Your boring activewear just got

‘Smart’, Here’s how…

by Apparel Resources
27-July-2018 | 12 mins read

Technology Innovations Garment Tech Apparel Tech Weartech

According to a report from Morgan Stanley Research, athletic apparel and
footwear sales have seen a jump of 42 per cent to US $ 270 billion over the
past seven years. With this staggering amount of sales and massive jump
in less than a decade, it is certain that prospects for growth in athletic
apparels are getting stronger and tend to bring in more innovations in such
garments. ‘Smart Clothing’ is one of the results of these innovations which
is getting linked rapidly with the habits of fitness freaks across the world as
health and fitness trend for adults and sports participation for youth have
gone global in recent times.
Technology and big data are continuously, rather, increasingly making their
space in human lives. Right from how we communicate to how we shop,
technology has become our inseparable part and activewear/athleticwear is
no different. Shirts, shorts, and leggings can now enhance workout in more
ways than one can imagine and when it is about getting into the people’s
favourite list, then it is obvious that researchers and developers are
certainly looking for ways to make it more technological…
However, the biggest question is what exactly we mean by technology
used in athletic apparels? Not very long time ago, Apple launched a ‘Smart
Watch’ which could track the calories burnt by an athlete during exercise.
But, the next frontier of wearable has nothing to do with the wrist. Instead,
activewear which the wearers are already slipping into to sweat, is getting
smart- be it leggings that can check their lunge form or shirts that can
monitor their heart-beat rate. But, what are the best bits of smart clothing to
buy? Team Apparel Resources finds out from some of the top tech garment
brands for athletes from across the world.
SPIRITUS ACTIVEWEAR
Proformance Apparel by Spiritus Activewear
Spiritus is an Australia-based activewear brand which has developed a new
activewear line named ‘Proformance Apparel’ which is said to combine
infrared and silver technologies. The line is engineered to increase cell
regeneration and improve the energy level of the wearer during hard-core
work-out sessions.
The activewear line is a result of Spiritus’ s collaboration with two US-
based fabric technology providing companies. Noble Biomaterials provided
XT2 silver technology to the Australian brand whereas, Hologenix, LLC,
enabled Spiritus to use its Celliant infrared technology.
Infrared Technology: Since fabric is the most significant part in smart
clothing, Spiritus explains that its activewear line is made up of the
company’s Proformance fabrics which are embedded with thermal reactive
minerals. These minerals help fabric in converting body heat into infrared
energy which, further, enhances blood circulation and thus recovers overall
fresh energy. “Infrared light is proven to promote blood circulation, increase
tissue oxygen levels, enhance cell vitality, and regulate body temperature,”
states Spiritus.
Silver Technology: Furthermore, while the infrared technology is designed
to boost performance, the advanced silver technology is incorporated to
keep odours at bay. When sweat mixes with fabrics, it creates a warm,
moist environment suitable for bacterial growth. Pure silver technology kills
99.9 per cent of the bacteria, as per Spiritus’ claim, keeping activewear
feeling and smelling fresh. In addition, the fabric of the garments also
absorbs more than 35 per cent of the moisture content compared to
conventional fabric.
The Proformance apparel line (both for men and women) underwent two
years of intense research to represent simplicity with modern design. The
line is also designed to complement the wearer’s body shape as well as to
support body movement.
OMSIGNAL BRA

Functionality of OMbra
With women firmly in its sights, Canada-based garment technology
company OMsignal has a mission to fix the sports bra once and for all –
and make it smart in the process. OMbra records the distances run,
respirations, heart rate, and even tells women when they have recovered
enough to head back to the gym.
Explaining the technology, OMsignal reveals that OMbra captures
biosignals through invisible sensors that are embedded in the bra itself. A
small detachable bluetooth-enabled hardware module is clipped onto the
bra and sends data of breathing rates and other biometrics in real time to
the user’s smartphone. Once received by the smartphone, the data can be
used live in an app, and it is also streamed directly to the Cloud, where it
can be further analysed using advanced machine learning algorithms.
According to OMsignal, the company has put in a lot of efforts into the
actual design of the garment to help address some of the biggest issues
many women find when wearing a sports bra. OMbra uses a stretchable
and light fabric that conforms to the shape of the body during exercise. It
features mesh panels both- in the front and at the back of the bra which
make this bra more breathable. “The fabrics which we use reduce the
sweat-level of women while exercising,” maintains OMsignal.
It is a fact that most of the women find straps one of the most irritating
aspects of a sports bra. Hence, OMbra comes with racerback which helps
shift the force of the straps to the side of the bra instead of the back to stop
them from slipping onto the shoulders.
VEXATEC

Vexatec recently launched the first agility shirt in the world with live data
tracking
For a competitive long-distance runner, it is always necessary to lookout for
ways to gain that extra edge. Nowadays, there is no shortage of
smartphone apps, fitness tracker devices, cardio monitors, and watches
which record data. But often, it can be difficult to apply the vast amounts of
information to a particularly chosen sport or discipline.
To overcome this challenge, Vexatec, a Swiss company dedicated towards
providing technology in sportswear, has recently launched the first agility
shirt in the world with live data tracking. According to Vexatec, the smart
shirt is studded with Senscomp Technologies which combine compression
clothing with high quality textile sensors, high-end microchips and state-of-
the-art software solutions to create intelligent clothing.
VEXATEC is now able to optimise performance with a great focus on the
training aspect – helping to get people ready for competition. With highly
efficient, real-time electrocardiography signals, its 360-degree monitoring
fully tracks the user’s movement and posture. Indeed, it can differentiate
between whether an athlete is doing a plank or press-up – two very similar
movements.
Furthermore, the shirt’s 3D-A-CLUSTER collects, saves, calculates, and
transmits a range of precise live data (electrocardiogram, heart rate
variability, breathing rate, body posture, rotational dynamic/gyroscope,
physical acceleration (Gforce), and calorie consumption), enabling athletes
to accurately evaluate their performance during and after training for
optimised results.
“The ‘3D-A-Cluster’ can measure precise live data every 20 milliseconds
and transmit it directly to the mobile device. The total that can be counted is
50 measurements per second. Current wearable companies have to
interpolate or assume information between the measuring time points. We
are, however, the only company with real-life data measuring,” shares
VEXATEC.
The Swiss company has already done intensive tests with professional
athletes such as Tommy Haas (tennis), Pascal Wehrlein (Formula 1), Leon
Draisaitl (NHL – ice hockey), Torsten Frings and Lothar Matthäus (both
soccer) and has received quite inspiring results.
With this smart shirt, VEXATEC has included its name in the list of products
which combine high-end microchips and state-of-the-art recording
technology onto and within a single piece of clothing, with high-level data
syncing up seamlessly with the phone and other devices. “The shirts have
been designed for everyday use and can be washed up to 150 times,” adds
VEXATEC.
WEARABLE X’s NADI X YOGA PANTS
Nadi X Yoga pants are the fitness pants which come with built-in haptic
vibrations
Yoga can be a difficult exercise if you are new for it. The flexibility level it
demands is just unbearable sometimes and situation is even tougher for a
fresher who tries attempting to get into a challenging posture which might
result into a sudden crumble or a jerk in just a few measly seconds.
Sydney-born and New York-based tech company Wearable X has an apt
solution for this challenge.
Nadi X Yoga pants are the fitness pants which come with built-in haptic
vibrations that gently pulse at the hips, knees, and ankles to encourage the
wearer to move or hold positions. Vibrations will increase in frequency and
intensity to help direct the body to make certain movements. The Pulse,
placed on the upper left knee, lasts up to 90 minutes and is connected by
Bluetooth to an app, through which users can choose the level of yoga they
want to perform.
“When paired with the Nadi X mobile app, visual, and audio cues break
down yoga poses step-by-step with corresponding vibrations directly from
the pants,” informs Wearable X, adding, “Using the principles of machine
learning, the pants and Pulse sensors are designed to help the wearer,
over time, to respond automatically to the vibrations when doing a given
movement.”