TEXTILES.ORG
Osmotex launched the technology with a group of partners last year. KJUS has been the primary product development partner and confirmed then that they will be the first brand to take HYDRO_BOT to market in selected skiwear products planned for the 2018-19 season.One year after the Swiss-Norwegian company Osmotex AG announced the innovative HYDRO_BOT technology, it is showcasing a jacket with embedded electronic moisture management that allows the wearer to sweat without feeling wet. Managing director and executive chairman, Joacim Holter said he has tested a prototype jacket “under demanding conditions in the Norwegian mountains” and found that the jacket performs as expected. After more testing, the company expects the technology to be commercially available in sportswear sometime in 2018.
Since the technology launch, Swiss textile company Schoeller® has also signed a production agreement. A new strategic partner for Osmotex, Applycon, a Czech-based developer and producer of electronics for clothing, will be the preferred supplier for all integrated electronics.
Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, has played a key role in conducting materials and technology research, as well as clothing physiology analysis of the HYDRO_BOT system incorporated in jackets. In all tests the jackets performed better than existing state-of-the-art jackets, and when the electronics were switched on the difference was remarkable, Empa reports. “While this is a first-generation product, our physiological analysis already shows that electro-osmosis will make it possible to manage moisture in an entirely new way,” says Prof. Dr. Gian-Luca Bona, CEO of Empa.