Kiwi shirt connects with the world
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The New Zealand-designed and made Sputnik shirt with built in sensors promises to revolutionise the way athletes
measure, track and share information about their performance.
20 March 2008
Kiwi shirt connects with the world
Two New Zealand companies have developed a merino shirt that promises to revolutionise the way the world’s athletes
measure, track and share information about their performance.
South Island-based sportswear innovation company i-RULE and Auckland-based smart-fabric physiological monitoring company
Zephyr Technology combined forces to create the shirt.
Named Sputnik after the world’s first artificial satellite, the garment incorporates a harness worn around the chest
made from fabric with sensors woven into it. This fabric, in combination with specialised electronics, can measure,
transmit and record key athletic performance attributes such as heart rate, respiration rate, skin temperature and
posture.
How Sputnik Works
After racing or training, the athlete uncouples a transmitter from the harness, places it in a cradle and uses Sputnik
software to upload the collected data to the Facebook social networking community website.
The Sputnik wearer can then:
- tweak the training data to remove warm up and cool down elements simply and quickly
- instantly turn data into graphs for ease of analysis
- share training information with others
- comment on others’ training
- have others comment on their training
- manage and share their training history
- integrate into their Facebook 'ecosystem'
i-RULE founder and director Daryl Foy says Nike has thoroughly tested the beta version of Sputnik Facebook software and
the global giant rates it highly.
Target Markets
The initial release of Sputnik will be to i-RULE’s well-heeled adventure athlete market, predominantly offshore. i-Rule
is supplying the Sputnik system to existing customers who have pre-ordered. It will be available for general release
through i-RULE’s online store www.irule.co.nz in spring 2008.
Based on market feedback, Zephyr and i-RULE will work closely to refine and improve Sputnik’s functionality and
performance. Daryl expects the demand for Sputnik to be huge.
“Customers spend huge amounts on their sport in terms of equipment, training time, travel, nutrition and advice. They
are also avid collectors and monitors of their own performance data. What we have done is provide a wearable, integrated
ecosystem for their performance data that involves collecting, transmitting, analysing, managing and sharing it,” says
Daryl.
The Russian word Sputnik literally means "co-traveler", "travelling companion" or "satellite". The first Sputnik
artificial satellite marked the start of the space age.
About i-RULE
Based in Fairlie, South Canterbury, i-RULE continues to grow on the back of its ground breaking ecommerce, superior
niche products, passionate customer word of mouth promotion and 1:1 customer service. Customers actively involve
themselves in product design and company direction. Sputnik is the latest example of this strategy. The Sputnik
initiative comes on the back of another strong year for the kiwi-designed and made brand. The company is looking to
finalise a major business partnership with a Swiss-based corporation for establishing and expanding i-RULE Europe. A
formal partnership announcement is expected in early June. www.irule.co.nz
About Zephyr Technology
Zephyr™ is a global market leader in physiological and biomechanical monitoring technology, products and intellectual
property. Zephyr’s Smart Fabric technology combines the novel use of garment design, patented algorithms and electronic
design to produce a suite of unique products. These products provide solutions for in-field physiological monitoring in
extreme movement environments. Zephyr solves the problems associated with monitoring high activity exercise, integration
of physiological monitoring technology into garments, and communicating physiological data to the web and devices such
as mobile phones and watches.
www.zephyr-technology.com
ENDS