Can activity trackers that can be attached to clothes open up the market for 'smart clothing'?

Ask anyone if they know of an activity tracker called "WHOOP". Some will stare blankly, while others will say that without it, they would not be able to exercise, sleep, or even live.

WHOOP is a wristband type for enthusiastic fitness enthusiasts such as professional athletes, university athletes, people called "cross fitters" who train hard, and "weekend warriors" who do not miss exercise on weekends. It's a wearable device. There are two reasons why this WHOOP is attracting attention. The first is that you can't use it unless you pay a monthly or annual subscription fee. Second, there's a notable feature that tells you how much physical effort you're likely to endure that day.

Foray into "smart clothing"

You might not think WHOOP's business model is worth $3.6 billion. But some investors (and an undisclosed number of subscription subscribers) seem to see WHOOP as a business that truly deserves "Big WHOOP."

Furthermore, the Boston-based company has recently expanded its product lineup to move into the “smart clothing” space. The device, which is mainly worn around the wrist, has been improved to a design that can be worn on the company's athletic wear. The new product will be named "WHOOP 4.0" and will be the first consumer product equipped with a new silicon lithium battery capable of ultra-fast charging.

So far, demand for smart clothing has been sluggish, and the market for wrist-worn wearables is dominated by Apple products. However, WHOOP combines continuous health monitoring with a newly developed technology "Any-Wear" that detects which part of the body the terminal is attached to and adjusts the data tracking function flexibly. We are trying to differentiate from the many tracking terminals.

“We always felt that wearable technology should be either 'looking good' or 'invisible from the outside.' These are the only two axes of development,” says WHOOP. co-founder and CEO Will Ahmed said. “‘Feeling good’ has been an area we have been focusing on so far, and we have made it possible to make it look both formal and casual. It becomes a problem.”

Given that you pay a $24 monthly fee, including hardware, to use the WHOOP platform, it may feel like your money is disappearing quickly as a buyer. On top of that, WHOOP's new $69 boxer shorts, $79 sports bras, and $109 leggings will also be added to the bill. is.

However, serious exercise enthusiasts accustomed to spending money on fitness clothing won't flinch at these expenses. If these people's eyebrows move, WHOOP should track even those movements.

Star Trackers

All WHOOP products track heart rate variability, resting heart rate, breathing rate, and sleep patterns. According to Ahmed, the sensor module in the latest WHOOP 4.0 has all of these tracking capabilities while being 33% smaller than the third-generation WHOOP 3.0.