Hexoskin is a maker of wearable body metrics measurement products. Based in Montréal, Québec, with a new U.S. office in San Francisco, the company is introducing a "smart shirt" that contains flexible and comfortable sensors to monitor various body metrics.
A small plastic transmitter fits in a compartment in the shirt and sends the collected data through Bluetooth as soon as the device is within range of a paired mobile device. At the same time, the complete dataset is forwarded to the cloud server (via mobile services or Wi-Fi) for more detailed analysis. These findings are submitted as session reports, an especially useful feature if Hexoskin is in use by a team of athletes -- coaches will have secure access to these reports.
The biometric shirt, which is machine washable and made from high-performance fabric, is quick-drying, breathable, lightweight, anti-odor and chlorine resistant. It is really a portable laboratory containing three fabric-based stretchable heart sensors. It also adds dual-sensor chest and waist sensors for tracking breathing rate and volume. It can also track breathing during sleep.
The shirts are available in five sizes in separate men's and women's styles, in black only for now. They can be purchased individually or in a starter kit that includes the shirt, the Hexoskin device, a device-to-USB cable and the Hexoskin app. There are also team packages containing five or 10 starter kits. The individual shirt retails for $175, the starter kit for $399.
Hexoskin monitors heart rate and allows a real-time view of electrocardiography (ECG) with great precision. It also monitors heart rate recovery (HRV), which measures stress and training fatigue and helps prevent overtraining; breathing rate tracking helps users control their breathing to reduce stress and enhance performance; monitoring breathing volume determines lung volume, and helps avoid hyperventilation and apnea; activity monitoring collects data on intensity level, steps, cadence, calories and pace; and during sleep, Hexoskin will measure resting heart rate, breathing and sleep positions.
Athletes and coaches have provided examples of Hexoskin use in their work. Runner Laurence Clanet said "Reviewing the data recorded by my Hexoskin allows me to confirm sensations felt during my training. It also led me to reorganize my weekly swimming, cycling and running training sessions to make sure I always mix results and pleasure."
The downloadable companion app is free and available in iOS and Android versions. The Hexoskin app offers real-time performance feedback, cloud-based data architecture, global and individual statistics and secured access to results and data.
