Offtopic: 'Smart' clothes

Today we are going to talk about smart clothes. What is it like, why is it needed, and do the things that we saw in science fiction films really exist in practice?

Introduction

The 21st century can be safely called the era of Smart. Modern technology makes everything smart, from bracelets and watches to light bulbs and door locks. What science fiction writers dreamed about ten years ago has already become a reality today. The prospects that have opened up dazzle not only buyers, but also engineers of large companies and lone inventors. And since all the ideas of 'smart' electronics usually lie on the surface, each of them is trying to release the invented device on sale as soon as possible in order to outstrip the competition at any cost.

Every year, a bunch of very different 'smart' devices appear in the world, most of which are not initially viable. And even at first glance, successful ideas are often implemented so 'crookedly' that buyers of such 'smart' devices can only be regretted. No, they will not explode in hands and will not fail after a couple of days of use. Just because of the heap of very different 'buts' there will be no practical benefit from them. And there is no point in talking about the price / quality ratio of the first models of such equipment.

To a certain extent, early adopters act as unwitting beta testers, helping to test not so much the technology as the idea of ​​its application. This is understandable, because long-term research and long-term 'polishing' of the prototype is out of the question – all this will be done by the manufacturer only later, after the results of the first sales become known. First, you need to release a smartphone with a curved screen or another 'smart' glasses, which so far do not really know how to do anything, and only then figure out who may need all this and why.

All this noticeably tarnished the reputation of the 'smart' technology. Reading the next announcement of revolutionary devices for the 'smart' home, which right now will forever change our life with you, you can not always restrain a yawn. Companies are too rushing with loud victory slogans, trying with fanfare to hand over an object that has just begun to be built.

Nevertheless, there is no reason to doubt the bright future of the same 'smart' house or 'smart' clothes. Indeed, in fact, we are not talking about some experimental devices like the same Google Glass, which are not yet a fact that they will take root among users, but a gradual evolution of objects that have long been familiar to us. Thus, electric doorbells replaced hanging bells, and intercoms replaced mechanical combination locks.

Roughly the same thing will happen over time with clothing. There is no need to doubt that it will 'grow wiser' over time and receive some additional functions, although nowadays very few people will undertake to predict how such clothes will look like this in a hundred years.

Types of 'smart' clothes

Let's look at the main directions of the development of such clothes.

First of all, these are clothes that they simply tried to make more comfortable, adapting to different situations. Most often we are talking about built-in heating. In theory, the temperature should be controlled automatically, but in practice this is usually done manually for now. So this kind of clothes can be called 'smart' with a fair stretch.

It should be noted that there is nothing new in this idea. Electric flying overalls have been used at least since the Great Patriotic War. Such a jumpsuit had a thin spiral inside, which was connected to the electrical circuit of the aircraft, after which it began to glow. True, in practice they were rarely used – if damaged by a shell fragment or a short circuit in the aircraft's electrical network, such a jumpsuit could well catch fire.

The second area is smart clothing for sports and fitness. The topic of a healthy lifestyle is very popular now, and many manufacturers use it. Very often, these smart clothes offer their wearers the same set of functions as a standard fitness bracelet. However, there are more interesting options that track the work of different muscle groups and analyze the training progress.

The third area is 'medical' clothing. Unlike 'sports' clothing, it is often not intended for a wide range of customers. Its purpose is to monitor the health of its owner or to help people with disabilities.

The fourth area is interactive fashion. The electronics built into clothing provide designers with tons of possibilities. So far, most people use it rather clumsily, on the principle of “the brighter the better.” Such designer items are often produced in a single copy and remain just a funny curiosity. But the day when such things will begin to be produced in large quantities is clearly not far off.
The fifth direction is various additional functions that have nothing to do with the clothes themselves. Someone uses clothes as a Wi-Fi access point, and someone tries to charge the battery with it – it all depends solely on the inventor's imagination. Needless to say, most of these wardrobe items will interest only the most inveterate 'geeks'. But some specific ideas, perhaps, will eventually go into series. Installing third-party programs on the phone was also once considered the lot of enthusiasts obsessed with technology, and now everyone, young and old, is doing this.

