How many yogis does it take to help develop smart yoga pants?

More than 50, apparently.

No joke: Wearables X recently developed teched-up smart yoga pants and a related app with input from north of 50 yoga masters, the fashion technology company recently told dezeen.

About those pants: They’re called Nadi X ($299), and they’re something we think Jedi might use when getting they’re yoga on.

As we understand it, the responsive leggings are embedded with five sensors that attune to your body’s movements and guide you through your yoga workout.

The sensors in the fabric link up through Bluetooth with a related smartphone app. The app quickly determines the particular yoga position the exerciser is in. Then, it shows the pose done properly and sends vibrations to areas of the body – hips, knees and ankles -- that the yoga practitioner should reconfigure to perfect their positioning. A battery, attached behind the knee, powers the pulses.

If you dig yoga, you probably already think this is pretty cool. But even if you can’t tell a Baddha Konasana from a Tadasana to save your life, you should still care about Nadi X if you’re in the branded merchandise business.

For one thing, the leggings are another interesting development in the nascent, rapidly-evolving niche of smart apparel. We’ve written about such innovations before, including a Levi’s/Google jacket that features technology that allows wearers to control their mobile experience. While smart apparel is not about to explode at retail or in the promo industry, the tech-infused offerings will probably find their way to our sector in the years ahead. Suppliers and distributors who are well-versed in the developments will be best prepared to capitalize on what could be ripe new sales opportunities.

Indeed, yoga-related smart apparel could be among the especially attractive categories for distributors. After all, there are nearly 37 million yoga practitioners in the U.S. – up from 20.4 million in 2012. The growth of this end-user market, coupled with the fact that yoga wear is ubiquitously popular, could translate into yoga-related smart apparel one day doing especially well at retail – and promo perhaps, too.

Sure, it’s not happening next week. But not that long ago everyone was using flip phones. Things evolve quickly these days. It’s wise to be ready for what’s next.

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