Calling a shirt “wearable electronic” is pretty redundant, but there it is

May 29, 2014 06:23 GMT  ·  By

We've been keeping an eye out for anything that might resemble electronic and/or smart clothing, but while there have been things like batteries made of yarn and carbon nanotubes, actual clothes have been sparse. Until now that is.

We're not saying that no smart clothes were revealed in the past. The Call Me Gloves, for example, dates all the way back to December 2013.

However, they are just one article of clothing in a market that is supposed to have world-changing potential.

Fortunately, even if momentum is slow, it is, nonetheless, being built up. Intel has just made a contribution, or has promised that it will make a contribution soon enough.

Chipzilla seems pretty determined to become a power in the wearable technology sector really. Not surprising after it totally failed to establish a foothold in the smartphone industry and, for the most part, the media tablet front too. Not that it will stop trying to stage incursions there, but we digress.

The company has recently held the Code Conference. There, CEO Brian Krzanich revealed that he was wearing a smart t-shirt co-developed with AiQ.

It was presumably blue and bearing the Intel logo, obviously, but that's not what's important. The relevant thing is that the shirt has capabilities similar to fitness bands.

Thanks to a series of sensors, it can monitor vital signs, like heart rate. It doesn't have a display to show the info of course, nor does it possess a speaker or other.

However, it can connect to an app you can install for free on your smartphone. Or you will be able to install, since it's not available yet.

For that matter, the shirt is still unavailable as well. Intel will only formally release it at some point this summer.

The shirt works on the power provided by a battery, which you'll have to remove before washing the piece of clothing. Sweat and rain should be easy enough for the battery to cope with, but being dunked in water and tossed around in the washing machine won't agree with it.

You can probably already guess who the smart shirt (well, almost smart shirt) is aimed at: runners, bikers and other would-be athletes.

The Intel smart t-shirt (or whatever it will be called) will no doubt be followed by a version that is fully water submersible, and doubtlessly other garments like hats, gloves, etc. Pretty soon, we imagine that the term “smarty pants” will take on a whole new meaning.