Ever tracked your vitals (heart rate, skin temperature etc) while exercising with a watch or some other device? How cool would it be if your shirt, itself tracked everything for you and sent it straight to your smart phone! All that data sitting in your smart phone waiting to be critiqued by you, or your coach, to track your progress. A Taiwanese company, AiQ, has recently come up with the BioMan. It can track all the information you may need, or even just take an interest to, and do just that. It has your heart rate, respiration rate and skin temperature, and further to that it can be customized to measure skin moisture and electrophysiological signals, all wirelessly sent to your Smart Phone! The great thing about the BioMan is that you can’t forget to wear your sensors as they are always in your shirt. A shirt like this not only has great benefits for anyone with an interest in exercise, but as a potential tool to alert you of an unusual cardiovascular activity – think people in care that need monitoring. It has the potential to replace dozens of sensors and wires attached to you if you’re ever in hospital – leaving you free to move around.

 As well as the BioMan AiQ has come up with other smart clothing.

The NeonMan – Uses LED wire and LED buttons powered by a small battery to improve safety when outside at night.

The SheildMan – Uses a fine metal mesh spread evenly through casual clothing to shield the wearer from any electromagnetic radiation.

The ThermoMan – Is a product to keep the wearer warm when in the cold weather, without using heavy, large heating pads or panels that can weigh you down and obviously impact performance.

 

The Important question is – Will AiQ make it big? Is this the future of exercise clothing? Or is it just another fad?