Semi professional and professional athletes need to collect their bio and other workout related data during their training to optimize their program to successfully comped for the precious metal at sporting events.

Most of the recording is still done by hand with data coming from multiple sensor devices attached to the athletes body. It’s working but cumbersome to set up the sensor devices each time before starting the training.

In our digital age where everything can be easily recorded and beamed to the ‘cloud’ for number crunching and presentation anytime and anywhere, smart workout apparel like the e-Shirt developed by Emxys at ESA’s Business Incubation Centre Noordwijk in the Netherlands, is pointing into the future of smart workout apparel for athletes.

TrainGrid consists of an e-Shirt with integrated sensors to determine in real time the athlete’s electrocardiogram, heart rate, skin temperature, body position and location via GPS. All the data are transmitted via Bluetooth to a mobile phone or computer to share with a coach, doctor, friends or on a social network.

A developer Kit is available for € 1000.- (around $ 1300.-) a steep price tag but the kit is not intended to be a commercial product but for developers to start making apps for iPhone, Facebook, Android – you name it.

Maybe smart workout clothing can motivate many to go out and move around a bit and share training routes and schedule, compare performance and the fitness status instead of sitting on the couch and share what movie you watch right now. Yeah I know, I am an optimist …

One of the pioneers and trendsetter in the wearable technology fashion world, London based CuteCircuit has made their name by integrating new functionality into fashion through the use of smart textiles and micro electronics.

This integration has been recently demonstrated with the design of dresses for Katy Perry and Safura or the Galaxy Dress. To bring sparkling clothing to consumers CuteCircuit has opened their own online store offering technology enhanced clothing.

Rather then relaying on crystals releasing a sparkle when hit by a light beam, the Twirkle collection from CuteCircuit is the source of the sparkle, releasing a night sky star twinkle on a dress or shirt.

To ignite the sparkle you need to move, as more as you move as brighter you will sparkle and twinkle. I love this design twist by CuteCircuit to relate the light pattern to movements via a motion sensor.

The light sparkle effect is similar to the sparkle created by crystals that catch the surrounding light. The motion activation gives a more natural appearance, random light patterns rather than static, predefined and programmed light sequences that dent to be artificial and cheap looking light effects.

The Twirkle collection items run on basic coin cell batteries which are included in the retail price which ranges between $ 140.- and $ 187.- depending on the model.

The CuteStore is open for business and takes pre-orders with delivery by October, just in time for the darker season that need to be spiced up with a bit of sparkle coming from your shirt or dress.

Simple ideas with great impact, does not everyone wish to have such products? Just use them, have them at our disposal all time and if we use them it feels great.

Most people get into a defensive mode when I talk about wearable technology as this is still somewhat provocative to imagine having a bit of technology inside our clothing although most are handling far more complex technology in their hands, pockets and bags.

Maybe wearable electronic product designs are indeed not yet conforming with the general perception of clothing and/or technology. Maybe wearable technologies have to be introduced in a softer, simpler form to enable people to adapt, adjust and embrace the idea that electrical signals can travel through clothing without giving an electrical shock.

Demonstrating via simple products that electrically active clothing can of course be washed under some conditions which we unquestionably accept by other traditional textile materials like silk or wool which require certain washing temperatures and cleaning procedures.

An excellent example of a simple yet highly useful, sensible product from the eTextile department is Music and Sons Music T-Shirt range.

Besides the catchy design and the use of beautiful as well as environmental friendly materials like Bamboo fabric, the fact that these T-Shirts, on the market for around 2 years, offer a solution for a problem many seems to have when I watch them wrangling with their headphone wires running from a pocket to the ears.

Music and Sons uses the T-Shirt to manage the cable mangle. A standard headphone connector in a pocket on the T-Shirt connecting to most portable devices moves the headphone connection up to the neck where the headphone can be connected either via the included, good quality headphone or you can connect your beloved type of headphone.

It’s a simple solution, using the T-Shirt as extension of a headphone cord, highly practical as I can testify and might just be the sort of ‘small scale’ textile electronic needed to make people more familiar with ‘electrifying clothing’.

Click over to Music and Sons for more details and the huge selection of T-Shirt styles and cool prints they have on offer right now.

Every few month, ThinkGeek integrates another technology into T-Shirts it’s kind of a tradition already. The latest techno Shirt is called Locked ON – a proximity sensing T-Shirt featuring a radar like decal made of EL technology, on the chest.

If all your friends wear a Locked ON T-Shirt it will be easy to find them in crowded places. Just look at your shirt. Two or more T-shirt wearer are required to come within about 3 meters, the maximum range the proximity detection can cover, otherwise your radar screen will stay empty.

The proximity sensing is done via radio frequency transmission/detection and runs on 3x AAA batteries ‘for hours’. The EL decal is removable during cleaning of the shirt.

It’s another amazing interactive fun shirt from ThinkGeek, which never misses to be the center of attention when walking around wearing one of those. The price point for one shirt is $19.99 but keep in mind, you need two of them to have the fun.

If you can convince your bioss to wear such shirt he/she will come on your radar even before he/she can sneak up on you – oh well, need to stop now before going to exited about the possibilities a personal radar system on my shirt can give.

[via: Webelow Wear]

ThinkGeek did it again, integrating a musical instrument into a T-Shirt. First there was the Drum-Shirt and now comes the Guitar-Shirt. A T-Shirt with a fully playable guitar, not a toy that plays pre-canned music.

