After watching the Labor Day slugfest at the U.S. Open tennis tournament, wouldn’t it be fascinating to know the heart rates, stress levels, steps taken, and calories burned by Andy Murray or Roger Federer? The new PoloTech smartshirts from Polo Ralph Lauren can log such biometrics through silver fibers woven directly into fabric designed to track such statistics and a host of others. The new apparel, developed with technology from Canadian-based company OMSignal, was tested and perfected at last year’s tournament by ball boys and girls. Now the black shirts emblazoned with yellow Polo ponies are available for sale, and the biological data and psychometric details stream directly to the PoloTech app on iPhones or iWatches so that wearers can track up-to-the-second fitness levels. The short-sleeve designs are made of polyester, nylon, and spandex, and are machine washable once the black box on the rib cage is snapped off. Soon, screens filled with Instagram images of boxing bags and lotus poses will have to share space with the stats accumulated during the actual activity. All of this begs the question, how smart is your athletic T-shirt?

By Elizabeth Varnell

Pictured: Polo Ralph Lauren’s new PoloTech T-shirts record energy output, steps taken, heart rate and a host of other statistics.
Photo courtesy of Ralph Lauren

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