As you can see, even a cursory examination reveals that there are a lot of different types of 'smart' clothes. And if a store suddenly decides to collect the entire range of such things, it will face a rather funny problem. It is completely incomprehensible how to classify such things, by the type of garment or by 'smart' functions? Should I put heated shoes, medical shoes for the blind and smart sneakers for sports on the same shelf? Or is it better to collect in one place sneakers with LEDs, a laser jacket and a luminous women's hat?

In this article, we will proceed as follows. Initially, all items will be broken down by type of clothing (shoes, t-shirts, hats, etc.), and the type of 'smart' features will be shown using the title color.

Footwear

Oddly enough, this is one of the most popular types of smart clothing. Perhaps because it is not as difficult to integrate electronics into massive shoes as into other wardrobe items?

Nike + iPod

These sneakers will become a personal trainer for their owner. They will help you schedule your runs, praise you for a good result, and tell you exactly how many calories you spent today. However, the shoe itself is not responsible for most of the 'smart' features, but a dedicated iPod app or iPhone. The sneakers themselves act as an advanced fitness bracelet.

There is a special recess under the insole of the left shoe, where a module with an accelerometer and a transmitter is inserted. It is he who serves as the 'brain' for 'smart' shoes, determining the distance covered, walking pace, total workout time and the number of calories burned.

To date, these functions do not shock the imagination, but it should be borne in mind that for the first time such shoes were presented back in 2006. And the main emphasis at Nike is placed on the comfort and quality of the sneakers themselves, and not on their intellectual functions, which are just a pleasant bonus.

B-Shoe

Older people often have problems with motor coordination and reaction speed. They may well stumble, simply unsuccessfully put their foot, or fail to restore balance, slipping slightly on the icy sidewalk. And an unsuccessful fall at this age can be a real disaster, especially if a person already has serious health problems.

B-Shoe boots should solve this problem. Built-in sensors track all the movements of the wearer, the processor analyzes the information received and compares it with the normal trajectory of movement, and a movable mechanism built into the heel will help to take a step back in time, without losing balance.

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It should be noted that such boots look quite ordinary, and their work will be practically invisible to an outside observer. And 'smart' functions do not remind of themselves until the moment when a vital necessity arises for them.

In general, everything turns out very well on paper. The main thing is that a person unexpectedly saved from a fall does not get a heart attack.

Columbia Heated Shoes

Columbia is a large American company, also known as a supplier of warm clothing and footwear. The boots of this company had excellent heat retention before, had several unique technologies and made them feel comfortable in any frost. And more recently, some models (both male and female) have also acquired built-in heating.

The heating mode is activated by pressing an inconspicuous button on the side of the boots and has three intensity modes. Depending on the shoe model and the heating mode, they can work up to 7-8 hours. They are charged from a regular outlet.

In principle, there is nothing surprising about heated shoes. All kinds of slippers working from the USB port of a computer, on the same e-bay or in stores of unique gifts in bulk. Usually this is nothing more than a kind of joke, useless cheap stuff from unknown Chinese manufacturers. But in the case of Columbia, the situation is different – this is an eminent company known for its quality footwear. And one can hope that if they have decided to use some new technologies in their products, then they really work well and come to the place. And there is no need to complain about the appearance of Columbia shoes, unlike Chinese companies.

Automatic lacing boots

One thing annoys me the most in any boots – the lacing. Not only do the laces have to be tied by hand each time, but they still strive to untie them all the time at the most inopportune moment, as they roll in the mud. Say what you want, but in my personal opinion, laces are a legacy of cave times, and how they survived to this day, I absolutely do not understand. Shoes with a zipper or an elastic band are much better in this regard – but they don't fit so well on the leg. And if boots with zippers have not surprised anyone for a long time, then sports sneakers with the same zipper are a dubious thing.

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Fortunately, change is coming soon on this front as well. Nike has announced the development of 'smart' sneakers with an automatic lacing system that are replicas of those featured in Back to the Future 2.

It should be noted that the company was a little late. The film was about 2015, but in fact we will be able to see such shoes only in 2016.

