Smartwear is the future
From smartphones to smart TVs to all things smart, what we can expect from next generation technology hopefully will be smart ‘spouses’. While that sounds too wishful, the new smart is the wearable technology. It belongs to this generation, transforming what you wear into a smart outfit. It is not only useful, but slated to become indispensable.
Although the idea of smart clothing has floated around for a few years, now more than ever big big-name international companies have begun ideating about ways to make the clothes on your back as intelligent as the phone in your pocket. These global firms are doing this extensively with a local-global which is MAS.
When fashion meets technology 'smart-wear' is born – this is exactly what happened recently when for the first time in the history of the company, MAS obtained an Intellectual Property (IP) which was researched and originated from a Sri Lankan institute for smart clothing.
On a brisk Monday morning in downtown Colombo at Foster Lane the crowd gathered at the MAS Innovation Centre looked as trendy and fit as you would expect at a fashion show, but this group of mostly technorati had come to witness inking a deal about what was going to be the future.
It was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that as a result of one and a half years of research and development conducted by Sri Lanka Institute of Nano Technology (SLINTEC), funded by MAS, resulted in an astonishing solution with built-in simplicity of application to create superior drying rates for sportswear fabric through a high tech functional coating. The technology was conceptualised by SLINTEC and MAS funded it making a garment economically viable.
Explaining the basic concept of this whole venture, Shirendra Lawrence, Managing Director, MAS Active (Pvt) Ltd, told the Business Times on the sidelines of the event that coaches of all sports, collegiate and professional, have always wanted and have researched with different ways on how to help their athletes. That is the market for this product.
Health and fitness folks and coaches all across the world are big consumers of smartclothes and growing.
"We aim to discuss incorporating this technology into the (uniforms of the) national cricket team," Mr. Lawrence said adding that MAS has many global clubs-soccer, athletic, etc reaching out to them. "We will be discussing with them on this new technology."
By any means MAS isn't new to this type of smart clothing. Athos is a biometric data smartclothes company which sources from MAS. One person who is promoting Athos products is six time NBA All Star Jermaine O'Neal, so the deal is indeed big with a company of this proportion.
"Athos is one of our premier customers on smart clothing and wearable tech," Sunesh Rodrigo Deputy General Manager, Group Human Resources at MAS Holdings chipped in noting that clothing is now becoming health. The market is shifting, next to consumers' needs and greater expectations, weighing the ever-so-quickening pace of life, he added. It's not just style; this wave is a promising future with women due to its cross-functionality, he agrees.
"The closest thing to a human being is the garment. It's also about understanding the human body from the closest point. We are enablers of that.”
MAS has always differentiated itself through innovation led by R&D, he said adding that the company works with over 30 universities globally, including top tier universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University. "MAS also focuses on Sri Lankan high tech research institutes utilising the local talent pool to facilitate faster scientific discoveries. This thinking led to partnerships with other interested private sector companies and the Government of Sri Lanka in the establishment of SLINTEC, in 2008."
Speaking at the signing of the MOU, Ranil Vitarana, Chief Technology Officer, MAS holdings thanked Prof. Nalin De Silva and his team for their hard-work and ingenuity. "We are excited to continue our work with SLINTEC as well as other local research institutes and universities to bring innovative products to market, and enhance Sri Lanka's technological research capabilities. We must use our local capabilities to position Sri Lanka as a hub in this sphere."
Harin de Silva Wijeyeratne, Chief Executive Officer, Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology added that the partnership fostered with MAS over the past 18 months resulted in a new technology in moisture management. "We filed a patent in the US earlier this year, and today it is being acquired by our partner, MAS".
No matter your age, gender, or fitness level, you have one option every day: dress in clothes. Fitting on a smart t-shirt or hooking on a smart bra in the morning doesn't entail any added sweat. Now one doesn’t need to change their behaviour to suit the tech; it’s the right way around.