Newsletter
The term “smart” has become involved in many of our belongings. Smartphones, smart watches, smart appliances etc. Next in line to become smart is our clothes thanks to a startup called OMsignal. OMsignal revealed their intentions over one year ago with clothing that would monitor heart rate, and ECG readings. The company got seed funding from TechStars CEO David Cohen as well as some venture companies. Altogether OMsignal gained $1 million in funding, however they were not ready to begin testing the product for public use-until now.
Ralph Lauren has teamed up with OMsignal to produce the world’s first smart polo. While the shirt isn’t ready for commercial sales, Ralph Lauren has announced that they will be testing smart polos at the U.S. Open. Ball boys will be sporting the polo during the U.S. Open as well as Marcos Giron the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s number one singles player.
The smart polo that will be marketed to athletes to help monitor things like respiration, stress level, heartbeat and energy output. The information collected will be sent to users smartphone for them to monitor. Ralph Lauren’s senior vice president of advertising, marketing, and PR, David Lauren said, “Our goal is to create and reflect the ultimate lifestyle, and we believe that a healthy and active life is an essential part of that. Ralph Lauren is excited to help lead the industry in wearable technology in this ever-evolving, modern world.”
Ralph Lauren hopes that testing goes well, and they can release the polo commercially in the first half of 2015. However, that’s the only information given about the pending release. There’s been no solid release date, or pricing given yet. Though the technology may not come cheap, and the brand name may also raise the pricing of the polos.
What are your thoughts on the new polo, do you think this is something many people would get use of, and therefore spend the money on them? If you think you would be interested, what information would you like to get from the polo while being active? Let us know down below or on our G+ page.