“WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY FOR SPORTSWEAR”

“FEELMAX”
‘Quality never goes out of style’

SUMITTED TO: SIR ADEEL SHAH

SUBMITTED BY: AMNA IRFAN (FDM-3A)
STUDENT’S ID: 2017-2473
 Content

Chapter 1
Introduction PAGE 4
1.1 Idea Generation PAGE 4
1.2 Product Description PAGE 4
1.3 Wearable Technology History PAGE 5
1.4 What are smart textiles? PAGE 5
1.5 Smart Textile vs Smart device/watch PAGE 6

Chapter 2
Market Analysis PAGE 7
2.1 Interview Analysis Summarized PAGE 7
2.1.1 First Interview Summary PAGE 7
2.1.2 Second interview Summary PAGE 7
2.2 Survey Result Summarized PAGE 8

Chapter 3: Marketing Strategy PAGE 9

3.1 4 PS PAGE 9
3.1.1 Product PAGE 9
3.1.2 Price PAGE 9
3.1.3 Place PAGE 9
3.1.4 Promotion PAGE 9
3.2 SWOT Analysis PAGE 10
3.2.1 Strength PAGE
10
3.2.2 Weakness PAGE 10
3.2.3 Opportunity PAGE 10
3.2.4 Threads PAGE 10
 3.2.5 Conclusion PAGE 10
Chapter 4:
Product Manufacturing PAGE 11
4.1 Process PAGE 11
4.2 Fabric Selection and Fabric Properties PAGE 14
4.2.1 Mesh Fabric PAGE 14
4.2.2 Lycra Fabric PAGE 15
4.2.3 Polyester Fabric PAGE 16

CHAPTER 5
Prototype Construction Process PAGE 17
5.1 Size Chart PAGE 18
5.2 Mood Board PAGE 19
5.3 Pricing and Costing PAGE 20
5.4 Tech Pack PAGE 21

CHAPTER 6
Future Plans For Bulk Production and Enable Market Success PAGE 26
6.1 Conclusion PAGE 26

Appendices PAGE 27

References PAGE 30
 WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY FOR SPORTSWEAR
CHAPTER 1: Introduction
1.1 Idea Generation:
How I came up with this idea?
I have been in sports since childhood. It was my dream to serve this industry. I have witness
sportsmen require immediate medical care due to the accident during practice sessions or
matches. Medical care could be in terms of injury or heat beat fluctuation causing fatigue.
At the same time, being a regular gym user I had come across a lot of obese youngsters and old
aged, who are struggling to lose weight due to medical issues. Majority of them are heart
patients. Fitness trainers find difficulty while making them exercise because there vital signs
fluctuate a lot. If there heart rate is not monitored these might face heart attack or fatigue.
These two situations become the reason I came up with this idea. This product will not only be
consumed by sports industry but also going to gain interest of medical industry.

1.2 Product Description:

Technology is the key factor in this developing era which helps to enhance the quality of life.
The textile has become the supporting platform to integrate the technologies. Add more feature
to what we wear, exploit higher innovation and minimize the loss of human life.
The introduction of smart material and compactly technology in textile structures offers an
opportunity to develop textile with a new type of behavior functionality. A wearable, as the
word itself expresses, is a device worn on the human body that incorporates the intelligence
(sensors and electronics) into the clothes. This typology of device is able to sense, communicate,
navigate but also actuate other devices. When we use the term smart textile, we refer to a textile
platform that senses and reacts to human body or external environment without electronic
control. Summarizing a wearable/smart device/textiles allow the user to wear contemporary both
electronics and common clothes. Smart textile create textile products that interact by combining
smarts materials and integrate computing power into textile application. Smart sportswear
promises to offer effective solution for weavers who seek more detailed data about their fitness
performance.
 [ CITATION Hex \l 1033 ]

1.3 Wearable Technology History:

In the 1990s a great deal of research activity was expended in the field known as wearable
computing which attempted to integrate the interactive functions of a computer firstly onto the
body (via data gloves and headsets) and then into clothing. The initial forays into wearable
computing applications for outdoor and sports clothing, such as Levi’s and Philips’ ICD+ jacket
(2000), Burton’s snowboarding jacket (2001)(Figure 1.2) and France Telecom’s Create wear
(2004). [ CITATION Lan \l 1033 ]

