It started with phones and today’s market demands all things smart. So why not apply this very logic to what you’re wearing. Smart apparel or wearable technology is taking the everyday garment and giving it a higher purpose; it’s no longer about the fit. We’ve advanced to letting our clothing tell us how to stay fit. Research analyst predict that the $150 million industry with rake in revenues of $4 billion by 2024. ICE Business Times gets into gear with the best of tech-savvy wear.
The Gen X Jacket
When megacorporations Google and Levi’s collaborate to create a piece of smart clothing, nothing short of the very best is to be expected. The complex combination of these companies’ expertise and resources have given birth to the “ Levi’s Commuter Trucker Jacket with Jacquard by Google,” an ordinary denim jacket with a few tricks up its sleeves.
One of the cuffs has conductive threads woven in and act as the sensor area for multiple gestures or finger swipes. These gestures can be mapped to do various functions the user desires, from dismissing phone calls to using music or map apps; this is all made possible by pairing the jacket with the Jacquard app on the user’s phone.
The unconventional duo of jacket and phone will work synonymously for the intended customer group of tech enthusiasts at a price tag of $350.
Pants with a Purpose
The key for Britain’s Sir Chris Hoy winning the Olympic gold medal for track cycling in 2012: Adidas’ brilliantly engineered “hot pants.” This innovation was brought to life by the joint venture of Adidas, the British cycling team, Loughborough University and Fibertonic.
Essentially track pants, this piece of technological apparel utilizes filaments powered by batteries to heat up the muscles to a constant 38 Celsius, keeping the wearer at optimum temperature until the start of the race. Due to this ingenious invention, the cyclists can conserve their energy as they do not have to keep warming up continuously.
Hot Pants are unlikely to be a new addition to commercial markets anytime soon, but something of similar features may appear.
Fit for Fitness
Insightfully purposed for the masses of online shoppers in the world, “Like A Glove” has manifested a product to ease the lives of this particular set of people substantially.
This one of a kind smart leggings are equipped with sensors that are designed to measure the waist, hips, and thighs. These measurements are in turn sent to the “Like A Glove” app on the user’s phone. The app then sets its gears in motion and begins sifting through its oceanic database for jeans with the ideal fitting.
This smart clothing’s primary function is to make it more convenient for shoppers to find the right size of pants for themselves, and they can do so by purchasing these leggings for $80.
Color my Workout
MyZone has devised such a pioneering item, which it is making heart rate monitors and wristband activity trackers obsolete. The MyZone Sports Bra looks like any typical bra but does not be fooled, it has its built-in fitness tracker, making it capable of tracking any activity.
Even without being paired with a smartphone, the MyZone Sports Bra has the capacity of withholding 16 hours worth of activity data. When synced with the MyZone app on the user’s phone, the collected data is presented in 5 different colors: grey, blue, green, yellow and red. The amount of workout done is proportional to the intensity of the color. Alongside that, the app also contains features that give users the option to train with friends and family.
This bra binds technology, comfort, and style effortlessly; and does so at price of $80.
The Skin You’re In
This piece of smart clothing, recently introduced by a Montreal based startup, has made into this list for its sheer functionality. Tailored with the same Italian ingenuity we have come to admire, Hexoskin is laced with sensors which monitor the user’s activity and renders the processed data in sporty metrics. It can measure the user’s heart rate, breathing rate and volume, steps with cadence, peak acceleration, and sleeping cycles.
The Hexoskin shirt also features a Bluetooth smart sensor so it can seamlessly pair with third-party apps (like MapMyRun, Runkeeper, and Strava)on the user’s phone. Moreover, the sensors are ably capable of almost 600 hours of standalone recording, without the need for any third party accessories. This technology, along with an extended battery life of 30 hours, makes Hexoskin versatile.
The Hexoskin comes in both long and short sleeved versions for him and her and is available for all customers at a price range of $169-$399.
The Sharp Shirt
A titan in the arena of e-textile, Athos is at the frontier of smart wearable clothing. These tight-fitting shirts and shorts are woven with micro-EMG (electromyography) sensors capable of monitoring heart rate, breathing rate, and muscle activity.
Athos features a small, lightweight core which transmits a lossless stream of data from the state of the art EMG sensors to the user’s phone via Bluetooth. The core along with data transmission also functions as an inbuilt accelerometer. Athos features cutting-edge medical tech along with 10 hours worth of battery life. All these equipment integrated together monitors the data to provide insights on how to exercise efficiently while also alerting you to potential chances of injury. Catering to both men and women, Athos is no less than a personal trainer in your pocket.
It’s no wonder the athletes of the Golden State Warriors (NBA Basketball team) use Athos to gauge their daily performance and everyone else can too for $398.
The Most out of Meditation
Nadi X is a product of Wearable X, a Sydney based startup, is solely targeted towards a specific group of people. Nadi X was designed exclusively for yoga. For a beginner, yoga may seem very hard. Without the correct guidance, one could find themselves in over their heads, quite literally; this is where Nadi X yoga pants come in.
Nadi X is equipped with built-in haptic vibrations to pulse at the hips, knees, and ankles that gently coax the user to change or hold the posture. The yoga pants also pair with the user’s phone via Bluetooth to display additional information, through the companion app. The Nadi X comes in four sizes and styles to meet their customer’s unique taste and needs, all at $299.
Running Smart
Lumos Run comes from a long line of workout accessories, closely following its predecessor Lumos Lift. It is essentially a small sensor that can clip onto any pair of shorts or leggings. It can efficiently track a vast array of metrics including cadence, braking, bounce, stride length, pelvic rotation and pelvic drop with or without being connected to a phone.
Based on biomechanics research conducted at Loughborough University, this innovative piece of tech will scan the user’s running patterns and processes all the variables. The data logged into the companion app on the user’s phone. The app then can provide real-time audio coaching through headphones for the user on how to improve form, avoid injuries and offer personalized training. Lumos Run also boasts an impressive one-month battery life. It is also water and sweat resistant making it a perfect piece of smart clothing which can be acquired at the meager price of $100.
Bring on the Chills
Created by former NCAA athlete and personal trainer Adam Paulin, Thin Ice is a vest fundamentally engineered to induce weight loss by cooling the body.
The vest utilizes cooling thermoreceptors which stimulate the brown fat inside the body. The brown fat cells are triggered by cold temperatures. It then burns white fat( bad fat) to produce heat and maintain body temperature. The cooling effect is achieved by a set of battery powered Peltier cooling chips and a proprietary heat dissipation system built inside the Thin Ice Vest. The temperature is controlled by the companion app in the user’s phone. In addition to monitoring the temperature, the app also displays metrics like amount of burned calories.
Thin Ice may as well be the coolest way to lose weight.
Light the Way
The innovators at Lumos are revolutionizing the cycle around the block or the more intensive work out ride. The Next Generation Lumos Bicycle Helmet has 60 LED lights throughout the helmet that automatically indicate the cyclers next move based on their body language. It registers these signals to indicate direction or brakes for vehicles so the peddlers does not have to worry. The 1,000 mAh battery last for more than 120 minutes making it ideal for short trips or a trek around the town. At 440 grams, the helmet will light the way without weighing riders down. Wireless connection to any smart smart phone makes it that much easier to track battery life and setting.