Canadian crowd-funded startup, Hexoskin, promises a one-stop-shopping scenario for the wearers of their smart shirt. Which gives detailed reports about training as well as their general overall health.
Neither health orientated technology nor wearable technology are new. Hexoskin joins several companies, such as the French company Cityzen Sciences, makers of Smart Sensing Shirt, in offering wearable electronics. Wearable electronics, or body-borne computers, are miniature electronic devices that are worn under, with, or on top of clothing.
What makes Hexoskin unique is that it’s the only smart shirt that measures more than just the heart rate of the wearer. The tank top shirt has 3 sensors integrated to measure the wearer’s heart, activity, sleep, steps they walk and respiration which are recorded using Bluetooth technology. The smart shirt uses electrocardiogram (ECG) to check the electrical activity of the heart.
Gartner, a leading database that publishes analysis about the information technology environment, selected Hexoskin, as a “cool vendor” in their “Cool Vendors in Wearable Electronics, 2014” report. Here’s a clip about their product:
What makes them cool? Information on the wearer’s body metrics are displayed on their Iphone or Ipad via Bluetooth through the Hexoskin app and is uploaded to their account. This information about their workout and training sessions can be shared with their coach, or workout and training buddies. Hexoskin’s programmable training plan, which takes advantage of GPS, uses waypoints (a reference point for navigation) to determine the wearer’s physical location. Hexoskin gives the wearer unlimited data storage through their website.
Their technology allows a group or team to purchase a pack of 5 Hexoskins + 10 shirts ($2,499) and share information among themselves about their training. A gym, for $4,999, could offer the technology to their customers to test out before considering purchasing one for themselves (10 Hexoskins + 20 shirts).
The body-hugging shape of the shirt ensures that no information about the wearer is missed. There are apps to analyze the progress the wearer is making, taking advantage of statistical software such as the free software environment R, which runs on UNIX, Windows and MacOS platforms. R outputs data in a graphical display (pie chart, plots, etc), making it easy to understand the information that Hexoskin gathers.
Hexoskin also licenses OMsignal and other rival smart shirt makers so their users can access their data collection and analysis technology. Approximately 50 developers have signed up to use their open application programming interface (API) to make use of the data in their apps.
Not alone among makers of smart shirts, the creators of Hexoskin had to find unique ways to make their product stand out. First, they put their data device on the wearer’s side as opposed to the small of the back or the solar plexus as with other smart shirts. This is especially important for impacts taken during contact sports such as basketball, soccer, football and rugby where the wearer may fall to the ground or be hit by an opponent.
Second, the shirt and the data pack are water resistant using a hydrophobic (the physical property of a molecule that is repelled from a mass of water) coating on the electronics, which is not offered in some of their competitor’s smart shirts.
The price of the smart shirt ($399; $349 if you gave money to them during their crowd-funding session) makes it something only serious amateur and professional athletes could afford to buy. This may change as the company finds ways to produce their shirt by volume. Another aspect that could stop the average user from purchasing it is that it is only available through the mail, not in stores, so the users can’t try on the shirt prior to purchase.
Hexoskin isn’t just for athletes though. Health care and military organizations and just about any business could take advantage of the real-time data that is collected, allowing the wearer to be monitored throughout various activities, especially in dangerous or high-stress situations.
No matter the reason Hexoskin is worn, it can provide great details about the wearer’s physical condition. Its potential outweighs the high cost and is something to take a serious look at.