1.2 Burton Jacket (2001 version) Source:[ CITATION Lan \l 1033 ]

1.4 What are smart textiles?

 The Venture Development Corporation (VDC), a USA-based technology market research
company, define ‘smart fabrics and intelligent textiles’ in their report of January 2005 as ‘fabrics
and textiles that cognitively respond or interact to environmental or electrical stimuli’. With a focus
on applications that utilize electrical stimuli, they further outline these responses as
 Conducting, transferring or distributing various properties through the material or across the
material’s membrane; such properties include electrical current, light energy, molecular or
particulate matter, and thermal energy
 Changing physical characteristics or phase, such as color, permeability, porosity, rigidity, shape,
size (VDC 2005). [ CITATION Lan \l 1033 ]

Why textiles?
Intelligence is currently embedded in daily objects like watches. However, textiles show
several advantages as clothes and are unique in several aspects. They are extremely versatile
in products as well as processes. The building stones of the textile material are fibers or
filaments. Innumerable combinations of these source materials result in a whole range of
textile materials. Fibers are available in a very broad range of materials, single or combined:
natural or synthetic, strong, elastic, biocompatible, biodegradable, solid or porous, optical or
electro-conductive. They can have varying lengths, fineness, cross- sectional shape, surface
roughness, etc. Fibers of various types can be arranged at random or in a strictly organized
way in yarns or fabric structures. From this, even three-dimensional structures can be
constructed. After treatments allow the creation of very special properties such as a
hydrophilic/hydrophobic nature, antimicrobial, selective permeability etc. Textile materials
are able to combine advanced multi functionality with traditional textile properties.

1.5 Smart Textile vs Smart device/watch

Accessory wearables. They are low-power devices that are adapted to the human body in order to
be worn as accessories like smart watches, smart glasses or fitness trackers.
Smart textile are located on the body, in direct contact with the skin. The high-resolution data
can be retrieved remotely to allow long-term home monitoring of subjects in daily activities.
 [ CITATION Tia18 \l 1033 ]

CHAPTER 2: Market Analysis

Most major sports already started taking advantage of the growing use of technology. Although
the application of sensors, actuators and computer systems in sportswear is still an emerging
area, several products have already been introduced to the market, and the number of those is
growing. Smart t-shirts are emerging as one of the most popular and widely used categories of
this segment in recent times. Projected to grow at over 50 percent CAGR from 2017 to 2024,
these smart garments can provide biometric data such as heart rate, breathing rate and volume,
muscle activity, etc., which are utilized to optimize performance and workout plans
professionally.
The sports and fitness industry the second market segment of smart textile. While smart textile is
still not introduced in Pakistan at the moment. The new product in the Pakistan will get the
attention of the major sportswear brands. With the integrator of big data analysis with the value
chain more use-driven applicators, began to emerge. The profit is reported to come mainly from
sportswear selling rather than from clothing itself. It is also expected that this product will also
gain attention of medical industry, especially by the cardiovascular patients.

2.1 Interview conducted

Two interviews were conducted, both of the interviewer belongs to Sports and fitness industry. I
conducted these interview to know the opinion and reaction of the potential customer.
2.1.1 First Interviewer
 First interviewer is a body builder, have participated in several competition and used gym
daily. I introduced him with the product. Got a positive response from him but his
concern was that due to excessive sweating the product should be water proof and
washable so that it doesn’t smell bad. I kept these responses under consideration while
selecting the fabric and manufacturing techniques.
2.1.2 Second Interviewer
Second interviewer is a fitness trainer with a 20+ year experience. He had worked with
several clients like health issue, professional athlete and builder. When I introduced
product to him, I got a very positive response from him. He told that he will recommend
every individual to buy this shirt so that it would be easy for him to handle the problem
which arise while exercising. Like many of the obese clients complain about headache,
because of fluctuation in blood pressure or heart beat rate. The embedded device on the t-
shirt will help him to get immediate result and will be resolve the issue according to the
display result.

