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Bernard Marr

Bernard Marr is a world-renowned futurist, influencer and thought leader in the fields of business and technology, with a passion for using technology for the good of humanity. He is a best-selling author of 20 books, writes a regular column for Forbes and advises and coaches many of the world’s best-known organisations. He has over 2 million social media followers, 1 million newsletter subscribers and was ranked by LinkedIn as one of the top 5 business influencers in the world and the No 1 influencer in the UK.

Bernard’s latest book is ‘Business Trends in Practice: The 25+ Trends That Are Redefining Organisations’

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Bernard Marr ist ein weltbekannter Futurist, Influencer und Vordenker in den Bereichen Wirtschaft und Technologie mit einer Leidenschaft für den Einsatz von Technologie zum Wohle der Menschheit. Er ist Bestsellerautor von 20 Büchern, schreibt eine regelmäßige Kolumne für Forbes und berät und coacht viele der weltweit bekanntesten Organisationen. Er hat über 2 Millionen Social-Media-Follower, 1 Million Newsletter-Abonnenten und wurde von LinkedIn als einer der Top-5-Business-Influencer der Welt und von Xing als Top Mind 2021 ausgezeichnet.

Bernards neueste Bücher sind ‘Künstliche Intelligenz im Unternehmen: Innovative Anwendungen in 50 Erfolgreichen Unternehmen’

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Smart Underpants: A New “Brief” In Health Monitoring

5 July 2021

Rumor has it that underwear is getting a lot more interesting these days.

In fact, your undergarments are actually getting smarter, thanks to AI innovation in the e-textile industry.

Myant Inc., a leading innovation hub for wearables, has developed smart underwear that could become one of the most reliable and effective ways to detect and prevent health issues. The underwear current includes biometric sensors that measure things like sleep quality, activity, stress level, temperature, and electrocardiography (ECG)*.

Smart Underpants A New Brief In Health Monitoring | Bernard Marr

As consumers wear the underwear, sensors in Myant’s SKIIN brand fabric send data back to a corresponding app. Myant’s platform analyzes the data, provides guidance on lifestyle changes, and allows users to share information with healthcare providers.

Underwear is a good choice for a smart garment because it makes consistent, close contact with the body – a must-have for continuous skin sensors.

Myant’s underwear innovations fit into the larger trend of e-textiles and smart clothing, powered by artificial intelligence and tiny semiconductor technology. Scientists are replacing clunky health monitoring devices like watches and chest straps with comfortable smart garments.

Health providers and developers believe advances like these will increase compliance and lead to better healthcare outcomes.

What Can Smart Garments Do?

Fiber technology works by embedding sensors directly into textiles (kind of like weaving additional yarn into an existing piece of fabric) or by applying sensors to the top of the fabric. Either way, the garment needs to have direct contact with your skin as it’s being worn.

The use cases for e-textiles go far beyond just health monitoring. Smart garments are being developed to do things like:

  • Diagnose comfort levels of amputees by monitoring the interaction between them and their artificial limb.
  • Assess patterns in athletes’ performance, and deliver small electric shocks to underperforming muscles
  • Wake up sleepy drivers on the road before accidents occur, with built-in fatigue monitoring
  • Temporarily disable couples’ smartphones so they can focus on spending time together
  • Connect to smart home systems, to do things like change the thermostat when your body is cold (or hot)
  • Measure hand function in patients who have neurological disorders
  • Improve the safety of firefighters and other first responders during emergencies by monitoring heart rate and body temperature

The Future of Smart Clothing

The number of potential applications and markets for e-textiles is vast, including military and space, automotive, haptic suits for virtual reality, sports and fitness, and assistive clothing.

IDTechEx's latest report on this emerging market, "E-textiles and Smart Clothing 2020-2030: Technologies, Markets and Players", predicts that the industry will be worth over $1.4 billion by 2030.

As this industry grows and companies figure out how to incorporate this advanced technology into their products and bring them to market, your favorite article of clothing might just be a pair of smart underpants that remind you when to take your insulin or grab a glass of water.

Business Trends In Practice | Bernard Marr
Business Trends In Practice | Bernard Marr

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