Keeping track of your exercising may soon be as easy as, well, getting dressed.
It's very likely that the wearable tech market is about to reach critical mass. With new smartwatches being revealed left and right and a whole host of partners announcing their intentions to develop products for Google's new Android Wear operating system, companies seem to be eager to dive into this emerging market of body-bound computers. For the most part, though, these companies have stuck to putting silicon chips in watches and other wristbands (and, in Google's case, eyewear). But starting today, fashion icon Ralph Lauren is testing out a full smart t-shirt.
The new Ralph Lauren Polo Tech will be worn by several ball boys during matches of the U.S. Open, which begins today and runs through Sept. 8, for its public debut. Professional tennis player Marcos Giron will also be wearing the shirt during his practice. The Polo Tech uses a tight fit and silver fiber sensors woven into the shirt to keep track of the wearer's biometrics like heart rate and breathing rate. The shirt also delves a bit into the psychiatric realm by measuring stats like stress level. All this information is compiled in a "black box" on the shirt equipped with an accelerometer and gyroscope. Once the information is parsed, you can access it live via a special mobile app.
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The Polo Tech can provide wearers with live information about their exercising during workouts, making sure users are breathing properly and keeping their heart rate in the target zone. There is no information yet about when this product will hit the market or for how much, but Ralph Lauren has said that it plans for this technology to reach the non-athletic world.
"Our vision is that this will transcend sports to help us at every age and in every aspect of life," said David Lauren, senior vice president of advertising, marketing and public relations, in a press release.