Now the main thing is that the developers do not repeat the feat of comrade Vibegallo. Which, according to the Strugatsky brothers, invented similar shoes back in the days of the USSR. Yes, only they not only were afraid of dust and moisture, but also cost more than a motorcycle.

Guide boots

It is said that in Europe it costs about 30 thousand euros to raise a guide dog. I don't know if this is really so, but I readily believe that the amount is rather big anyway.

Lechal smart boots will be able to perform roughly the same functions, but (hopefully) for much less money. They will tell their owner the right direction of movement with the help of tactile sensations – their insoles begin to vibrate in a special way, thereby making it possible for a person to literally feel the right path. You just need to turn on your smartphone and dictate your destination, and your boots will tell you exactly when to turn off.

Such an invention will be useful not only for blind or visually impaired people, but also for travelers or lovers of horseback riding or cycling. After all, this is much more pleasant than walking with a headset for the sake of the navigator's prompts or putting a smartphone in your pocket on speakerphone.

Socks

I think that the phrase 'smart socks' will make almost any person smile. And the offer to talk with your socks about the last workout or to ask about the condition of your legs completely plunges you into a stupor. If we are still more or less accustomed to 'smart' glasses or 'smart' watches, then we certainly do not expect manifestations of deep intelligence from this wardrobe item.

Sensoria socks

But the engineers at Heapsylon are not too confused by this. Moreover, the 'smart' socks of this company are really capable of bringing considerable benefit to their owner.

It's no secret that by the beginning of the summer season, a lot of people begin to think about how to lose weight. They usually go jogging in the morning. Few people think that running on asphalt without special shoes can do more harm than good. And in general, you must still be able to run correctly, otherwise such jogging is fraught with dislocations and damage to the joints.

Sensoria 'smart' socks monitor the position of the legs and the load on different parts of them, as well as remember the speed of movement, the number of steps and other parameters. They will warn their owner in advance about the risk of injury, give advice on how to walk or run correctly, and even create an individual training schedule.

It remains to teach them how to track the location of their 'other half', and then they simply won't have a price.

T-shirts and T-shirts

Perhaps the second most popular category of 'smart' clothes. We must assume that it is much more difficult for engineers to work with it than with the same shoes. But there are much more opportunities here – sensors built into T-shirts will have constant contact with the body and will be able to track a huge number of indicators, from heart rate to hand position or muscle contractions.

Electricfoxy move

The Electricfoxy Move tracksuit performs roughly the same functions as the Sensoria socks, but is primarily focused on yoga and aerobics. However, for those who are engaged in fitness, sports and even dancing, it can also be useful.

Not everyone goes to the gym for fitness, many prefer to do exercises at home. One problem is that in order to practice effectively, all exercises must be performed as accurately as possible. And the coach, who would point out the mistake, is not around.

It is the functions of a trainer or fitness instructor that Electricfoxy Move will try to take over. Thanks to flexible sensors built into the fabric, it monitors every movement of its wearer. The developers claim that the recognition accuracy is very high – the suit not only determines the position of the arms and legs, but monitors the tension of different muscle groups.

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And it's not just about collecting statistics that can be viewed after training. Like a real trainer, Electricfoxy Move does not hesitate to correct its owner by pointing out a mistake. Moreover, quite unceremoniously, “pricking” with the help of the current that part of the body that is not working correctly. There is only one way to get rid of annoying tingling sensation – by taking the desired position.

In theory, the suit can not only control the performance of exercises, but help to learn new ones. For example, with him you can learn to dance a new dance or work out movements for a new kind of sport.

T-Shirt OS

But this is a completely different direction of 'smart' clothes. This t-shirt has a built-in slim LED screen that will display the images you want. Changing the image will not take much time, because you can control the T-shirt directly from your smartphone. Just now it was your company logo, and now it's a trendy 'emoticon', funny lettering or animated superhero icon.

In my opinion, this is just one of those simple, but at the same time, funny ideas that will really be used. True, it is worth considering that it is still far from the mass production of such T-shirts – at the moment the developer has only a prototype on hand. But if his idea really turns out to be popular, then there will soon be no end to similar T-shirts from various companies.

