23 April 2013

Wearable technology

Ever wondered when our clothes will take the next step - after all much around is starting to? Our fridges can order groceries and our phones no longer simply place calls. Beyond simply covering our bodies what can it do? With the advancements in technology inventors are asking whet our clothing can do beyond just covering our bodies.I thought I would share some of the snippets I've spotted :)

Defense:
- Technology students in India have invented a bra that shocks would be attackers. It delivers a 3800kv electric shock to any would-be rapist, enough to cause severe burns. It can also send a text message to a relative or friend and the local police station, with the GPS coordinates of the victim's location, says inventor Ms Mohan.

Art:
- A California company called Machina has created a jacket that makes music. "We wanted to change that. We wanted to bring the act of performance back to life by having the musician use his/her body as an interface, says co-founder Ms. Machina.

- Machina is not the only one combining music with jackets. MIT media Lab & Levis also a a product, this one has a keyboard embroidered with conductive thread.


Medical:
- A university of Colorado student has come up with a dress that not only looks kinda cool, but can help people with hearing impairment 'feel' the direction of sound. "I wanted to create something that used the landscape of the body as an interface to communicate things about the outside world, in a different medium" says inventor Ms Profita.
 - Or clothing that monitors various vital signs of the wearer such as heart rate, respiration rate, temperature, activity, and posture, like the one developed by Georgia Tech. No super attractive in its raw form, but cover it with an over layer & it could look however a designer fancied.

Where else is this technology going to take us?
Personally I'm 100% behinfd Quoc Truong, physical scientist at Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, wants to make self cleaning clothes. A world without dirty clothes, sounds like a wonderful place to me :)

No comments: