Ralph Lauren Corp., New York, unveiled its high-performance, fashion-forward Polo Tech shirt on opening day of the U.S. Open, held in Flushing, N.Y.
The Polo Tech shirt merges biometrics into active lifestyle apparel, marking a revolution in advanced technology designed to improve general wellness and increase personal fitness, according to the company.
It features sensors knitted into the core of the product to read biological and physiological information. The compression shirt also has a sleek look in black with a signature yellow Polo Player logo. The second-skin fit enhances comfort and agility, according to the company.
As the official outfitter of the two-week U.S. Tennis Association tournament, Ralph Lauren is dressing several ball boys in the Polo Tech shirt during select matches at the Billie Jean National Tennis Center.
The Ralph Lauren Polo Tech shirt was developed with proprietary technology from Canadian-based OMsignal, whose team includes experts in neuroscience, sports medicine and engineering. With OMsignal, the shirt itself is the sensor. The OM platform delivers a wide variety of physiological data through seamless apparel directly to the users via an app on their smartphone.
With OMsignal, the data collected by the shirt is stored by a “black box,” which includes an accelerometer and gyroscope, which capture movement and direction. That “black box” transmits the data into the cloud, where it is plugged into a number of algorithms that gauge important performance-oriented biometrics, including heartbeat and respiration, as well as some psychometrics, such as stress level and energy output.
For more information, visit ralphlauren.com. — L.M.
