Intelligent undies and other smart clothes

BY CLAIRE MCENTEE

Dressing smart could soon have a whole new meaning.

HoodieBuddie

Hoodies and headphones are style staples for most youth today and this sweatshirt rolls the two into one.

Earbuds are connected to the end of the hoodie's drawstrings and wearers can hook their MP3 Player, iPod or cellphone up to them via a built-in earphone jack in the front right pocket.

The earphones are machine- washable for fuss-free care. A HoodieBuddie retails for about US$44-$48 (NZ$61-67) at shop.hoodiebuddie.com.

Motion-detecting pants

Who's a smarty pants? Sensors embedded in wires are actually woven into these pants and transmit data on speed, rotation and flexibility to a computer.

Their developers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University say they could be used to identify individuals with a higher risk of falling over and help reduce the number of fall-related injuries.

Smart sneakers

Nike (who else?) has developed a sensor for its running shoes that tracks your run and transmits data to your iPod, including on your distance and how many calories you've burnt off.

After each excursion, you can synch your iPod to the Nike+ website and see a graph illustrating your run, with peaks and troughs reflecting surges and slumps in speed.

You can set goals on the website and compete in challenges with other users. Designed for Nike+ shoes, but can be used with others.

Therapeutic threads

Your partner might not be able to tell how you're feeling, but duds developed at London's Goldsmiths College and Montreal's Concordia University can.

The prototype clothes have woven-in wireless sensors that monitor the wearer's heart rate, temperature, breathing and "galvanic skin response" - a change in the electrical properties of the skin in response to stress.

That data is then transmitted via the user's smartphone to an online database, which will stream music, songs and images to the garment's LED display and built-in speakers to help them change their mood.

Intelligent undies

United States firm Numetrex's brainy bra has electronic modules and silver-coated electrodes that sense the wearer's pulse and transmit the data to a wristwatch, so they can monitor their heart rate while they exercise.

And for the blokes, US scientists have reportedly printed biosensors directly on to the waistbands of men's underwear. The sensors monitor hydrogen peroxide and the enzyme NADH, which are associated with biomedical processes.

Scientists suggest the sensitive skivvies could be used to monitor the health of soldiers in combat.

Mind-reader

Geeks rejoice! Now you really can control things with your mind. The Emotiv EPOC neuroheadset uses sensors to read the brain's electrical signals.

The company claims the headset, which connects wirelessly to a PC, recognises more than 30 emotions, expressions and actions including excitement, frustration and laughing. Available for US$299.

Mental merino

South Island firm Twisted Citrus has developed a merino shirt (using sensors developed by Kiwi firm Zephyr Technology) that can monitor an athlete's heart rate, length of stride, and changes in speed and send that information to their mobile.

The data can also be uploaded to Facebook and Twitter.

* Sources: Physorg, Wired, CNET, Nike, ReadWriteWeb, BBC, Homeland Security Newswire, I4U News, Twisted Citrus, The Dominion Post.

- © Fairfax NZ News