Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

Many virtual coaches recently appeared on the market such as miCoach from Adidas, Moov, Sensoria and others which can have the form of a smart watch or smart shirt. A workout program is proposed based on the heartbeat, respiration and other bio-signals which are monitored. Despite the technological advances of these devices, the body posture is still not monitored, which can potentially lead to either useless efforts or even dangerous situations such ligament sprains, joints trauma, back pain, etc. Being able to virtually recreate in three dimensions your own motions and visualize them from an external point of view offers huge benefits for athletes and, more generally, any persons practicing physical activities. Based on this concept, the company Heddoko developed a first suit prototype integrating accelerometers or position sensors which detect movements and transfer the collected data to an external computer where the body motions are recreated in 3D. Electrically conductive fabrics can be used as sensors since stretching and flexing the fabric will induce electrical resistance variations which can be measured. The integration of smart textile offers also the advantage to avoid any bulky electronic component and keep the garment comfortable to wear for physical activity. This project will be the result of a new alliance between CTT Group, Cégep de St-Hyacinthe and Heddoko since they will be working together for the first time. Such development could also find many applications such as rehabilitation tool for people who suffered from accidental disabilities or even for the video game industry.