When Felix von Heland founded Swedish tech startup WRLDS Technologies in 2018, his focus was far from the battlefield.
The company specialized in precision sports sensors; tools that could measure the exact swing of a golf club or the subtle movements of a runner’s foot inside a shoe.
But in 2023, a meeting at a Munich trade show with Slovenian uniform manufacturer FireCat changed his trajectory.
FireCat’s police, firefighting, and military clients had a pressing request: a wearable system that could monitor personnel health and safety in real time, under the harshest conditions, without compromising security.
That demand sparked the creation of 6th SENSE, an AI-powered, uniform-integrated monitoring platform now being trialed by armed forces, emergency responders, and law enforcement agencies in a dozen countries.
“It was requested by multiple different police and military people that we and FireCat have encountered on various trade shows,” von Heland explained. “People have been asking for systems that can do exactly what we’re doing. So it’s more of a gap in the market type of story.”
The technology represents a growing trend of defense applications emerging from commercial innovation, as traditional boundaries between civilian and military technology continue to blur.
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From Sports to the Battlefield
WRLDS began with a focus on precision sports technology, developing what von Heland describes as “a Lego approach” to sensor development.
The company raised $2.5 million from Swedish investors to build modular sensor technology that could be quickly assembled into prototypes and scaled to full products.
“We realized over the years that a lot of these different products require similar sensor technology,” von Heland noted.
“Obviously, the big difference between sports and defense is that the users are very different, and the data transmission requires a whole different security layer with defense. But if you look at motion patterns, there’s nothing as precise as sports.”
The pivot to defense came through a partnership with FireCat, a Slovenian textile company specializing in uniforms for police, firefighters, and military personnel throughout the Balkans. The collaboration emerged from a recognized need in the field.
“There are very few products that can give an overall indication of our soldiers or a firefighter’s or a policeman’s health, when they’re out in the field,” von Heland observed.
“Most of the systems that exist, if you look at health watches, for example, will only look at specific things and are very difficult to integrate into the work life and the sort of motion patterns of a soldier.”
How the System Works
The 6th SENSE system consists of two main components: sensors integrated directly into uniform shirts that monitor internal metrics like heart rate and blood oxygen levels, and an external unit worn on the belt or in a breast pocket that houses the computing power and handles data transmission.
What sets the system apart, according to von Heland, is its on-device AI processing.
“The deepest AI-related algorithms are embedded on device,” he explained. “It’s a lot of data being processed in a very space-limited product with very little CPU and all of that kind of stuff to detect everything as fast as possible and without having to communicate too much data out from the device.”
This approach addresses both connectivity and security concerns. The system uses IoT communication protocols that require minimal data transmission, and because processing happens locally, sensitive information doesn’t need to leave the device.
“We don’t transmit any personal data,” von Heland emphasized. “There’s no sort of personal identifiers coming out from the device. Not least since we’re running the algorithms on the device; it’s all just data streams of ones and zeros that don’t say anything about the person.”
Built for Extreme Conditions
Given its intended users, the 6th SENSE system has been designed to withstand extreme conditions.
Von Heland highlighted the system’s durability testing: “We’ve been attacking the sensor with flamethrowers at 800 degrees, and I would say the device survives for a longer time than the person who would be wearing it, no matter what the person is wearing.”
The system is also highly customizable depending on the user’s role.
“If you’re at traffic police, then the most likely risk for you is to be in a car accident, and then we can adjust all the impact sensors for that type of accident,” von Heland explained.
“Whereas if you’re a soldier who’s out on the front line, your highest risk is probably being shot, and that’s a completely different characteristic of impact that we can then tune the device for.”
A Holistic Approach
Von Heland argues that existing consumer wearables like fitness trackers miss crucial data points for high-stakes applications.
“The arm is a very, very bad place for measuring motion patterns because you’re measuring what your arm is doing, not what your body system as a whole is doing,” he stated. “You also need to add geoposition, and you need to add impact sensors. There are quite a lot of different things that are combining.”
The system aims to provide what von Heland calls “actionable insights that can also go quite deep into medical understanding of your body system,” rather than the general health metrics provided by consumer devices.
Testing and Deployment
Currently, the 6th SENSE system is undergoing testing with military units in five countries, police and special operations in eight countries, and additional trials with firefighters and prison guards.
Von Heland reported that “so far, we have not had any negative feedback,” though he acknowledged the system is still in early launch phases.
The user experience has been designed for simplicity.
“The main user, the one who’s wearing the device or the uniform, only needs to turn the device on,” von Heland explained. “There is no interface on the device, and that’s on purpose. The person who’s out in the field should be focusing on being in the field and not on yet another gadget.”
Market Context and Pricing
Von Heland acknowledged that the system uses “extremely expensive hardware” and is positioned as a premium safety solution rather than an affordable product. However, pricing details are handled by FireCat, which manages end sales to customers.
The development reflects broader trends in defense spending and innovation.
Von Heland noted the efficiency of their approach compared to larger defense contractors: “It’s quite interesting when you start looking at the ticket sizes of grants and funds, what they expect people to spend on big innovations and knowing that we can get so much faster to market with a much smaller budget.”
Looking Forward
The partnership between WRLDS and FireCat represents what von Heland describes as “more of a joint venture type of thing” rather than a traditional consultant-customer relationship.
The company is currently applying for NATO accelerator programs and exploring additional funding opportunities as European defense spending increases.
As conflicts worldwide demonstrate the evolving nature of warfare and emergency response, technologies like the 6th SENSE system suggest a future where individual monitoring becomes as crucial as traditional equipment.
Whether this vision of connected, monitored personnel becomes standard practice will depend on how well such systems prove their worth in the field — and whether the benefits justify the costs and complexity they introduce.
