A time where we can actually wear and control technology from our clothing may be here sooner than we think thanks to BeBop Sensors. The company has announced the release of their first product: BeBop Wearable Smart Fabric Sensor.

The company was founded by musical instrument inventor Keith McMillen and his company, KMI. Based in Berkeley, California, KMI has worked to create innovative hardware and software for musicians.

According to Bebop Sensors’ statement, McMillen stated “BeBop is a natural step for KMI, where we have diligently tuned fabrics, geometries, and production processes allowing us to ship over 1 million sensors to some of the most demanding musicians in the world,” stated McMillen. “All musical instruments are essentially sensors with forms of acoustic processing attached.  The same care and creativity used to build our instruments will serve well for our non-musical customers as we expand into the wearables market.”

Bebop sensors offer the “first thing smart fabric sensors to measure all aspects of physicality.” The new smart fabric measures wearers force, location, size, twist, bend, angle, stretch and motion. Unlike any other type of smart fabric we have seen in the past, Bebop measures factors like EKG and EMG along with actual physicality, this allows for 3D maps of data. This new fabric can be used in an array of different markets including, clothing and protective wear, shoes, athletic equipment, automotive, gaming robotics and even aerospacee. Aside from this, the health care industry can also benefit from this new censored fabric through prosthetics.

The solutions BeBop offer for integration into wearable products is an impressive list. It includes wearable controllers for the sleeves of jackets or shirts, allowing users to answer phone calls and manage music from the sleeve of their shirt. Another exciting feature for the Yogis out there is smart yoga and gym mats, these mats will show hand and foot pressure, which will allow for more effective teaching. Aside from athletic advantages, car steering wheels can sense driver alertness from the touch of their hands.

Wearable technology is a hot topic right now, and it seems like BeBop Sensors is staking claim in the industry at the right time.