According to Shirt Circuit, a May 2005 article in Outside Magazine, Massachusetts-based companies Foster-Miller and Malden Mills have already inked a $5.5-million Defense Department deal to issue the lightweight, sensor-laden T-shirts by 2008. And a civilian version could be on sale by next year. Aside from being machine-washable, here are other cool features:

• It has a tiny (not quite an inch thick), egg-shaped CPU over the sternum that gathers information from the sensors and then utilizes a Wi-Fi-type signal to relay it to a small wireless hub in a pack or on a belt, which then sends it to the Army's communications system.

• The conductive fibers track the wearer's air intakes, alerting medics if soldiers are running out of breath. This feature could also be helpful for mountain climbers.

• A ballistic impact detection system (BIDS) can ascertain when and where a soldier has been shot thought acoustic sensors located on the back, right under the shoulder blades.

• The shirt also keeps track of skin temperature in spots such as the armpit through two or more thermistors. Soldiers can also ingest a nondigestible plastic pill that measures core temperature for up to 24 hours.

• Chest sensors generate an electrocardiogram--a heart rate graph--that shows the organ's fitness.

Source:

Shirt Circuit
Ryan Brandt
Outside Magazine, May 2005
outside.away.com/outside/gear/200505/combat-t-shirt.html