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In general, we are waiting for the first hacker of 'smart' T-shirts who can take over the control of a neighbor's clothes. I think everyone but the unlucky owner of the smart T-shirt will have a lot of pleasant experiences. And he himself is not so much pleasant as unforgettable.

Sound Charge T-Shirt

If the previous T-Shirt is for content creation, the Sound Charge T-Shirt is solely for content consumption. With the subsequent digestion and extraction of free energy from it.

A large piezoelectric film on the bottom of the shirt converts any acoustic vibrations into electricity. And now fans of loud concerts will be able to combine business with pleasure – listen to music and recharge their smartphone.

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The prototype of the T-shirt was shown back in 2011, but I could not find further references to its fate.

OMsignal

Another fitness t-shirt. But if Electricfoxy Move is more suitable for hobbyists working at home, then OMsignal is designed for professionals. This garment monitors the heart rate and heart rate, the volume and frequency of inhalation and exhalation, the intensity of muscle work and other parameters important for the athlete. The developers assure that the accuracy of the information received is superior to all currently existing 'smart' bracelets.

At the same time, outwardly, OMsignal is no different from a strict sports T-shirt and does not require the connection of bulky sensors. Only the compact battery pack stands out a little, from which the T-shirt can work up to 3 days.

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The company plans to release several models of men's and women's T-shirts, and in their development, it intends to collaborate with such well-known brands as Nike, Quicksilver and Under Armor.

hWear

It is not just athletes who need to monitor their heart function. For people who have heart problems, this is vital. It is for them that HealthWatch has developed the hWear 'smart' T-shirt, which comes in several different variations and contains from three to fifteen ECG sensors.

Such a T-shirt is needed primarily for patients in clinics and will be able to instantly warn the attending physician about arrhythmia or heart attack of the patient. However, you can also use it at home – in this case, the signal will be sent to the pre-specified contacts.

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In addition to ECG data, the T-shirt can monitor body temperature, respiratory rate, and also record falls. All data is stored in a special external unit that is attached to the shirt. There is enough memory to record data for 70 hours, and it can be dropped onto a smartphone at any time by Bluetooth. If you detach the outer block from the T-shirt, then it can be washed almost like the most ordinary clothes. According to the manufacturer, it can withstand at least 50 washings.

Pants and shorts

This category could be safely called boring if it weren't for so many idiotic inventions. Some inventors seem to be very attracted to the idea of ​​fitting something into their pants. There are also reasonable ideas, but there are not so many of them. And most of them cannot be called 'smart'.

Kymira

According to the developers, these sweatpants can improve the performance of any athlete. It's all about a special tissue with optical fibers, which accelerates blood circulation and thereby increases the oxygen level in human tissues by 20%.

Since I myself am not particularly versed in this issue, I will not undertake to comment on these figures. But the fact that compression garments are used in medicine is a fact. Another thing is that it would be a stretch to call it 'smart'.

Myontec

But the shorts from the Myontec company cannot be denied some quick wits. They measure the muscle activity of the athlete's body and monitor the level of stress on all leg muscles. All collected data is transferred to the smartphone. In the future, you can show them to your instructor, doctor, or just brag to your friends. It is noted that the shorts can not only be washed, but also steamed.

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For the company, this is only the first step in the chosen direction – in the future they plan to come to grips with restorative medicine.

Pants with keyboard

However, all the possibilities of the 'smart' Myontec shorts pale before the creation of the designer Eric de Nisa, which cannot be called a farce except. We are talking about pants with a built-in keyboard, speakers and a wireless mouse included.

Looking at the photographs, I don't even know which is better – just walk down the street in them or sit down on a chair and start typing something under the admiring glances of my colleagues. The attention of the audience is guaranteed to you in any case.

To be honest, I generally cannot think of when it makes sense to build some kind of peripheral devices into clothes. Maybe you can give me a hint?