All major chords are recorded from a real electric guitar. A magnetic pick detects your strokes via magnetic induction simulating the stroking of real guitar cords.

An included mini amp clips to the belt and gets plenty loud with great sounding amplification circuitry. The tone knob on the amp lets you adjust the sound just like a real guitar.

The Rock Guitar T-shirt sells for $29.99 with everything included except the 4x AAA batteries which drives the T-Shirt and amp.

Oh yeah, the T-Shirt is washable after taking out the electronic components.

Combine this with the Drum-Shirt and add some additional light effects to the shirts and future musicians can go on stage with as little as their T-shirts to rock away.

Check out the video below and tune into the future of wearable ROCK:

Don’t use the fake, printed stuff on your T-Shirts, use the interactive stuff to have more fun.

With the help of thermochromic ink technology Webelow Wear is painting an animation on T-Shirts showing the global warming effect on the polar ice cap over the past 30 years.

Webelow Wear’s Polar Ice Cap Shirt is the most sensible T-Shirt design I have seen. Sensible in terms of the message it conveys and sensible in the purest sense – it senses the temperature. This concept, made possible with the use of color changing inks, shows the greenhouse melting effect in a very impressive and surprising way.

As long as the ambient temperature together with the bodies heat radiation stays below 96.8 Fahrenheit (36 degree Celsius) the T-Shirt shows the polar ice cap size from 1980 but the ice will start melting away when the temperature rises to 96.8 Fahrenheit and reveals the size of the polar ice we have now in 2009.

A shocking, beautiful and fashionable transformation with a strong message. The Polar Ice Cap Shirt can be picked up for $30.- at Webelow Wear’s online shop.

The short video clip below shoes the transformation of the polar ice cap on the T-Shirt:

We have seen many versions of EL decal animated T-Shirts but the ThumbsUp! Emoticon T-Shirt is the cutest I have seen so far.

The Emoticon T-Shirt offers four different emoticons you can choose to express your current stage of emotion by lighting up your T-Shirt making sure even in the darkest corners of your life your emotional stage is clearly visible.

Your emotion can range from a happy face to the sad face, a winking face or a surprised face covering most of the emotions one goes while walking through life.

To switch between the emotion just press the front of the light-up panel. If only our emotions would be as easy to control.

The Emoticon T-Shirt is powered by 4x AAA batteries and features a glow in the dark/UV reactive screen print as well to create additional light effects.

Available by thmupsUp! for £29.99 (around $47.40) but it’s out of stock currently – sad face.

Color changing clothing radiate a magical fascination by many. Recently I ordered color changing T-Shirts to see how the magic at work.

My experience: surprised views from people around me, questioning their world of fashion view as my T-Shirt keeps on changing it’s color pattern constantly. It helps that I am living in a very warm, tropical place with high temperatures outside and nicely cooled shopping malls, coffee shops and restaurants.

Coming in from the hot outside into these locations the T-Shirt starts changing color, in some areas faster than in others creating ever changing, random patterns.

The color changing chameleon effect comes from Bodyfader‘s Thermochromatic textile processing which offer a very robust impregnation of the Thermochromatic ink for textiles making them washable without loosing the color changing effect.

I know this color changing clothing have been popular in the 90s but they still make an impact occasionally. It’s a nice summer, sun and fun fashion style. Not necessarily wearable electronic but I am experimenting now on ways to activate the color change with a bit of electrical, conductive yarn magic.

If you are interested into Chameleon Thermochromatic clothing without electrical magic you could start looking around here.

Wearable power is a hot research item which got high profile sponsorship last year with the Wearable Power Price from the Department of Defense.

The Electricity generating knee brace from a team of researchers of the University of Michigan has demonstrated one concept of how to harvest the power humans produce during physical activities as simple as walking or running.

Philips developed a concept that look more elegant and is based on a very simple principle to harvest some of the walking power: the Knee mounted power generator.

The knee mounted power generator is basically a knee harness that converts rotary movement of a mechanical gear box with fly-wheel, very similar to the watches that crank up themselves, into electrical energy that can be stored in a battery for later use.

I like the simplicity and the elegance of this concept idea. Running around for hours and days in the wilderness, the power of our gadgets like cell-phones, walkie-talkies, GPS and so forth can easily run out.

Using solar bags is one option but if the sun is hiding, a knee power generator like this would have a great value as the only other alternative in the outdoors is to carry along spare batteries.

[via: ecofriend]

2Joy is a German company which designs and sells Joyshirts, cool T-Shirts with EL-decals.

I know, I am addicted to those light-up T-Shirts and always on the lookout for new designs. I don’t like the erratic blinking types although others might just look for such type, and I am looking for fluid patterns not geometrical or with sharp corners.

The style in this photo is my personal favorite out of 2Joy’s collection, just right to light up decently on the next party.

All T-Shirts are in black only made of 100% cotton and they can be hand-washed with the EL-decal on it but the box (roughly size of a cigarette box) containing electronic and batteries has to be taken off before washing.

Some T-Shirt models are ‘sound active’, interacting with the surrounding acoustics like an equalizer moving the light animation in the rhythm of life around you.

2Joy is selling the T-Shirts for €29,80 ($39.00) but ships only inside European Union countries so you will need a friend in Europe to get one over to the States or Asia.

Follow the link to check out the full collection (Site is in German only!)