About Hitoe™

Hitoe™ is a performance fabric for collecting biosignals—weak electrical signals that we emit unconsciously from our bodies—in a stable manner without our being conscious of the measurement.

Biosignals that are accumulated and analyzed allow for efficient sports training as well as utilization of information such as changes in physical condition and degree of tension, which we are usually unconscious of, in a visible way.

Hitoe™ does not use metallic fibers and has a high affinity with moisture such as perspiration. This gives it the following advantages.

It is gentle on the skin and can be worn for extended periods of time.
It is capable of measuring biosignals
even when the wearer is perspiring, e.g., during sports activities.

These properties allow clothing made of the performance fabric Hitoe™ to continue collecting biosignals over a long period of time under various conditions.

Mechanism for measuring the heart rate

Our heart works by the cells in the heart muscles storing a charge and discharging it with each pulse, generating a weak potential difference. The performance material Hitoe™ can sense this weak potential difference once it travels from the heart to the surface of the body. Because the potential difference generated with each pulse is sensed directly, the pulse rate can be measured.

*Hitoe™ is not a medical device.

*This image is a conceptualization.

The Hitoe™ brand name and logo

The name Hitoe™ (hee-toe-ay) is derived from “human intelligence to expand,” and also is intended to suggest the enrichment of people’s lives by returning intelligence “to people” (hito-e in Japanese). It also has the meaning of the infinite potential of a single layer of fabric (hitoe in Japanese).

The performance fabric Hitoe™ is a fiber material jointly developed by Toray Industries, Inc. and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, and is the registered trademark of the two companies.