2.2 Survey Result

I conducted a survey by getting a survey form filled by the target customer belonging to fitness
and sports industry, to know there opinion about the product. The result showed a positive result
and a lot of customers are enthusiastic to buy the product. This survey result helped me with the
discussion making process like what kind of a fabric customers are looking forward, what
properties they are looking forward in the garment what fit they want. Are they willing to spend
on new technologies?
The survey result and the questionnaire is attached below in the appendices.
CHAPTER 3: MARKETING STRATEGY
3.1 SWOT Analysis
Strength: Strengthens refers to characteristics of the business or project that give it an advantage
over others.
 Smart textile is not introduced in Pakistan which will help us to get attention of major
sports brand and potential customer.
 Wearable sports equipment can not only collect information to monitor the course of the
campaign but also can accept online, scientific and systematic fitness guide. This makes
it easier to develop practitioners promote fitness habits, but also to enhance the fitness
results.
 Intense and tight race give the referees a lot of pressure. If the aid of wearable sports
equipment, referee work will become easier and more accurate. [ CITATION XuY15 \l 1033 ]
 People want to experience more joy in exercise. Pleasure and healthy become the main
purpose of fitness. One of the important function of wearable sports equipment provide
participants with more pleasure. [ CITATION XuY15 \l 1033 ]
Weakness: The wearable sports equipment have its inherent disadvantages.
 Because of wearable sports equipment containing high-tech and high added value,
therefore higher prices occurs. It also limits the market demand wearable sports
equipment. [ CITATION XuY15 \l 1033 ]
  Currently wearable device market is still in its infancy. Its chain is still being built at the
beginning, and most remains still in the concepts and experiments. Therefore, high-yield
products are less in the domestic market. [ CITATION XuY15 \l 1033 ]
Opportunity:
 Sports industry development plan: Be included in the development of sports industry
framework of economic and social development. [ CITATION XuY15 \l 1033 ]
 Change in the way of everyday lifestyle: As society changes, people's lifestyles
undergoing significant changes. The pursuit of health, science, and civilized lifestyle has
become a common social psychology. [ CITATION XuY15 \l 1033 ]
Threads: `
 Electronic Display Technology Barriers Exist Currently, smart sports watches, glasses
and other wearable sports equipment and part of the phone began to use surfaces,
flexible, flexible design.
 In the era of Internet of Things, privacy security issues have been plaguing the industry.
Since the core of wearable sports equipment technology is still Internet technologies.
Therefore, whether safety of data collecting and the information transmission is
questionable. [ CITATION XuY15 \l 1033 ]
SWOT Analysis Conclusion: The domestic development opportunity of wearable devices
would be better than threat. Its advantage is obvious, the disadvantages cannot be ignored.
Therefore, the relevant enterprises should seize the historical opportunity for development to
increase research and development efforts, and actively guide consumption, with particular
emphasis on innovation and demand, not blind development. [ CITATION XuY15 \l 1033 ]

3.2 4 PS
Product:
 Name of product: Wearable technology for sportswear.
 Quality: Using best quality fabric which are everlasting, have unique features and provide
comfort to the consumer.
 Features: Fabric used for the T-shirt is breathable and water repellant. Making product
comfortable while workout, sports practice and for daily used.
 Size: The product will be available in ever size, as the material is stretchable. The size
can be customized for plus size customers so that it could comfortable for them to
workout.
 It is a unisex product. Available in all colors, customized colors and design can be will be
offered.
Price: Market skimming pricing strategy will be my preference to create awareness amongst
middle and upper class market, as most of the fitness and sports industry belongs to upper and
middle class. After getting successful response on the product my strategy would be to create a
product line of further complex technologies.
Place: Means distribution of product through various forums.
 Online distribution: Introduce the product on well-known online stores like amazon and
Daraz. These online stores will help to create brand awareness amongst the masses.
Create social media pages and advertise on Facebook, Instagram and twitter.
 Exclusive distribution: To launch outlets in well-known shopping malls, from where
middle and upper class prefer shopping.
 Intensive distribution: Make product available in gym. Through this potential customer
will get aware of the product.

Promotion:
 Online promotion: Social media advertisement to attract youngsters, who are getting
more health conscious.
 Sports Sponsorship: Sponsor sports tournaments held on national and international level
to sell product amongst fan followers and athletes.
 Gym sponsorship: Our biggest target market is fitness freak and body builders.
CHAPTER 4
4.1 Product manufacturing process:
The combination of electronics and textile can be divided into two categories:
 Embedded electronics
 Textronics

4.1.1 Embedded Electronics: It is building in of existing electronic component in a textile.

Respiration, ECG, blood pressure and movement can be monitored by attaching existing,
removable sensor to a shirt. The data is stored on a device attached on a shirt and can be read out
by a physician, or fitness trainers. The major advantage of the embedding of existing electronics
in textile is the ease of combining electronics and textile, flexibility and ease of wash ability.
[ CITATION Lan \l 1033 ]

4.1.2 Textronics: This refers to the manufacturing of electronic components by textile

production techniques and textile material. Two technologies are used for the fabrication of the
sensor. In the first fabrication method polypyrrol (PPY) is used as a conducting polymer and
coated of lycra. The second one produces electrodes and strain gauges made of carbon filled
rubber. Carbon filled coated can be woven. The advantage is the ease of integration of the
electronics in the textile. Disadvantage is the limited amount of components can be built in this
way. [ CITATION Lan \l 1033 ]

(a) Metal coated wire combined in iron tube; (b) several diameter reductions of tube; (c)
Bundling of tubes; (d) Leaching, realizing fibers.
[ CITATION Tia18 \l 1033 ]

Schematic of conductive fiber twisted with the normal fibers.

