Feb 7 2019
Teijin Frontier Co., Ltd. Opening a new window, the Teijin Group's fibers and products converting company, has announced that it has launched a new line of sportswear and other clothing incorporating “wearable solutions”. Samples of the new line-up were exhibited at the 5th WEARABLE EXPO, a leading trade fair for wearable devices and related technology, which took place at Tokyo Big Site from January 16 to 18.
Leveraging Advances in IoT Technology
In the sporting field there is increasing focus on the PDCA (“Plan-Do-Check-Action”) cycle, and there is accordingly a growing need for the visualization of actual motion, heart rates and activity levels to ensure safe and effective performance. With Japan’s declining birthrate and aging population, the transfer of technology skills to younger workers and ensuring safety in the workplace is becoming one of society’s challenges. Both areas stand to benefit from highly functional fibers incorporating wearable technology.
Teijin Frontier has accordingly developed new products integrating highly functional fibers and sensing techniques. Test sales will start with two types of new product, which will leverage continuing advances in IoT technology to provide new solutions to evolving social needs.
2 New Products
Coaching wear
The anti-slip NANOFRONT Opening a new window ultrafine fiber wear deploys an algorithm which visualizes the difference between the actual motion of the wearer and their ideal motion at a particular time. It is expected this technology will be applied in various scenarios, including the improvement of sports techniques, the transfer of technology know-how and more effective support for those undergoing physical rehabilitation.
Vital sensing wear
This clothing facilitates sustainable and highly accurate sensing of the heart’s electrical activity, heart rates and activity levels, minimizing the noise generated by contact of the body with sportswear during exercise. It combines the ultrafine fiber NANOFRONT with vital-sign sensing technology, and by simultaneously sensing heart rates and activity levels it can be used in various scenarios including sports team management and the prediction of heatstroke risk.
Deploying Comfortable Materials
NANOFRONT’s high level of grip prevents vibration and displacement of sensors, allowing highly accurate measurement. In the future, Teijin Frontier plans to deploy comfortable and functional materials such as the outdoor sports textile DELTAPEAK Opening a new window and the stretchable and soft textile SOLOTEX Opening a new window.
Teijin Frontier is targeting annual sales of USD three billion in sports training, workplace applications and other fields by the fiscal year ending March 2021.