The 10th anniversary for WT | Wearable Technologies is in a little over a month from now, January 26, 2016. After a decade of dedicated work, WT feels a bit of nostalgia; bringing forth memories that reflect on the evolution of wearable technologies. One of the wearable categories that we predicted to be a top consumer product is Smart Textiles. However due to durability limitations, smart clothing available today is for niche markets; such as extreme sports, fitness and entertainment.
In this article we are specific to smart textiles that contain electronics. There has been extreme progress in the chemical side of manufacturing textiles that can repel odors, stains, as well as protect against impact, and even change color and shape. These new findings have affected the global progress of smart textiles evolution; yet do not fall into the category of wearables -unless stimulated with the power of electrons.
In 2006, there were a few products with interactive soft circuits. At the time it included buttons for turning on and off flexible woven textiles that provided warmth to the body during snow activities. Sefar was one of the first companies to collaborate with WT to create a heated fleece jacket. Sefar’ smart textile is woven with conductive wire that can create warmth when electricity is activated. The jacket is water proof – as long the battery is protected – and light weight. Two qualifications that make smart textiles market ready.
O’neil, Quicksilver and Burton all entered the heated winter clothing market at this time. However their products were not able to survive on the market to this date. This could be due to high prices, ranging from €250 – €1,500.
Therm-IC is another company that creates heated winter wear: gloves, socks, jackets, and shoe insoles. Their socks were WT Gadget of the Month in December 2011. Therm-IC has yet to smell the fire of defeat. However, even with years of experience in creating heated clothing, common consumer evidence shows that the need to own this clothing is not universal. The reasoning is still unclear. Perhaps people are happy with their wool and cashmere sweaters underneath their waterproof shell. Another prediction is consumers are too rough with their clothing; especially in the context of extreme winter sports.
In 2009, AiQ Smart Clothing stepped onto the wearable scene. Within six years they created clothing that lights up, heats up, and monitors biometrics. At this moment, they seem to be marketing their biometric clothing more than their other products. This could be because consumers are interested in biometrics, and/or that the technology is more advanced than simple lights and heating components. Nonetheless they stand out from their competitors by using stainless steel yarn. This reduces the risk for a decrease in conductivity overtime, which can lead to garments breaking or shorting out.
Smart clothing that tracks activity, improves workouts and feels comfortable is only beginning to emerge on the wearable market. Clothing+ powered by Jabil have teamed up to create sports bras and other form factors that can monitor your heart rate and important vital signs. The challenges involve designing the technology to withstand impact, force, sweat, washing machines, and dryers. It does not seem to have a current price. No fear, for they will be showing off their recent work during the WT | Wearable Technologies Conference 2016 alongside the international WT | Network.
How @ClothingPlus is bringing smart clothes closer to your kit bag https://t.co/zoxIEUv11l by @cnet #Wearables #IoT pic.twitter.com/kyCrlEHd0P
— Jabil (@Jabil) December 7, 2015
Om Signal has crafted years of specializing in biometric clothing. They teamed up with Ralph Lauren about a year ago. Together they have released the designer workout outfit. Once paired with their app, the wearer is given simple-to-read information about their effort level, calories burned, steps taken, sweat levels, and heart rate. This shirt is beautiful crafted, but seems undesirable for people that workout on a budget.
Similarly another biometric monitoring shirt is called Hexoskin. This summer they supported the NASA mock mars stimulation (HI-SEAS). Beyond the Americas – they have begun selling shirts to police officers in Dubai. Hexoskin is recommended to buyers for having one of the longest lasting batteries, at 14 hours. Yet the price is a bit scary – $400 for one system (a shirt and clip-on electronics). This probably explains why their customers are government workers instead of the common athlete.
LifeBEAM will share the opposite story. They began making wearbales for areospace crew. Now they have made a sleek and athletically fashionable cap. It is because of their experience that they are able to provide advanced technology to the public. They even sponsored the Atlanta Challenge, a boat race from Europe to America, by provding their metric recording gear to participants.
Another intelligent activity tracking and feedback textile system is a simple band called Leo. The creator, Gesture Logic, spoke about their their product with WT in Canada, and demoed it at the USA conference in 2014. Leo is not a full body textile; it doesn’t have to be – thus lowering the cost. It is still able to measure the body’s lactic acid, hydration, muscle coordination, technique, balance and intensity. The downside is the Leo is not quite for sale; however they are accepting emails for pre-orders.
Use biofeedback to improve performance @leohelps @GestureLogic #wtcdn2015 pic.twitter.com/DA5syTvUBv — Software (@OttawaSoftware) September 10, 2015
Sensoria Smart Sock is one of the first activity tracking socks. It is similar to other fitness textiles in that it needs two combining components: a clip-on electronic hub and your smart phone. Sensoria is ideal for runners because it provides information about your weight distribution on your feet. You can purchase Sensoria’s socks for $199, making them one of the cheaper smart activity tracking textiles on the market.
