Tim Brownstone went to university wanting to study whale neurology or infrared technology.
The university wouldn鈥檛 let him put a whale in the MRI scanner so he ended up studying animal bioscience instead.
Several years later his infrared sportswear brand Kymira is helping聽sports enthusiasts push themselves harder and recover quicker when exercising. Brownstone and his team have seen some incredible results in healthcare too.
The garments were born from Brownstone鈥檚 research into the biological effects of infrared technology. Through this, the team developed a way to put technology inside yarns so it can never escape or be washed out.
The clothing absorbs wasted energy from the body, invisible light and UV in the surroundings and converts it into infrared energy. It鈥檚 then reemitted by the fabrics and penetrates about 4cm into muscles, which in turn causes a host of biological reactions.
鈥淚t acts a bit like a supercharger does in your car,鈥� says Brownstone. 鈥淚t increases tissue oxygen levels by about 20 per cent which allows you to push harder, increase endurance or recover quicker from injury or fatigue.鈥�
Brownstone says the intention was always to take the tech into a medical field. 鈥淭hose are the applications that really motivate us,鈥� he says.
鈥淲e鈥檙e now treating chronic arthritis, Reynaud鈥檚 syndrome, people with diabetic neuropathic foot pain, stroke victims. We鈥檝e even got some really anecdotal evidence that it helps with Parkinson鈥檚 disease.
鈥淭here are two old chaps who couldn鈥檛 walk their dogs. Their wives bought them Kymira because I was giving a talk for the Women鈥檚 Institute and a few weeks later I find out they鈥檙e able to walk their dogs again.
“They鈥檙e gruff so they just say 鈥榠t works, what more do you need to know?鈥� We haven鈥檛 been able to fund any studies to find out why, but something enabled that.鈥�
The next goal for the company is embedding electronics into its fabrics in the same way as it does with infrared tech.
This will create garments, powered by users鈥� waste energy, that are able to detect medical emergencies like heart attacks in their early stages and contact the emergency services with the wearer鈥檚 location and diagnosis.
Preparing to get their medical certifications as they move more into health, the company has faced little in the way of regulation as a sportswear brand. However Brownstone says that the performance-enhancing aspect of the tech is not high enough to be likened to illegal doping.
鈥淪ome of the benefits, such as muscles being more relaxed and returning to a better state, that鈥檚 a lasting benefit,鈥� he says.
鈥淚n terms of anything that鈥檚 directly performance-enhancing it would stop quickly because chemicals that build up in the body break down quickly. It鈥檚 also localised so if you鈥檙e wearing one of our tops it鈥檚 not going to increase circulation in your feet.鈥�
Making the products accessible to everyone has been a driving force for Brownstone and his team.
鈥淚t should be like a normal garment. Our end users will be the elderly or infirm and may forget to charge batteries. We鈥檙e trying to remove all of that worry. It makes me laugh that the same products could be used by Olympians through to 90-year-olds.鈥