Data Gathering Workout Shirt for the NFL

[gallery] One of the big opportunities in wearable technology is in professional sports where precision and performance can be tracked and improved. Under Armour has created a new line of evaluation and improvement garments. Their E39 garments track heart rate, breathing rate, g-force and body positioning. The "electronic compression baselayer" (as they describe) collects your biometric data and sends it to a computer or handheld so that you can evaluate your performance and ultimately improve it. According to Gizmodo, Under Armour will be testing these garments with 10 to 30 NFL prospects, including Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Cam Newton. I wouldn't mind trying one out myself.

Image and more info on Yahoo! sports.

Sneakers that take microblogging one step further

[gallery] I'm currently at SXSW in Austin where the talks are barraged with analysis and future speculation around social graphs, keeping up with them, and taking them further. Twitter and microblogging is the only way to weave your way around here. Naturally, I'd like to share this project, Rambler, developed by Ricardo O”Nascimento and Tiago Martins of Popkalab, which "aims to bring the practice of microblogging to one of many possible extremes, turning it into an automatic, thoughtless act of diffusing large amounts of slightly ambiguous, repetitive and arguably useless personal information". Continue reading on Popkalab.

I could really use a pair of these right now...

Images from Popkalab.

Zip: Control your music

[gallery] Alas, a new electricfoxy project!

Zip is a garment that explores the aesthetics and interaction of wearable technology solutions that have built-in music controls. There are many products on the market today ranging from snowboard jackets to hoodies that allow you to connect your music player and control it using buttons integrated into the textiles. However, most of the solutions simply take the music player's hardware controls and replicate them on the sleeve or inside the lapel using eTextiles. Although still innovative, Zip investigates this further by:

Garment interactions Rather than replicating hardware controls into soft textiles, Zip also considers some of our basic garment mechanics and integrates the controls into the gestures that we already perform with our clothing.

Aesthetics Rather than simply attaching technology to clothing or hiding it in pockets, Zip considers the aesthetics of the technology, exposes it, and uses it as part of the overall styling of the garment.

Manufacturing We are starting to see more wearable technology enter the public's eye, yet producing tech garments is still one of the major road blockers due to high cost, lack of streamlined manufacturing processes and a variety of other variables. Zip is designed to be manufactured with both the pattern and ciruit design aimed for production.

Go to the project site to read all about it and watch the video.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this project!

Press CNET News: Crave, talk2myshirt, Fashioning Technology, iheartswitch, Crunchgear, Gizmodiva, DotGizmo, Dvice, Notcouture, Coolest Gadgets, Wearona, FashionEnvi, Tuvie, Pleatfarm, InventorSpot, Ecouterre, Trendhunter, Fashion Network Seattle

A color-changing collection

[gallery] Fashion designers are continuing to explore garments printed with color changing inks. The latest is Rainbow Winters Spring Summer Collection 2011 featuring garments that are printed with special thermochromic and hydrochromic ink, which change color when exposed to sunlight or water.

"The signature piece of her collection is the Rainforest Dress - a dress that changes colour when exposed to water and/or sun. Sunlight activated flowers on the dress turn purple, when activated though water, the whole dress, the bodice and flowers transform into full colour. Her Petal Dress changes the color when exposed to sun, indoors it is green or pink, outdoors it begins to turn blue or purple."

Continue reading on InfraBodies Images from InfraBodies

Gorgeous inflatable airbag collar

[gallery] This gorgeous bicycle helmet by Hövding strikes a perfect balance between technology and fashion AND it's available on the market today.

"Hövding is a collar for bicyclists, worn around the neck. The collar contains a folded up airbag that you'll only see if you happen to have an accident. The airbag is shaped like a hood, surrounding and protecting the bicyclist's head. The trigger mechanism is controlled by sensors which pick up the abnormal movements of a bicyclist in an accident.

The actual collar is the visible part of the invention. It's covered by a removable shell that you can change to match your outfit, and we'll be launching new designs all the time. Hövding is a practical accessory that's easy to carry around, it's got a great-looking yet subtle design, and it will save your life." Continue reading on hovding.com.

Images from hovding.com. Also found on Fashioning Technology.

adidas produces glow-in-the-dark gear

[gallery] I'm a big fan of smart fabrics and intelligent clothing making it to market, which is another chance to introduce these types of concepts to consumers. Before you know it, they will be widely accepted, but we still have a ways to go. The new line of adidas' Stella McCartney glow-in-the-dark clothing does just that. It's functional by keeping you safe while running in the dark AND it is beautifully executed. We need more wearable technology garments that strike that perfect balance between functionality and aesthetics so that people want to wear them. I can't wait until my order arrives!

More info on adidas.com Images from therockerblog