Patent attributes
Wearable items and methods of monitoring wearable items are disclosed. The wearable item comprises a flexible base material forming at least a portion of the wearable item, plural conductive traces traversing the flexible base material, and conductivity sensing circuitry coupled to the plural conductive traces. The conductivity sensing circuitry is configured to distinguish conductivity from non-conductivity of the plural conductive traces, and configured to generate a conductivity indication for at least one of the plural conductive traces. The plural conductive traces follow indirect paths across the flexible base material, allowing the flexible material to flex and stretch normally without breaking the conductive traces.