Smart clothing with Nextiles technology tracks data

Nextiles, a materials science and manufacturing company, is entering the sports and performance market to provide smart thread technology that captures biometric and biomechanics data. With backing from the National Science Foundation and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based company blends traditional sewing techniques with printed circuit boards to make flexible material with sensors embedded within fabrics. Nextiles differentiates its suite of data analytics by providing Newtonian measurements through its fabrics (force, bending, stretching, velocity, pressure) to offer athletes and teams data such as torque, power, fatigue and strain. The fabric captures traditional measurements as well by combining force data with inertial measurement unit (IMU) technology (direction, speed, distance). Data can be streamed via Bluetooth^® in real time and stored locally or in the cloud. Photos: Nextiles, www.nextiles.tech.