Turtlenecks, hoodies, sweaters

This is not the most popular smart wear format. The sensors are best attached to clothing worn directly on the naked body. And for designer delights, clothes like suits or evening dresses are more suitable. Nevertheless, something interesting can be found here too.

LikeAGlove

Smart clothes can have a lot of interesting ideas. For example, how do you like the idea of ​​buying clothes to buy clothes? At first glance, it sounds silly. But in reality, it might make sense.

Online shopping is becoming more and more popular every year. They have a lot of advantages. This is a wide selection of goods, and optimal prices, and the opportunity to purchase unique things that are sold only in one single country.

There are also enough cons. If we talk about buying clothes, then this is the impossibility of trying things on before buying and choosing the right size. It's also good when it comes to ordering clothes from the nearest store. Then you can choose to bring several sizes of the same model at once, and if necessary, deliver another size from the warehouse. But what about shopping in stores from other countries? After all, the size of the clothes indicated on the tag does not mean that it will fit you. Here you need to take into account a bunch of different parameters – collar size, shoulder width, sleeve length, waist size, height, and more.

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This is where the invention of LikeAGlove comes to the rescue. This 'smart' turtleneck-like garment will measure your body size on its own and indicate the most suitable clothing models. Among other things, he will recommend paying attention to certain manufacturers or suggest looking at some specific brands.

I fully admit that this approach is the future. But just one smart turtleneck is not enough for this – it is necessary that such technology be supported by the online stores themselves. Moreover, it benefits them no less than the buyers themselves. After all, if such a 'virtual fitting' really works with a minimum of misfires, then the profit from online clothing trade will increase significantly.

FuelWear

The FuelWear sweatshirt is a classic example of heated clothing. The appearance of the sweatshirt is unremarkable. It is worth noting only the material itself, made from bamboo fibers.

There are heating elements in the chest and lumbar region. They are thin and elastic and, according to the manufacturer, are not felt at all during wear. The model unit, which can be carried right in a sweatshirt pocket, contains a compact battery, a temperature sensor and a control unit. If you turn off the outdoor unit and disconnect the heating elements, the sweatshirt can be washed like regular clothes.

The main difference between FuelWear and competitors' products is the automatic temperature adjustment mode depending on environmental conditions. The colder it is outside, the more the sweatshirt warms up. But as soon as you enter the room, the heating will automatically turn off by itself.

The total battery life of the clothes depends on the temperature conditions. In the heating mode 2.5 degrees above the body temperature, the battery will last for 12 hours. When heated by 5 degrees – for 6 hours, and in the hottest mode, which raises the temperature by 10 degrees, the sweatshirt will work for 3 hours.

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FuelWear is a collaboration between the University of Toronto and Hatchery. In October last year, they went with him to the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform (analogous to Kickstarter) and collected 400% of the requested amount.

I do not know what they will end up with. But in my opinion, this direction itself is very promising. And, first of all, not for the Far North, but for residents of large cities. I think that those who first freeze for an hour on the street in a 20-degree frost, and then cook the next hour in their own juice during a trip to the subway, will understand me perfectly.

Sweaters Wi-Fi

Designer Borr Akkersdijk thinks futuristic wearable gadgets like smart glasses won't come into use anytime soon. Painfully they are unusual for users. But 'smart' clothes, on the contrary, have every chance of gaining consumer confidence. She then should take over most of the functions of other devices.

As an example of such 'smart' clothes, he created an experimental suit, into which, using a special 3D printing technology, he woven Wi-Fi modules, Bluetooth, GPS and NFC and all the necessary electronics.

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The costume was demonstrated to the general public at the SXSW 2014 festival, where everyone could check the designer's location on a map, as well as connect to his costume via Wi-Fi.

According to the designer, the current version of the suit is just an early prototype. They have been developing such clothes for several years already, but due to lack of funding, the pace of work leaves much to be desired.

I don't know if it makes sense to embed Wi-Fi and NFC modules into clothes. Still, it is much more convenient to use a smartphone as a mobile router than to use your jacket. In any case, if a designer wants to find like-minded people, he should first do something with the appearance of his experimental clothes …

WEMU

WEMU is another example of medical smart clothing, much like hWear. WEMU was created for patients with epilepsy. Usually, the condition of such patients is monitored in clinics using a stationary ECG system.

