Broadcast

Ever imagined a T-shirt that will change its design according to your choice? A T-shirt controlled by a smartphone which will display whatever you want. An Indian start-up, Broadcast wearables, is in the process of making that cool product take shape. Broadcast wearables, a Hyderabad-based startup, is designing a T-shirt which has a LED panel on the front. You can connect the T-shirt with your smartphone and voila! You can change designs at will, in addition to displaying messages, logos or pictures on the panel. The product will be waterproof. This is also the world's first touch-enabled T-shirt. Users can tap on the LED panel to switch it on and tap again to switch it off. A swipe across the panel will change the design from the gallery on the phone. "Our aim is to bring innovation in fashion. Your everyday T-shirt becomes much funkier when you can change the design at your will. Our main challenge was to incorporate the LEDs into the t-shirt and yet make it comfortable for the user," Ayyappa Nagubandi, founder of the company, told Huffpost India.

"Currently, we have just entered pre-production phase and testing out the features and the product. We have designed the t-shirt in such a way that it incorporates technology without making the person who wears it uncomfortable," he added. The company has used Surface Mounted Device LEDs (SMD-LED) in the t-shirt with flexible Printed Circuit Board (PCB). From the front panel, few very thin wire will go through the arm and to the back where the battery is placed. The battery capacity is almost 1500 mAh. Broadcast wearables will be also publishing an app which will be paired with the T-shirt to change the design and intensity of the light. The startup will also release an API so people can make new designs and add in the public library so the others can use it. Ayyappa said, "We want to build a community where anyone can use any design".

The size of the panel on the t-shirt is just short of an A4 size paper. A total of 792 LEDs will illuminate the t-shirt. The company said they are talking to various manufacturers in different countries to find more power efficient and compact LEDs that will help the battery of the T-shirt to last longer without a recharge. The price of the T-shirt is not yet finalized. But the company plans to launch an IndieGoGo campaign to raise money for production as well as to gauge the response of the consumers. As the wearables market is growing the trend of the gadgets which are worn on the other body parts than wrist is picking up. As far as fashion-tech goes, Athos is one of the companies working on the fitness wear which measures a lot of health aspects of your body. Another company, T-Wear has developed a jacket called T-jacket which simulates hugs through deep touch pressure.