Universities develop smart T-shirt measuring physical data

Zülal Atagün - İZMİR

Ege, Dokuz Eylül and Muğla Sıtkı Koçman universities have developed a smart t-shirt that tracks every movement of the wearer, measuring various physical data such as pulse and oxygen consumption.

Supported under the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) 1001 program, this intelligent garment is capable of instantly displaying and recording several aspects of physical data, from oxygen consumption to step count, sweat analysis and respiration rate, making it suitable for sports and daily activities alike.

This innovation, titled "Development of a Wearable Technology Product T-shirt for Monitoring and Enhancing Athlete Performance [TrackShirt] and an Artificial Intelligence-Based Decision Support System," can be utilized in team sports like basketball, volleyball and handball, as well as individual sports like tennis and athletics.

The collected data can be processed to create customized training programs for athletes. The product is also designed to meet the needs and demands of individuals who engage in daily physical activities and is intended to be a seamless knitted t-shirt, enhancing user comfort and flexibility.

Dr. Tolga Akşit from Ege University’s Sports Sciences Faculty stated that the project is still in the development stage, with performance tests scheduled to begin in November.

"We anticipate that there will be a great demand for our t-shirt and that it will have an important market share in the world, as it will enable the monitoring of physiological parameters and ease of use,” Akşit said.

"Previously developed wearable products have remained as projects and did not become readily available in the market. This indicates that the subject is highly innovative, relatively new and original. We believe that this t-shirt will pioneer future work in this field.”