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Berkeley Company Unveils Top-Secret Fabric That Makes Smart Technology Wearable

BERKELEY (CBS SF) -- Wearable smart technology can transform ordinary clothes into the kind of attire fit for a James Bond movie.

Berkeley-based BeBop Sensors unveiled a new fabric Monday, that is so intelligent, they kept it top-secret. This fabric has tiny fabric sensors that can talk to your iPhone, diagnose your health, even make you a better athlete.

"It looks like regular cloth and you can work with it like regular cloth but it's what you call smart fabrics," said CEO Keith McMillan.

The sensors embedded in the fabric are so small you can barely see them. They can measure your stretch, your bend, and your force.

When built into the sole of a shoe, the sensors generate real-time data that can be used to diagnose early foot problems and refine your stride.

BeBop Sensors are not just useful for clothes. A baseball base built with "smart canvas" can indicate exactly if the first baseman's foot is on the bag or not.

Since unveiling their top-secret BeBop Sensors Monday, over 100 companies have expressed interest.

The exact sensor is still a highly guarded secret, but the word is out and Bebop claims it can be applied to any fabric.

Other applications could include wireless remotes for smartphones, and radio controllers for first responders.

"We're not going to make products for customers," said McMillan. "We're going to partner with companies that make products."

BeBop already has several patents approved and more pending.

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