Light up, warm up textile for cyclists

Well, if you're going to make light-up garments, this is one way to do it. Hamburg company, Realflex, has created a product that not only lights up for safety, but warms up the rider as well. They developed the product through their new product think tank called be8lich. There are a ton of light-up bike jackets and accessories to make cyclists visible. This low-tech version doesn't require batteries and it acts as leg warmers too. If anyone tries this product out, I'm curious to know what they think. Watch the (rather entertaining) video for more info:

 

Image source via Realflex.

Athletes using wearable tech to win gold

PSFK published a good article that takes a look at how olympic athletes are using wearable technology to win Gold in London. "Brought to you with the help of Intel, PSFK looks at how even though Olympians are the world’s most physically gifted athletes, some may have an advantage by training with innovative gadgets and programs.

The 2012 London Olympics are poised to be the most tech-forward Summer Olympic games. During the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, 108 world records were set–until those games, only an average of 22 records had been broken at Olympic games. Why the massive increase in Beijing? Advances in technology. In the four years since Beijing, the world has seen even greater innovations in this sector– in 2008, Facebook and Twitter were still in their infancy, the iPhone was in its first generation, and being able to make a payment through NFC technology was just a dream.

How will the current advances in technology give Olympic hopefuls an edge in the competition? From specially designed, golf-ball inspired track suits that promise to shave 0.023 seconds off a sprinter’s 100m time to cycling bikes with the least possible drag that increase the possibility of reducing mile splits by 1.6 seconds, athletes are better equipped than ever to win gold.

Some athletes are further embracing technology, using sensors and chips to help them analyze their performance, guaranteeing their movements are as efficient as possible- and therefore hopefully increase their chance for winning Olympic gold.

British gymnast Mimi Cesar has perfected her rhythmic floor routine using MotivePro, a vibrating suit that uses a modular system of sensors on her body to track and record her movements. The sensors give her real-time feedback as to where her body is in space, and vibrate when her arms, legs, head, chest, or feet go outside a desired range of motion. Because the feedback is instantaneous, Mimi can correct and refine her position while doing her routine. The suit can also give her audio cues as to when she’s out of alignment, and after she’s finished her routine, she can play back her performance to see visual cues to help make it perfect.

....

Lolo Jones, an American hurdler, is also using motion-detecting sensors to optimize her form in her quest to win gold in the 100m hurdle event. Unlike Mimi, who has several minutes to complete her event, Lolo’s event will be over in roughly 12 seconds- every fraction of a second could mean the difference between placing at the Olympics or falling short. To improve her performance and to drop her average time, Lolo tracks every second of her performance using a 40 Vicon T40S motion-capture cameras that record 2,000 frames per second. The cameras capture the 39 reflective motion detection sensors Lolo wears on her body, allowing her and her team to analyze her every movement down to millimeters."

Continue reading on PSFK

Nike launches sensor-embedded footwear

Continuing its nikeplus and fuel evolution, Nike has launched Nike Lunartr1+, sensor-embedded footwear that tracks how hard, fast and often you train and syncs it to a mobile app. The video shows a series of wearable displays, which makes me wonder what else they have cookin'. Overall, the best wearable technology products are the ones that you rely on but you don't have to remember to use. For example, inputting calories or manually tracking your workouts (think about the printed workout tracking clipboards in a folder system at the gym) is asking too much of people. Wearables have the capability of doing the work for you in a more unobtrusive and ambient way and the Lunartr1+ is one step closer...

More at Nikeplus Training

A Nike MAG Sneakers Show & Tell

Electronic footwear has been making its way from the high-fashion runway (check out fashion designer Edmundo Castillo's latest light-up stilettos, the Light Sandal) to the sports industry. Nike's footwear guru Tinker Hatfield and designer Tiffany Beers show off the 2011 Nike MAG Sneakers that was a limited edition design based off a Back to the Future movie prop. Here's their process and how they made these light-up dream shoes.

Image via undergroundsoles

Jacob Sutton’s L.E.D. Snow Surfer

Fashion photographer and filmmaker Jacob Sutton films Artec pro snowboarder William Hughes wearing a snowbaording suit entirely enveloped in LEDs made by designer and electronics whizz John Spatcher. Sutton filmed this gorgeous short on the slopes of Tignes in the Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France with one of my favorite cameras, the Epic Red. The short is absolutely mesmerizing...

“I was really drawn to the idea of a lone character made of light surfing through darkness,” says Sutton of his costume choice. “I've always been excited by unusual ways of lighting things, so it seemed like an exciting idea to make the subject of the film the only light source.” Sutton, who has created work for the likes of Hermès, Burberry and The New York Times, spent three nights on a skidoo with his trusty Red Epic camera at temperatures of -25C to snap Hughes carving effortlessly through the deep snow, even enlisting his own father to help maintain the temperamental suit throughout the demanding shoot. “Filming in the suit was the most surreal thing I’ve done in 20 years of snowboarding,” says Hughes of the charged salopettes. “Luckily there was plenty of vin rouge to keep me warm, and Jacob’s enthusiasm kept everyone going through the cold nights.”

Continue reading at nowness. More on Gizmodo.

Nike+ adds FuelBand to their product suite

It was apparent after walking through the North Hall at CES this month that there's an explosion of wearable hardware solutions aimed at fitness and healthcare and Nike isn't shy to continue to set the bar in this space. Nike+ adds to their suite of wearable sensors with their new Nike+ FuelBand. Using a new metric called NikeFuel, the wristband measures your activities: the more active you are, the more NikeFuel you earn. Similar to what the hardware-failed Jawbone Up was attempting to do, the Nike+ FuelBand tracks calories, steps and time your spend on dozens of activities such as running, walking, dancing through a sport-tested accelerometer. It then merges the data together to tell you how much overall "fuel" you have used throughout the day.

And, of course, the band also comes with an iPhone app that helps you see your progress, personalize your day, motivate you to keep going and share your progress with the world. Here's how FuelBand works:

I can't wait to get my hands on one to try it. More info and pre-order it at nike.com