Show your workout data on Facebook

Posted by Julia at talk2myShirt

on March 20, 2008

Two New Zealand companies have developed a merino shirt that promises to revolutionize the way athletes measure, track and share information about their performance.

South Island-based sportswear innovation company i-RULE and Auckland-based smart-fabric monitoring company Zephyr Technology combined forces to create the Sputnik shirt, named after the world’s first artificial satellite which means “co-traveler”, “traveling companion” or “satellite”.

The shirt incorporates a harness worn around the chest made from fabric sensors woven into it. This smart fabric, in combination with specialized electronics, can measure, transmit and record key athletic performance attributes such as heart rate, respiration rate, skin temperature and posture.

After racing or training, the athlete uncouples the transmitter from the harness, places it in a cradle and uses Sputnik software to upload the collected data to the Facebook website and show off to friends the athletic accomplishments.

The idea sounds great, who does not like sharing the personal achievements but the design and integration of the smart textile sensor does not look that exiting, looks almost as having a chest strap underneath a shirt.

Personally I like more the full and seamless integration Numetrex is offering. Especially for women a chest strap is to my opinion a big NO even a smart textile based strap.

Lets give i-RULE / Zephyr the benefit of doubt at this moment as we will see very soon how the real world product will look like. The Sputnik shirt will be available for general release through i-RULE’s online store in spring 2008.

[source: Scoop Sci-Tech]