At a media event in NYC today, Ralph Lauren finally released more information about their connected Polo Tech shirt. You would be forgiven if you had forgotten about the shirt though; little has been said about it since an initial announcement by the company almost a year ago. But it seems the device is finally ready for the public. Created through a partnership with OMsignal, the activity tracking shirt will launch on August 27th for $295. The lengthly delay between announcement and launch was surprising given that the shirt appears to be nearly identical to OMsignal’s shirt. It seems as though the hold up might have been with software. Ralph Lauren’s shirt utilizes its own mobile app, which is completely unique from the OMsignal software. The company sought to offer a mobile experience that not only tracks your biometrics but also provides guided workouts that adjust in real time to those readings.
According to Ralph Lauren, this is just the first product in a line of connected clothing. Next up, a version of the Polo Tech shirt for women (not surprising given that OMsignal is also expected to release a women’s version soon). David Lauren, the company’s EVP of global advertising, marketing, and corporate communication, also mentioned that a connected polo shirt and even a suit were possibilities in the future.
In case you need a refresher, the Polo Tech shirt is a compression T-shirt embedded with sensors. Those sensors are able to detect everything ranging from basic activity tracking information, such as steps taken, to detailed biometrics, such as breathing depth and how hard you are pushing yourself. The information is gathered via a small black box attached to the shirt and fed to your phone via Bluetooth.
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