The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) launches this week in Las Vegas, but the media got an advanced look at a wide range of gadgets that companies hope will draw people’s attention and become hot sellers. The CES Unveiled event featured exhibitors from companies of all sizes competing for eyeballs. One of the most interesting products was “high-tech” underwear by a startup called Spartan, according to Slate.
No, the boxers aren’t infused with smart technology or enable its wearer to connect to a smart device. The underwear helps safeguard men’s private parts from devices that emit wireless radiation. This includes smartphones that some men carry in their back pockets and computers they use perched on their laps.
How does the underwear work? The fabric has silver sewn inside of it, which, according to Spartan, creates an “electromagnetic shield that blocks radiation from entering the boxer.”
The Spartan representatives at CES marketed their wares by appearing in their underwear, understandably making their booth one of the more popular ones among the media attendees. The company has already sold over 30,000 pairs of boxers over the past year. They promote their product on their website with this promise: “SPARTAN boxers shield your nuts from wireless radiation. Cutting-edge technology combined with design. Staying safe shouldn’t compromise your style!”
Spartan claims that its underwear blocks 99 percent cell phone and wi-fi radiation and that its WaveTech technology has been tested and certified by the MET Laboratory in Baltimore, MD. The product has antibacterial qualities as well.
The creators note: “We wanted to shield our little soldiers, but definitely not to wear armour. It took us months of work and hundreds of prototypes and different fabrics to get it just right, but with WaveTec h we finally manage to create a fabric that is even more comfortable than your regular pair of undies.”
The cost? One pair runs just under $50.
Radiation from smart technology is not an unfounded concern. A study published in the Central European Journal of Urology examined the effect of mobile phone radiation on sperm quality and concluded that “a correlation exists between mobile phone radiation exposure, DNA–fragmentation level and decreased sperm motility.” Researchers added: “For men readying themselves for fatherhood, especially when registered fertility problems exist, it would be better to avoid holding a mobile phone in a trouser pocket for long periods of time.”
