Zephyr's smart fabrics to gauge physiological data

Although soldiers of the future (the non-robotic variety, that is) could very well rock tactile displays on their gear, it looks like the next-generation clothing worn on the battlefield could also monitor physiological information. New Zealand firm Zephyr has developed smart textiles that are currently being shown at CeBIT, and aside from being used by the US Department of Defense to "gauge how individuals cope and react during combat situations," the garb could also be used by athletes looking to carefully measure their vitals and improve their performance. The outfit's first two offerings, a chest-worn bioharness and a shoe pod insert, are both laden with intelligent sensors that can "store and broadcast data," which could certainly become beneficial in the health, security, training, and medical markets. It's been a good run, Nike+iPod, but it looks like you've been lapped.

[Tyler @ Mar 18th 2007 11:12PM]

You know, Polar has been doing this with their heart rate monitors for quite a while now. Granted, their cheststrap only gives hr, it's still pretty slick and the computers in the monitors have some pretty fancy offerings.

[Brian @ Mar 19th 2007 12:43AM]

True, I think Polar should see about working out a deal with this company to market it to athletes. I get a lot of use out of my Polar chest strap, as the sensors in the bars on the Precor cardio equipment die so very often at my gym. Pretty nifty how it interfaces with the cardio equipment, and with something like this I'm sure they could give even more information to exercisers. I'll have to keep up with this.

[Scooter @ Mar 19th 2007 8:12AM]

I met the Zephyr guy at CeBit last weekend and they hope to work with Nike (or a rival), so I assume they would compete with Polar.
Whatever, so long as their gear doesn't look like Borat's thong.

[MacroEQ @ Mar 19th 2007 9:32AM]

"I met the Zephyr guy at CeBit last weekend and they hope to work with Nike (or a rival), so I assume they would compete with Polar."

Polar already collaborate with Adidas on various things so it would seem logical if Zephyr decided to work with Nike.

This device by Zephyr is just a heartrate monitor with no real substance and there is no evidence or mention of what data will be captured to aid any military personnel wearing it.

Sounds like a load of old froth to me.

[Steve Small @ Mar 20th 2007 5:02AM]

The Zephyr BioHarness can measure heat-rate, respiration rate, skin temperature, posture (degrees from vertical-determines wearer is upright or prone) and activity. Activity is a measure of how hard the wearer is working. The device has applications beyond just sports coaching. In healthcare application, it can be used to monitor post surgical patients, long term elderly monitoring, etc.

[Shawn McClelland @ Mar 19th 2007 6:45PM]

I like Polar (but now use a garmin gps w/ hr monitor), however polar has always been 5 to 10 years behind in the technology arena. They are very conservative and refuse to use the cool new gadgets at their disposal.