Why is smart clothing the future of wearable?

Although no one in the wearable industry is willing to admit, the wrist may not be the best place to place sensors or track motion. If you want to be truly "wearable," then hardware vendors need to look at the clothes we wear every day. And to make wearables truly practical, we need to think about features beyond the steps to give them the advice to improve their health.

Forget about the wristband and make more smart clothes

Although the concept of smart clothing has appeared a few years ago, we have only recently begun to see the emergence of related products. Well-known manufacturers including Samsung, Google, OMsignal, Hexo Skin and Under Armour are beginning to think about ways to make smart clothes, but since most wearable devices are based on fitness functions, these smart clothes are now following the same line of thought. And has the ability to provide fairly accurate fitness data tracking and detailed exercise analysis. Fortunately, many manufacturers are beginning to expand their target audience beyond fitness enthusiasts, and the smart clothing they develop may become the future of wearable technology.

Men, women, and children all need to wear clothes, which also makes smart clothing more likely to become a wearable device for everyone. Getting up on a smart T-shirt or smart bra every day doesn't take much effort, and you don't need to change your behavior for technology.

For fitness wristbands and smart watches, the main problem they currently have is too conspicuous. Although this type of device is now light enough and portable, you still need to take it off regularly and then put it on. But if your coat, pants, socks or shoes have the same function, you can enjoy the convenience of wearable technology without exercising. Because you always need to wear clothes, it also makes it easier to track your health. You don't need to be forced to go to the gym or wear anything you don't normally wear.

The best state of wearable technology is inconspicuous, which is why smart jewelry is not too advanced, fancy or cumbersome, and it is also very attractive to ordinary people.

Endless changes in smart clothing

Smart clothing has a more general look and is easier to personalize than other wearable devices. You can take the sensor off and place it on any type of clothing. Making 20 different color choices for a smart T-shirt doesn't bother, but providing more than one style for a smart watch is very cumbersome. Smart clothing now has more styles, colors, and variations than other wearable devices.

OMsignal has launched a number of smart sports bras with different patterns and colors. Samsung recently showed several experimental wearable devices, including a belt that knows you are getting fat, a suit with NFC buttons on your chest, and a trackable swing. Action golf shirts, as well as smart sports clothes. They are great wearables because they don't look like tech products, not because they use the same technology as a regular motion tracker.

This has always been the dream of many people, including Ivan Poupyrev, founder of Google Project Jacquard. At last year's Google I/O conference, Poupyrev showed a new way to weave touch panels into traditional fabrics. Google blends a conductive metal core into traditional fibers that can be dyed in any color. Currently, Google is working with Levi's and other companies to bring this dreamy high-tech garment into reality through traditional technology.

Noble Biomaterials has a technology called CircuiteX that produces conductive parts in smart clothing. The lines used in these smart garments "finally enable the detection, transmission and protection of electronic signals," explains Bennett Fisher, general manager of the company. "As soon as you put the sensor in your clothes, what you wear becomes a sensor. ”

The Finnish company Clothings is developing a similar integration technology in the sports and medical fields. “People are increasingly interested in understanding their bodies and making choices based on data,” said Mouse co-founder Mikko Malmivaara. “Clothings has determined that the clothes we wear are the best way to access any device or data system into the body. ”

Although smart clothing is still a long way from real popularity, technology is gradually getting into our clothes. Ralph Lauren is selling a smart tennis suit made by OMSignal, Tommy Hifiger has launched a solar jacket, and Joe's Jeans recently made a pair of women's jeans that can charge the iPhone. At the same time, high-tech accessories that can charge mobile devices on the road—such as wallets and backpacks—have become very popular in the geek circle.

The possibilities of smart clothing are limitless. They have the ability to take wearable devices out of the genius of motion tracking and really get into the mainstream. If you want to really thrive, wearables must be stylish enough to look like regular clothes and accessories, with more features than stepping.