[ CITATION Tia18 \l 1033 ]
Detail of the Respibelt respiration sensor (stretched)

[ CITATION Lan \l 1033 ]

Challenges when integrating electronics in textiles

It consists of a processor and memory, sensors and actuators and wired or wireless
connections to other electronic systems. The whole system is powered by a power source and
packaged. When integrating this kind of electronic system into textiles, three major
challenges should be overcome:
 Realization of the electronic components.
 Ensuring constant power delivery to the system.
 Providing a washable and flexible packaging, which does not cause any discomfort to the
wearer.

Conclusions
Smart textile structures are here to stay. They have demonstrated their feasibility both from the
point of view of technical specifications as well as their textile character. The enormous
versatility of textiles in terms of (combinations of) fiber types to be used, processing
technologies and textile structure is at the same time an opportunity to be exploited but also a
confusing space of possibilities. Different textile materials may show different, even opposite
behavior. It is a huge challenge to find the right set of materials for each particular application.
Properties that are beneficial for one application may be disruptive for another one. Technical
features may be in contrast to textile characteristics so a balance may have to be looked for.
Objective testing is another field of research. No evaluation is possible without an accurate and
reliable test method but the result will be worthwhile; it will definitely lead to a better quality of
life. [ CITATION Lan \l 1033 ]

Process Finalized:
I will be using embedded electronic method at the initial stage for my product. After getting
excess to the textronics technology this process will be used to create the product line like sensor
yoga pants, massager sensor shirts

4.2 FABRIC SELECTION AND ITS PROPERTIES

After understanding the manufacturing process the next step was to select the fabric which have
the maximum properties required for the product. After conducting a research and survey.

4.2.1 MESH: Mesh is a fabric which include a certain amount open spaces, a typical mesh is
about 85% material and 15% holes. Mesh is beneficial in sportswear as it provides good comfort
and stretch Allow air to circulate and reach the skin meaning that it is ideal for ventilation area of
garment.[ CITATION Fab \l 1033 ]
How is Mesh Made?
‘Mesh’ itself refers to a knitted structure of fibers, and is technically a barrier created from
connected strands. The yarns are knitted or woven together, resulting in a fabric with open
spaces in between the strands of yarn. Mesh isn’t only used for fashion fabrics, and can be made
from a huge range of materials depending on its intended use – it isn’t limited to fabrics for
textiles. [ CITATION Fab \l 1033 ]

4.2.2 Lycra:
Lycra is Du Pont’s brand name for elastane. Lycra is renowned for its ability to be stretched four
to seven times its original length and will still return to its normal state and length when
released.  Other admirable properties of Lycra include its resistance to sunlight, sweat and
improvement of comfort, ease of movement and shape retention when used in a fabric. Another
fabric we have which is very similar but not as shimmery is PBT (polybutylene terephthalate)
(KBT6278). This is a type of polyester with stretch and tactile properties very similar to Lycra. It
will be polyester sheath and lycra core. [ CITATION Fab \l 1033 ]
[ CITATION Fab \l 1033 ]

How Is Lycra Fabric Used?

Instead, this fabric is usually woven into other types of textiles to increase their overall elasticity.
If a small amount of spandex is woven into polyester, cotton, or wool, for instance, these fabrics
become much more elastic. In determining the increased elasticity that will be noted in fabrics
once elastane is introduced, textile manufacturers keep in mind that this fabric stretches up to
eight times its original size. Therefore, if 10 percent spandex is included in an otherwise rigid
textile, it should be able to stretch to roughly twice its original size. [ CITATION Bor20 \l 1033 ]

4.2.3 Polyester:
It is a shortened name for a synthetic, man-made polymer, which, as a specific material, is most
commonly referred to as a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
 Polyester is very durable and is resistant to many chemicals
 This is a popular fabric in the fashion industry, as it is resistant to shrining and stretching.
It is also resistant to wrinkling and abrasions
 The fibers used to create Polyester are very strong yet lightweight
 The fibers are easily dyed
  It retains its shape very well
 Polyester fabric is easy to look after and it can be washed and dried at home
 It is a quick drying fabric, so a popular choice for outdoors clothing
[ CITATION Cla \l 1033 ]

[ CITATION Cla \l 1033 ]

Fabric Decision:
Mesh fabric will be used near the side seams. Panels will be of mesh. Fabric used for the body
will be of polyester sheath and lycra core.

