Carré Technologies Inc. is a Montreal company that makes biometric clothing called Hexoskin. Similar in appearance to undershirts or training t-shirts, these machine-washable shirts capture the wearer’s vital signs and send them by Bluetooth to a mobile app for remote monitoring.
Invisible sensors are woven right into the fabric, and the technology is encased in a matchbook-size container attached to the garment.
Worn primarily for health or fitness reasons, Hexoskin can track indicators like heart rate, breathing volume, number of steps taken and sleep quality.
Founded in 2006 by Pierre-Alexandre Fournier and Jean-François Roy, Carré Technologies Inc. conducted seven years of research and development before releasing its first product. Since coming to market, Hexoskin has been worn by elite athletes, members of the Dubai police force, and astronauts from the Canadian Space Agency and NASA.
As of 2018, the company employs 25 people and has over 30 investors.
Sources
hexoskin.com External link
Charest, Matthieu. “Un vêtement de l’espace pour désengorger les urgences” Le Journal de Montréal, Québecor Inc., 29 January 2018, http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2018/01/29/un-vetement-de-lespace-pour-desengorger-les-urgences. External link
Geoffroy, Tristan. “Hexoskin : Des québécois à l’assaut de l’espace” Branches-vous, All Time Digital inc., 27 January 2016, http://branchez-vous.com/2016/01/27/hexoskin-des-quebecois-lassaut-de-lespace/. External link
McKenna, Alain. “Ce capteur biométrique montréalais trace la voie pour Apple dans la santé connectée” Les affaires, Médias Transcontinental S.E.N.C., 30 May 2018, http://www.lesaffaires.com/blogues/alain-mckenna/ce-capteur-biometrique-montrealais-trace-la-voie-pour-apple-dans-la-sante-connectee/602966. External link
Vallée, Karl-Philip. “Des vêtements connectés montréalais bientôt dans l’espace.” Radio-Canada, Société Radio-Canada, 19 August 2017, https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1051163/hexoskin-vetements-connectes-montreal-nasa. External link
