Activity trackers don’t have to be accessories, you know. OMSignal and its collection of Biometric smart shirts prove that wearable power can extend well past your wrist and track your activity better than a bracelet. OMSignal raised $1 million last year when the word wearables was a NEWer one for us to type out and now they’re taking pre-orders to start shipping their smart workout shirts this summer. Just in time for bikini season, boys!
Although this might be a (high knee) step up from what you’re used to in terms of tech-sessories at the gym, OM works like an above average activity tracker disguised as fancy workout clothing. The “Lifestyle” version (above) could even be worn to the office or to run errands on the weekend under a button down or a hoodie. All you need for OM to read your vitals is a pulse (handy) and the tracking module on the shirt.
At the gym, each piece is a high-energy compression shirt that stimulates blood flow and increases your muscle capabilities. The module reads your heart rate to deliver real-time biometric data to the OM app that catalogues and compares your workouts and the percentage of time in each targeted “Training Zone” to encourage you to meet your goals and be an overall stronger, fitter, faster, buffer, hotter, hunkier (you get the pic) you.
Wear it around the office and OM tracks your breathing. The app will alert you if your breath is shallow and offer up more zen techniques for inhaling the right way. Inactive while wearing OM? No sir, the module will tattle on you and the app will nudge you to get up and do somethin’ already.
Ultimately, we would like to request our own female-friendly versions of the shirts, but for now, day-umn! Look at these dudes!
But seriously, TechCrunch spoke with CEO and founder of OMSignal Stephane Marceau and asked the question on our minds: Why start with menswear? The answer makes a lot of sense, and might be the reason behind the lack of women’s wearables as a whole. “[With men] the bar on fit and fashion is not as high,” Stephane explained in TC’s interview. “Womens’ shapes vary a lot, and the fashion bar is especially high for women. We figured it out in trials, and it came as clear feedback that women expected more personalized preferences than men on that front.”
We hear that. The bulky tracker is not the ideal foray into full-on fitness wearable that we’re dreaming about while in resting pose at the end of yoga class. Once the tech is perfected, OM could take on a sleeker design and a more subtle tracker. Who knows, since men don’t all have the bodies of the Greek god-like, model-actor types pictured here, creating a wearable with women and our, ahem, varying body shapes in mind could translate to a more popular, body-friendly product for guys, too.
The pricetag on clothing-meets-tracker is a hefty one. Shirts range from $100 to $130 and the tracking module is sold separately at $140. Pre-order your shirts now at special promo prices (everything’s about $20 off) from $79 for the sleeveless lifestyle shirt to $109 for the long-sleeved version, $119 for the module. Whether for the fit father in your life or your hot hubby/BF/BFF/life partner, OM is at least more affordable than a yearly gym membership + personal trainer. As for us, call us when you have something fit for our bods to rock, thanks.
Do you think tech-sessories will be a bigger hit with men or women? What fit fella would get the most use out of a shirt and tracker like this? Sound off below!