BioSerenity's developers, together with French epilepsy research organizations, propose to use instead a smart clothing set consisting of a shirt and a hat with built-in ECG, EEG and EMG sensors. This system records seizure parameters and takes readings of brain activity several times a day. In some cases, it is almost impossible to develop the correct course of treatment without such information.

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It should be noted that the information is not only stored locally in the memory of the device itself, but is also loaded into a special secure cloud service to which the patient's physician and special medical research organizations have access to help develop an individual course of treatment.

Dresses and suits

Many designers try to experiment with electronics in clothes. True, the clothes are still more bright than 'smart'. Basically, their creations find their place in private collections or museums, less often used by show business stars during performances. But something more practical from this idea has not yet been obtained.

Jacket Bono

One example of a more or less meaningful use of electronics in a concert costume is the 'laser' jacket of the leader of the U2 group.

The costume was created specifically for the group's world tour, which was supposed to give 360 ​​concerts. 240 lasers were built into the jacket, which were supposed to emphasize every movement of the singer, visually increasing his silhouette. Thus, both the back and front rows should have seen him perfectly.

I have never been to the concerts of this group, and, unfortunately, I cannot say how it turned out in practice. It is difficult to understand something from the photographs.

Galaxy Dress

Designer Natalie Walsh also used glowing elements in her work. It's just much more elegant. In any case, as far as can be judged from the staged photographs, in which the photographer clearly played with the shutter speed properly.

The dress is based on ordinary cotton. From it, the designer built a V-neck corset and a short fluffy skirt – a ball. Along the perimeter of the dress, LED fiber optic threads were fixed, which were supposed to visually lengthen the clothes, giving them a feeling of lightness and weightlessness.

At the moment, the dress exists in a single copy, but the designer is seriously thinking about launching it into a series.

Dear readers, would you mind buying a Galaxy Dress?

Hats

Speaking of headgear, I do not mean all kinds of ski or motorcycle helmets, as well as different glasses. This is another category of wearable electronics that deserves a separate article. Here we will talk about simpler things that do not try to pretend to be a computer. Which, however, does not prevent them from pretending to be something else.

Hovding Bicycle Helmet

In many countries, the bicycle is a very popular means of transport. And they use it not only and not so much for cycling as for business trips. One problem is that a bicycle helmet that is laid out according to the rules does not go well with a carefully styled hairdo before leaving the house.

The developers of Hovding decided once and for all to save fashionistas and fashionistas from the necessity of choosing between beauty and safety. Their 'smart' bike helmet, when folded, looks more like a fashionable scarf than any headgear. And does not spoil the hair at all. True, now it can be spoiled by the headwind – but, according to the designers of Hovding, this is a completely different story.

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The device is equipped with a shock sensor, gyroscope and accelerometer and operates on the principle of a car airbag. Even before the unfortunate cyclist's body touches the ground, it will fully unfold, protecting the owner's head.

Hat by Philipa Treacy

It is also difficult to call this hat a headdress in the usual sense of the word. Although, unlike the Hovding helmet, it is actually attached to the head, it still looks more like a lampshade of a crazy floor lamp than a wardrobe item. But it looks really impressive – this cannot be taken away from the creation of an Irish fashion designer.

The base of the hat is a propeller with six wide blades, each of which has LEDs. It is curious that during the movement, the blades themselves are completely invisible, which is why the view of the hat turns out to be truly fantastic.

I wonder if it has a fan effect? If so, then the girl who bought it will definitely not end up with the gentlemen who are languishing from the heat.

Outcome

At the moment, smart clothing is a quirky zoo, where interesting and useful ideas coexist with outright farce. Nevertheless, not only traditional players in the clothing market, such as Nike, Columbia or Adidas, are beginning to engage in this direction, but also various technical and medical companies. While they carefully try the water with their feet, deciding whether it is warm enough, or if it is worth waiting a little longer. But the time when even the most cautious producers will dive into this pool headlong is not far off. That's when the fun begins.

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