#001: Democratizing Wearables for R&D with Ben O'Brien, CEO, of StretchSense - Wearable Tech 2.0 is here! We speak with the thought-leaders and innovators leading the smart apparel, footwear and textile revolution.

In this week's episode of The IoClothes Podcast, we welcome Ben O’Brien, Founder and CEO of StretchSense to The IoClothes Podcast. StretchSense is a global supplier of soft, stretchy sensors. They believe that technology can improve lives, push human performance and create jobs. Their mission is to democratize wearables by making cutting-edge R&D accessible to everyone.

Show Notes:

• [01:30] Ben and his co-founders start to tinker in their lab at the University of Auckland and decide there may be other people interested in the possibilities of “stretchy” sensors. • [03:30] Looking pass the term wearables now and moving on to “disappear-ables” • [04:30] StretchSense partners and customers are “dreamers”. People that believe in things that are a bit fuzzy but have a vision for the future. • [08:45] Two important things Ben’s learned when building StretchSense has been: sales and culture. Sales give you an indication that you have a real business, and having a strong culture within the business helps the business scale maximize efforts towards a singular macro objective. • [16:20] Start Today where early investor in StretchSense (Series A) • [17:30] ZOZO Suit launched by Start Today in partnership with StretchSense. The ZOZO Suit is a suit of soft stretchy sensors that is worn and can precisely measures the shape of your body to solve the problem of garment fit for shopping online. • [18:05] Massive step for disappear-ables because it is a suit with sensor seamlessly integrated into it. • [18:50] Sign-up to be a part of the beta-testing at www.zozosuit.com • [23:15] Two of the major challenges today with seeing smart textiles being ubiquitous: energy technology limitations and a lack of truly flexible electronics. • [24:30] Crystal Ball Question: In 3-5 years, technology being integrated into clothes will just be the norm. It won’t be something to write home about, but the standard. But clothes are just an intermediary to implantable technologies.

For more information on StretchSense. Check out their website at https://www.stretchsense.com/.

Support for this episode is brought to you by Myant (https://www.myant.ca). Check out SKIIN (www.skiin.com) - The world's most advanced textile computing platform.

For more on the podcast and the rapidly growing community we’re building at IoClothes, check us out at www.ioclothes.com.

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