Senior reporter
When the world’s of technology and fashion mix, the results can be fascinating, brilliant and sometimes completely ridiculous.
This week London-based firm, CuteCircuit, has unveiled a creation that falls into the last category- a black dress that doubles up as a mobile phone.
Branded the M-Dress, the garment allows wearers to place a sim card into the label of the dress and using gesture recognition software, respond to calls by raising their hand or by dropping it to their side.
According to CuteCircuit, the dress is targeted at women who find it awkward to carry a mobile phone and will be unleashed on the UK market next year.
CuteCircuit is also behind the ‘Hug shirt’ which allows wearers to send a hug by transmitting heat and vibration sensors via a mobile phone’s Bluetooth to another person wearing a ‘Hug shirt’.
While these concepts may seem strange, a new generation of designers believe these creations are only the starting point for more serious and far-reaching applications of wearable technology.
The Reactiv cycling jacket is one example. Designed in 2008 by student Micheal Chen, the jacket is fitted with red, green and amber LEDs that respond to movements and warn drivers about whether a cyclist is accelerating, turning or braking.
In the world sport, athletes are already gaining real-time feedback on their performance from wearable technology that help prevent injury. For instance engineering students at Northwestern University have developed a data-logging compression shirt to help baseball pitchers avoid torn ligaments.
But perhaps even more significant are the variety of sensors integrated into fabrics that can constantly monitor the health of patients even while out of hospital, and not only provide data, but react to the situation by adjusting the temperature or sending an alarm to a healthcare worker.
Wearable technology has been around for years and its possibilities are endless. However trivial the application, getting the technology right could open up a whole new range of opportunities for engineers, and not just in the world of fashion.
More electronic jiggery-pokery – what about us mechanical engineers?
I can just imagine the unfortunate pedestrian or motorist going by just as the wearer of this dress raises her arm to respond to a telephone call.
Judging by the number of calls these young people receive in any given hour the woman wearing a dress might be construed as using semaphores – which is really going back to basics!
Or back to the future?
Mixing technology and fashion seems similar to mixing Science and God. . .
They’re soooo different!
How does one launder a garment if it is riddled with electronics?
It would be interesting if someone wore such a dress, imagine being at the races on ladies day and getting mobile phone calls. The bookies would be having a field day changing the odds, Red Rum would probably be 100/1 to win the national.
Seriously, how distracting would a flashing cyclists jacket be to motorists, particularly if the indicators went wrong. It could lead to numerous accidents and many fatalities. How many motorists would be blinded momentarily if they looked directly at the LED’s which is not recommended, and cause another accident. These applications are gimics and could be dangerous gimics at that.
There are some potential safety applications, motorway workers, traffic Police, and even crossing wardens could benefit. Where higher visibility in poor conditions reduces accidents and near misses they could be a benefit.
Fascinating?
Boring by its non usefulness.
What boredom can bring people to do!!!