (Organizer: L. Liu)

Click for details: Prof. Li Liu, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, China

Objective: To investigate how textile-based systems contribute to human performance, physiological regulation, and functional optimization in sports and physical activities. The forum aims to integrate textile engineering, sports science, biomechanics, and intelligent technologies to enable high-performance, adaptive, and personalized solutions

Core Research Questions:

1) How can textile systems enhance athletic performance and physiological efficiency?

2) How to model and optimize human–textile–environment interactions in sports contexts?

3) How can wearable sensing and smart textiles support real-time monitoring and feedback?

4) How to design personalized and adaptive textile systems for athletes and users?

5) How to translate elite sports innovation into broader applications (rehabilitation, daily activity)?

Presentations (30 min each):

“Textile Systems for Performance Enhancement: Integrating Physiology, Materials and Design” (L. Liu)

“Wearable Textile Sensing for Sports: From Data Acquisition to Real-Time Feedback”

“Human–Textile–Environment Systems: Modeling and Optimization in Sports Bioengineering”

Round Table on Industrial challenges & solutions (30 min):

Theme: From Elite Performance to Everyday Applications: The Future of Textile-Based Sports Systems

Guiding Questions:

1) How can innovations from elite sports be transferred to broader populations?

2) What are the key technological bottlenecks in smart sports textiles?

3) How to ensure reliability and validity of wearable sensing systems?

4) What is the role of AI in performance optimization and coaching?

5) How to balance performance, comfort, and usability?

 TBIS 2026 OC (April 2026)

***Click here to see Program Schedule ***