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It's A Smart Device -- And A Piece Of Clothing

(CBS) -- Our clothes could soon be as smart as our phones.

CBS 2's Erin Kennedy tells us what the new high-tech wearables will do for us.

A tennis player is doing more than just working on his game. He's monitoring his heart rate, respiration and other body functions, simply by wearing a new high tech-work-out shirt.

Developed at Ralph Lauren, it's called a "bio sensing garment."

"The technology is really in the materials that are weaved through the shirt," says David Lauren, Executive Vice President of Ralph Lauren. "There is a small box, which is like a battery which can transmit to your phone."

Lauren's cutting-edge tops made their debut on the ball boys at this year's U.S. Open.

Lance Ulanoff of Mashable says interest in high-tech wearables is growing.

"When major fashion designers are getting on board and really making wearables beautiful, and that's the key, people may get turned on by them and start to actually adopt them," he says.

Students from NYU turned an ordinary hoodie into a high-tech wearable by sewing in sensors with special conductive threads to send pre-programmed messages with the touch of a button.

Design student Rucha Patwardhan says one application is to call 9-1-1 without using your phone.

Online, you can order Bluetooth-enabled hats and sweatbands to stream music from your smart phone or even answer calls. They are from a company called "1 Voice."

There's also high-tech style built into jewelry made by Q Designs.

"It's a stylish bracelet that actually charges your smart phone," CEO James Kernan says.

It's a simple solution to an all-too-common problem.

The bottom line, says Ulanoff:  "The whole point of wearables is that they are going to be intelligent, yet beautiful, and you are really going to want to want to wear them."

The bio-sensing polo shirt from Ralph Lauren is expected to be on the market in 2015.

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