A successful German start-up, Wearable Life Science, has recently crowd source their Antelope Suit and joined the WT | Network. Their innovative technology is available in various form factors: long pants, compression shorts, t-shirts, calf guards, wings and tank tops. They have embedded their clothing with EMS (electronic muscle stimulation) pads. This is a safe and tested technology that stimulates muscles to contract and relax with the stimulation of electrons. In other words, they are basically pumping your muscles to be faster and stronger all while conducting your normal workout routine. Their textile EMS pads are seamless, breaking into the market with never before seen technology. Yet, the downside is you still need to place an electronic, plastic booster onto the clothing. This booster contains the battery and other electronics that need to be removed when washing. All together the information is sent wireless to an app to display the body’s vitals to better understand how you are reacting to the Antelope Suit.
When most people think textiles, they think fashion and not technology. This thought ranges from couture and experimental to practical and comfortable. Smart textiles are at the edge of the chasm in terms of being integrated into everyday clothing. Fitness is the prime consumer market for wearables in general. Even so, there are a handful of artist that are designing high fashion, and innovative tech solutions.
A few WT favorites are Wearable Experiments, Pauline van Dongen, Cute Circuit and Anouk Wipprecht. In May 2016, WT, Wearable Experiments and Whitehouse Institute of Design will be hosting the first WT | Wearable Technologies Conference in Australia. Wearable Experiments’ Durex Fundawear was also one of WT Gadgets of the Month in May 2013. They also designed an ideal blazer for business folks that travel to new and big cities. You place your destination into your Google Maps, and simply begin to walk. The jacket will vibrate on each sholder indicating to turn, slow down, or that you have arrived. The idea is ingenious. Too bad they have not relseased to mass production for selling the jacket to consumers. Wearable Experiment’s work has grown from fun and flirty clothing to haptic feedback wear for business, sports teams, to lounging yoga pants. Pauline van Dongen has a similarly socially driven philosophy. However, her most popular creation has embedded flexible solar panels.
Cute Circuit shared their newest couture fashion items to the world at New York Fashion Week. They have taken the classic out-on-the-town dress and embedded LED lights to make the wearer pop with energy. This makes Cute Circuit one of the first fashion tech designers to take their clothing to market. However, as the story goes, they are not cheap ranging over €1000. Anouk Wipprecht is most commonly known for implementing microcontrollers into fashion, anything from Arduino to Intel. Ms. Wipprecht designs could be considered “other worldly”. They range from custom LED designs for the Black Eye Peas at the Super Bowl, to socially interactive dresses. Her Spider Dress consists of moving arms on the shoulders of the dress that reach out when the wearer feels uncomfortable. Most recently, she debut her mood-logging dress that is 3D printed and embedded with lights, sensors, and the Intel Edison. The all white dress is one that makes bystanders stop and stare. The design is flawless and inspiring to any fashion designer that wishes to become a player in the wearable industry.
The majority of couture electronic clothing are not on the consumer market. In fact, most LED fashion items on the market are mainly available via e-commerce. ShiftWear was once an idea for putting screens on your shoes; that is now successfully supported by crowd sourcing. You can pre-order these HD screen kicks for under $300. It’s not a bad price when compared to the newest Nike or Adidas sneakers on the market.
We’re live and need YOUR support. Join the #sneaker revolution! https://t.co/gHURnsatur #apps #crowdfunding pic.twitter.com/wJRd01pS5r
— ShiftWear Sneakers (@ShiftWear) November 28, 2015
ElecktroCouture will be featured as a pioneering light-up fashion clothing at the WT | Wearable Technologies Conference 2016 Europe Munich. They have a collection of jewlery, jackets and scarves. They use new tools, like laser cutters, and EL wire to make their chic fashion stand out amoungst the crowd. Their price ranges form just under $100 to just over $1000. Take a look at their market place.
Electric Runway did a beautiful job at compiling all fashion LED designers into a spicy fashion show. Below is a video that shares a few key garments that you can buy.
Lastly, T.Jacket is a piece of assistive technology. T.ware was once a Gadget of the Month in 2013. T.Jacket is more like vest, but is available for $400 – $600. It’s designed to help people with social anxiety or loneness. The jacket has deep touch pressure sensors embedded in various places. The idea is that the electronics can stimulate a hug, to give the wearer a comforting feeling. T.Ware is happy to collaborate with designers, engineers, and developers to better enhance their products abilities.
All in all the cons to smart clothing are obvious. There needs to be more development with electronic components. This includes longer lasting batteries, more durable conductivity, and water/tear proofing. In an ideal technological world, the system would be flawless with no other components (i.e. smartphone) beside the garment itself. This requires more R&D. Beyond that, the first step for future designers is to consider the design when it comes to what the consumer is willing to buy. This is one reason why people are taking hold of the DIY mentality. Not only is sewing a long-lasting tradition, but integrating technology into home-made textiles is intriguing for young tactical learners. Switch Craft is a popular DIY recipe book for making e-textiles.
The pros include standing out at night life events; for example the rave-wear made by Neon Nancy. Even so, smart clothing is also important for athletes that wish to either be fit or stacked with muscles. Not to mention the integration of lights and GPS improve safety. The applicaitons for assistice technology is endless. Nonetheless there is a lot of room for new companies to enter into the market. Lastly, wearbles are the glue to IoT. Once smart fashion is available to the public, they will be able to control their surroundings in a way that has only been dreamed of.
