HEXOSKIN

At this point shirts offer the most obvious ways to monitor a person’s bio-data because most of your important parts are in your chest, meaning your heart and lungs. Designed by Carré Technologies, Hexoskin shirts hug you like no other piece of clothing and know more about you than your girlfriend. They measure heart rate zones, resting heart rate, and recovery, breathing rate, maximum oxygen consumption and minute ventilation, activity level, acceleration, cadence, steps, calories, and sleep positions. Yes, sleep positions. It’s probably the smartest smartwear.

The magic of the Hexoskin line is in the sensors and the amazing battery life of more than 14 hours. Three sets of sewn-in sensors handle the data: the breathing sensor bands around the bust and above the natural waist, the cardiac sensors, two on the bust and one on the right side above the waist, and the movement sensor above the right hip. These sensors connect to the Hexoskin device that tucks into the side pocket where it stores and transmits the data.

Hexoskin shirts are not exactly like other sports wearables, which are often designed to keep your phone in your pocket, your hands free and your eyes on the road. The depth of detection makes them useful for all kinds of health related issues. Using the Hexoskin apps, you can read and manage your data in real-time on your Android or iOS phone. That includes your ECG, a stunning picture of your heart beating in real time. If you have iOS you can also see your lung activity.

For those who already have a program to analyze your data, Carré Technologies was kind enough to supply Open Data API, so you can download the raw stats and do whatever you want with them. There’s also the dashboard for PC which can be monitored by a trainer or coach.

Put all of this together and you end up with a shirt that can provide information previously only available via a slew of ungainly wires attached to bland consoles that look like they belonged in a hospital. For this reason, Hexoshirts are already being used by the Brooklyn Nets, MIT, and NASA labs for health research, in addition to many other organizations.