Nuremberg Germany
The idea is to mix emerging technologies with mainstream clothing. In Germany, Adidas, a sports icon, has spent several years researching the development of a system that can monitor exercise time.
Mike shows off a t-shirt with technical elements. Sensors are sewn into the fabric. It's easy to see because it's all part of the garment.
This is what athletes wear. We integrate motion sensors. But we need to integrate them into the fabric because athletes should not feel these elements. When we first made the prototype, we were faced with questions about what the user interface would be and how to show the data to him. We wanted to get the most professional team of developers in physiological monitoring, they use many systems, they collect data, and they are on the cutting edge in terms of technology.
When we had the first prototype with sensors embedded in the shirt, there were physical wires under the shirt, but no sensors embedded in the fabric. And there were players who cut off the sleeves for 500 euros because they were uncomfortable in this clothing.
We are really interested in how to take this technology to the next level, and sports in general to the next level. I think that over time we will see more and more sensors embedded in our clothes. Not only in sports, but in everyday life.
As part of health monitoring, to know how the body functions and to take care of health.
People want to know what is happening to them and how to improve their quality of life.
At the end of the day, we're just measuring things, it's about how we use the data and present it.
We're just entering this era now, but things will get faster, smaller, smarter, and we'll see platforms evolve.
When people talk about wearable technology, they put a lot of emphasis on the devices, the sensors. For example, watches that do this and that. But that's not the most important part. We see this whole wearable environment, not just devices or fabrics or things, we see platforms for this environment growing. And they are starting to be used more, while they are less visible and easier to integrate into everyday life, and we see the value of that.