CHAPTER 5
Prototype construction process:
Prototype construction was one of the most challenging one. The first step was to understand the
manufacturing process, it is easy to have a dream but challenging to manufacture it physically.
For this I conducted some research and contacted one of the faculty member who provided me
with smart textile book. This book helped me to understand the process and select the fabric for
the product.
Another step was to arrange the selected fabric. I found few sources through my father’s contact
which helped me to arrange mesh fabric and I got a exporters contact through my friends contact.
Due to lock down my order is delayed, which will be delivered once the situation gets better.
I selected embedded electronics process for which I have to select a device. Before selecting the
device I contacted m family doctors, who told me about Holter Moniter, a device used to collect
all respiration and blood pressure data. This device not available in Pakistan that is why I
selected an alternate device which was available in the market for my prototype to display the
functionality of my product.
Another step which is delayed due to the lock down is to apply the water resistant finishes on the
fabric so that I could take my fabric in to garment construction process. For garment construction
process I have conducted a tailor who stitch men’s shirt at a very reasonable amount and will
make loops on the sleeves to make the device removable while washing the shirt.

Brand Name: “FeelMax”

Tag Line: “Quality never goes out of style”

5.1 Size Chart:

Shirt Size Sleeve Length Chest Width Body Length
S 8.5" 16.5" 26"
M 9" 19.5" 26.5"
L 9" 21.5" 27.5"
 XL 10" 23" 29"
*MEASUREMENT TAKEN IN INCHES [ CITATION rhi \l 1033 ]

[ CITATION rhi \l 1033 ]

Customization:
There will be an option for size customization, especially for plus size consumers. Color palette
can be customized according to the buyers requirement, especially for teams.

5.2 Mood Board

5.3 Costing and Pricing
Cost/kg Cost/piece
1. Mesh Fabric 650
2. Lycra with Composition 500
(polyester)
3. Knit Process of Fabric 10
4. Wire
5. Device
6. Finishes
7. Dyes
8. Transport Charges 100
9. Stitching Charges 70
10. Product Packaging 100
11. 15% (overhead price)
12. Zipper 20
13. Profit 80%

(The rows are empty because the prototype is incomplete, and was not able to arrange materials due to
lockdown)

5.4 Tech Pack

Basic Illustration of Shirt:
Illustration Defined
Colored Illustration:
Technical Sketch of T Shirt
Packaging:
CHAPTER 6
Future Plans For Bulk Production And Enable Market Success:
1. Create the right partnerships with sensor companies. This will be crucial because clothing sensors
have unique requirements such as waterproof, wash ability, and comfort.
2. Create partnerships with clothing designers and manufacturers to develop a truly wearable product.
Plugging in the clothing into the wall will not be an option for charging. The clothing will need to be
treated like clothing and not a like a piece of electronic equipment
3. Hire the people with advanced skills in machine learning and mathematics. This will be required to
develop the algorithms that will be necessary to build solutions for each problem domain.
4. Harness the open source technologies that have already implemented many of the advanced
algorithms using machine learning and real time analytics
5. Address the challenges of real time processing of big data by developing a partnerships with hardware
and software vendors. [ CITATION Ale \l 1033 ]

6.1 Conclusion
After conducting all the research steps, I concluded that our target market is looking forward for
such product in the market. Available of sufficient knowledge can help us to introduce smart
textile in Pakistan. We have fabric available at cheap prices. The only disadvantage is
insufficient technology and skilled labor.
We can expand our brand by creating product line like sensor yoga pants, can launch medical
related product like ECG. Introduction in textile industry will going to help to make medical care
cheap and available all the time. Providing immediate medical help to the patient can help to
reduce sudden death rate as well.

Appendix:
No. of Responses: 19
Survey Result:
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Clothing-Market-Analysis-Report.pdf

Claire. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.contrado.co.uk/blog/what-is-polyester-a-closer-look-into-

this-love-it-or-hate-it-fabric/

Dr. Kristina Dervojeda (PwC), M. L. (2017, August). Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/:

https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/kets-
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Fabric Blog. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://blog.fabricuk.com/974-2/

Fraga-Lamas, T. M.-C. (2018). Towards The Internet-of-Smart-Clothing.

Hexoskin. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.hexoskin.com/.

Hodakel, B. (2020 ). sewport. Retrieved from https://sewport.com/fabrics-directory/lycra-fabric

Langenhove, L. (n.d.). Smart textile for medicine and healthcare.

rhino sports. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.rhinosports.co.uk/t-shirt-sizing-guide/

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