Sensoria has announced a crowdfunding campaign to launch a new line of its heart-rate monitoring t-shirts and sports bras. A new app will also be launched which uses information from the smart clothing to identify if you might be about to suffer a cardiac arrest, and can even alert your nearest and dearest urging them to seek help.
The upcoming sportswear from Sensoria works in much the same way as its previous garments, by featuring built-in electrodes and a clip-on bluetooth heart rate monitor. The main differences are the design, colors, and materials used. The t-shirt now features short sleeves rather than being sleeveless, and the bra will be available in medium support rather than low. Both will come in blue and red options, and be made using Emana yarn, which is said to improve skin elasticity and help prevent muscle fatigue.
However, the more interesting aspect of the launch is a new Sensoria Fitness app, which will make use of the heart rate monitoring data in other ways than simply helping you to train harder. The Sensoria Fitness V2.0 app is also designed to check your ticker is working properly by monitoring heart rate variability in addition to heart rate, and using a cardiologist-created algorithm called Heart Sentinel.
This monitors for cardiac irregularities such as ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation, which are associated with exercise-induced cardiac arrest, and can give you a warning if you are at risk. If you are unfortunate enough to suffer a cardiac arrest mid-workout, the app can also notify your nearest and dearest via a text message urging them to seek help, and provide GPS data from your phone.
Sensoria says crowdfunding backers will be the first to get their hands on a new version of the Sensoria Fitness V2.0 app, via an advanced Beta, before it is made available to the general public later in the year. The app will work with Sensoria's new and current garments and HRM module.
A Kickstarter campaign is set to go live next week, with pledges starting at US$79 for a heart rate monitor module with either one sports bra or one t-shirt. Should funding be successful, and everything else go to plan, shipping is due to start around October.
Source: Sensoria
