Have you heard of Facebook Likes T-shirt? If not, here it is

One-year-old Hyderabad startup Broadcast Wear takes the wearables industry to the next level

Wearable has now become a household name of sorts. You can see fitness enthusiasts  running on the streets early in the morning with an IoT device on their wrist, regularly checking the distance they covered/steps taken. Some others use wearables/smart watches to count their heart beats, or get suggestions on their food intake to maintain good health.

A few months ago, Hyderabad-based Hug Innovations launched a smartwatch that boasts of having all the above features, in addition to an SOS button that could send alerts to your phone contacts when you are in distress or in danger.

But this startup is different. This venture, called Broadcast Wearable Pvt Ltd, based out of Hyderabad, has designed what it calls the world’s first programmable and touch-enabled T-shirt that can change designs and slogans according to your choice by a simple tap on the logo.

The startup was launched in 2016 by Ayyappa Nagubandi, a serial entrepreneur with 17 years of experience. Broadcast’s T-shirt consists of tiny LEDs that connect with the accompanying app to give you complete control over what you wish to display on your wear. The T-shirt will reflect what is on your mind – from the good to the bad, from the beautiful to the ugly.

“One change the slogans whenever he/she wants. In addition, It allows you to programme a display embedded in a regular cotton T-shirt using your smartphone. The system would let you display pictures, text, and whatever’s on your mind on the T-shirt for all to see,” Ayyappa said.

In July last year, the startup raised US$117,927 via popular crowd-funding platform Indiegogo, which was almost four times its actual target figure. The company also got several orders from companies in India and the US for the T-shirts.

But Ayyappa is not ready to stop just here. In fact, the programmable T-shirt is just the beginning of Broadcast Wear’s entry into the huge world of wearables.

“Ever since our campaign went live on Indiegogo, we have been busy with not only creating prototypes and getting ready for the production of the Broadcast T-shirt, but also with creating more wearables that will disrupt the fashion and technology markets,” he said.

“After extensive research, we have now developed competencies in merging technology with textiles. In addition to touch-enabled clothing, we have created reflective clothing and interactive clothing. We are now working on creating a wearable phone,” he added.

With a team of 20 people, the startup is currently working on an illuminative/reflective clothing. “We create clothes that bring out the sparkle in your eyes. Lined with LED and ELD wires, we create light-emitting clothing for every occasion and every reason. Jaltee is our line of clothing that glows. The clothes are embedded with ELD wires that make designs glow at the press of a button. This is water proof and comfortable to wear,” Ayyappa elaborated.

Jaltee is an acronym and each alphabet represents the name of an inspiring person who brought in revolutionary changes to the world — Steve Jobs, Isaac Asimov, Linus Torvalds, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, and Albert Einstein.

The company is also working on a line of interactive clothing. “With geographical boundaries disappearing, it is not surprising to see man and machine communicating like never before. We, at Broadcast Wear, have taken interactivity to the next level, enabling your phone to communicate with your T-shirt. All you have to do is type out a slogan or create a design on the app, and the t-shirt will reflect the same.”

“Our range of interactive clothing includes a Facebook Like T-shirt, where you can display the number of Likes your Facebook page has (that updates itself in real-time), a T-shirt that displays the number of steps you have walked (encourages people to take up exercising), and a safety jacket that is paired with a sensor and a battery to take in information about daylight and switch itself on the moment it gets dark,” Ayyappa explained.

In the midst of hundreds of clothing brands, Jaltee stands apart with its focus on creating clothing that is technology-enabled and customer-friendly, claims Ayyappa. In his view, Jaltee is not just a clothing brand but a harbinger of new trends in clothing. Trends that are soon set to storm the world of fashion. 

“Jaltee ensures that you stand majestic and be the attention grabber at every event or party. Be it the T shirt that glows in the dark or the Salwar Kameez that lights up the room or the bag which changes the design on it as per your wish and command. Jaltee fuses technology with everyday clothing and creates magic,” Ayyappa went on.

Let’s wish all the very best for Ayyappa and the team!