Читать книгу Tech Trends in Practice - Бернард Марр, Bernard Marr - Страница 38

Clothes are becoming more intelligent, with a view to making our lives better and more convenient. These smart clothes are otherwise regular garments that have been enhanced with technology – such as sensors or high-tech circuitry – which allows them to perform functions way beyond protecting our modesty or keeping us warm and dry. Here are some of my favorite examples of smart clothes already on the market:

 Designed for athletes and serious exercise fanatics, Under Armour’s Athlete Recovery Sleepwear is designed to improve muscle recovery and deliver a better night’s sleep by absorbing the wearer’s body heat and releasing infrared light.

 Ralph Lauren’s PoloTech t-shirts are fitted with biometric sensors that monitor heart rate and other metrics and deliver workout insights to your smart phone or watch, including tailored workout advice.

 Designed for runners, Sensoria Smart Socks monitor pressure on your feet while running and send data to your smart phone. (Not all smart socks are for fitness enthusiasts, however. Siren’s Diabetic Sock and Foot Monitoring System monitors the wearer’s temperature to detect early signs of inflammation, which can lead to foot ulcers in diabetics.)

 Wearable X’s Nadi yoga pants vibrate at various points (such as the knee or hip) to encourage you to move or hold positions. By syncing with an accompanying app, the pants give additional feedback on your yoga positions.

 Fashion tech startup Supa has a smart bra complete with heart rate sensor and AI that tracks your workouts. Naturally, it syncs to an app so you can keep track of your health data over time.

 Looking beyond workout gear, Tommy Hilfiger wants you to wear its casualwear so much, it’s introduced a whole line of clothing that tracks how often you wear items and gives you rewards for frequent usage. The clothing line includes hoodies, jeans, and t-shirts, all with embedded chips that send info to an accompanying app.

 Google and Levi’s have collaborated on a smart denim jacket, called Jacquard, that connects to the wearer’s smart phone. With a tap or swipe of the sleeve you can control music volume on your phone, screen calls, get directions, and receive updates on your Uber ride.

 Smart socks that monitor your baby’s heart rate as it sleeps? Sounds like the perfect gift for any anxious new parent (which, let’s face it, is every new parent). The Owlet Smart Sock not only monitors heart rate and breathing interruptions, it can also identify potential health issues like sleep irregularities, heart defects, lung disorders, or pneumonia.