High Tech Bikini

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

26 Jul 2006 12:40 PM

File this under the "What They Won't Think Of Next" category. A Canadian company has designed a new bikini that is able to tell wearers when it's time to head to the shade.

I'm well aware of what century we live in and the fact that practically everything on the market nowadays has gone high-tech, but an electronic bikini? It's true. A Canadian company named Solestrom has created a bikini with a UV meter built into its belt. When the meter records high levels of UV rays a built-in alarm sounds warning the wearer to get out of the sun.

A company spokesperson says they were inspired by various cancer groups' advisories that the best way to lower the risk of skin cancer is to avoid too much exposure to the sun and other sources of ultraviolet light.

"There's so much concern about sun exposure and skin cancer that we saw the demand and designed something to be safe for the wearer," said Solestrom executives.

The suits go on sale at the end of the month and the company says it has already seen high demand from surf shops in Australia and South Africa (which, by the way, have the world's highest cancer rates-the American Cancer Society says the United States sees about one million new skin cancer cases annually).

The price for the high-tech bikini: $190. The high price tag covers the cost of the suit's mechanics. The bikini's built-in meter displays a level of UV intensity on a scale from 0 to 20. A person's sensitivity to UV depends mainly on skin type, but generally three to five would be considered moderate strength, 8-10 very high and anything above 11 extreme.

You'd think that with all the warnings regarding skin cancer and how sun damage brings about the early on-set of wrinkles, bikini sales would be down. But new research shows just the opposite. A recent survey by U.S.-based market research company found bikini sales remain strong. In fact, the number of bikinis sold in the United States rose from 18.8 percent in April of 2005 to 33.6 million in April of 2006, netting sales worth a total of $811 million.

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Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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