Techno Jacket

Feersum Asura writes "Clothes equipped with fully integrated computer networks have been designed and developed in a joint venture between clothing company Levi's and electronics company Philips, following three years of intensive research. For more information visit the BBC website." I wouldn't be caught dead in one of these. Update: 08/16 11:11 AM by michael :More photos!

Comments

ROFLMAO

[ebbv]

someone needs to print this article out in colour, laminate it and save it.

you know those articles from the 60s we read where they predict a jetsons-like world with flying cars, et cetera, which make use fall on the ground and roll around with laughter?

well, in 30 years, this is the article people will read and die of laughter.

oh...my...god.
...dave

BTDTGTTS - others did this before

[nellardo]

Aside from research efforts like the Media Lab at MIT, there have been other products developed and released. About two years ago, Sony displayed a vest in this vein in the windows of their Madison Avenue store - designed by Diane von Furstenberg no less, in a pale blue that coordinated with VAIO purple and brushed steel, pockets sized for a cell phone, an MD player, and a PCG-C1X laptop (the one with a camera). It looked a lot dressier than these jackets.

Some smaller companies have been making jackets in the same vein, often out of Kevlar (now all it needs is thermoptic camouflage (okay, so I was watching Ghost in the Shell last night)).

And of course you can buy vests specifically designed for the many wearable computers out there.

Cool to see more minds thinking about it, though. Maybe someone will get it right eventually.

smart armor for the road?

[xeno]

Hmm. A few days ago, an inattentive boob pulled out from a side street in front of me, totaling my motorcycle and sending me to the hospital. It would have been quite nice if my gear contained impact sensors and sent a message to my wife that there had been an incident, and whether to pick me up at the hospital or morgue based on lifesigns.

Given that I'm serious about integrating a bike-mounted GPS unit, radar detector, trip computer, and a small x86 system with a solid-state disk (for music, nav, communication) with display (mounted on the sleeve or upper thigh for visibility while riding) and other i/o (speaker/mic in helmet, minimal handlebar-based button input), it doesn't seem all that farfetched to add a couple of serial inputs such as impact, IR-based heartbeat, temp, and position. If you're wearing a big honkin' darth-vader-lookin' suit anyway (search for Aerostich or Cortech suits if you're unfamiliar with these) -- why not go to town with it?

This is 911, how may I help you?

[Riplakish]

Caller: Yeah, some script kiddies have hacked into my clothes and are running a recursion algorithm on the zipper of my pants. I've got tracks-marks on my penis from all the zipping and un-zipping. Can you get it to stop?

911: What OS are you running?

Caller: Debian 6.1.

911: Sorry, we only support Red Hat 9.3. Thank you for calling 911. [Click]

I wouldn't be caught dead in one of these.

[davonds]

If it rains, you might be.

Yes!

[pen]

Does anyone realize what this means? Endless possibilities for new pickup lines!

"Hey baby, wanna cluster?"

--

Tech-Jacket

[basscomm]

How cool would it be to ping your laundry?

Re:Tech-Jacket

[dsplat]

Obviously, there is a tie-in between this an a recent Slashdot poll. With this jacket and a networked washer and drier, your laundry can set the correct cycle itself! Imagine the uses:

"Honey, the washer is refusing to start."

"That's because your white shirts won't allow it to until you remove our son's red shorts."

My New Business

[mr.ska]

MCSE Tailor

trousers defragged while U wait

suits pressed and reformatted, 1 hour

This Week's Special: upgrade the memory in your UnderWare and receive a pair of USB socks

Dangerous

[pigpogm]

There's some areas people are mugged for their old trainers.

I think i'd worry about walking round in a jacket that everyone knows has £600 worth of electronic stuff sewn into it.

Re:Dangerous

[pigpogm]

A webcam in your pants! Live sweaty genitals!

Ur. Perhaps not.

No!

[guran]

403: Connection refused

Core technology borrowed from MIT?

[HEbGb]

I remember reading about computers and circuits being embedded into clothing being developed at the MIT Media Lab a few years ago. They had, in fact, a Levi's jeans jacket that played music when you touched the buttons (which were actually just metallic thread). They might have had embedded networking, as well.

If they used this technology, which it looks like they did, don't you think the students at MIT who did the original work should be given credit for it?

Then again, looking at the monstrosity Levis/Philips came up with, the students are probably happy not to have been associated with it. :)

Inaccuracies in the BBC article

[asherh]

The BBC online article contains a number of errors: the clothes do have a network, but it's for linking together a phone, mp3 player, remote control, earpieces and microphone and not so that 'the wearer [can] be fully connected to the world wide web at all times' (although later versions may well be able to do this).

As for 'Disadvantages of the jackets include the possible implications of network crashes and the effects of rainstorms on techno-clothing while being worn.': the network in the current jackets is passive, and therefore there's nothing to crash, and the jackets are designed to be machine washed and so a little rain (or indeed a great deal of hot soapy rain) really isn't going to bother them...

There's a rather more accurate article in the Guardian online at: http://ww w.guardianunlimited.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4 051264,00.html

Asher Hoskins
Philips Wearables Project
(a engineer, not an official spokesman! go speak to Philips PR if you want one of those!)

This technology could be useful...

[OneFix]

If used in less "obtrusive" ways. The kid's jacket seems like it might be going in the right direction...but how about a jacket for climbers, skiers, or sailors with one of those GPS locators built-in.

The jacket could monitor movement and conditions. If the wearer doesn't move in a few hours or pulls on a strap (some sort of manual activation)...it would send out a signal. It would be a great idea to find skiers burried after an avalanche, or locating sailors lost at sea.

I could also see a sort of built-in weather radio (much like NOAA in the US uses) that would inform the wearer when severe weather conditions were expected. It should be relatively simple, but it could save alot of lives...

Better Pics

[dmccarty]

Here's a link to the high-resolution pictures on Philips' web site that bypasses the "Registeren nieuwe user" registration form. (What's that?--some kind of Jar Jar babble?)
--

Geek Chic? Ha!

[SecretAsianMan]

Experts are predicting that this latest "geek chic" will lead to even further technological advances in the future

How many of us are going to be fooled by the coming wave of "geek chic" fashion design? Blame it on the opening-up of Internet society to the average person, or whatever, but it's coming. The world will be barraged with semi-sentient 'designers' and fashion industry marketroids, telling everyone that they want to be geeks and they can be geeks by wearing these clothes. Think about these fashion people:

• They aren't geeks.
• They don't know any geeks.
• They have no idea how a geek really thinks.

How exactly are these people going to create geek clothing? Easy: They aren't. What's most unfortunate about this trend is the potential stampede of sheep...err, people...who think themselves geeks just because they're wearing the geek chic clothes. We certainly don't need Cherry Cheerleader and Joe FootballPlayer going around saying "Behold, I am geek"! The geek subsociety has traditionally been our refuge from those people. If we let this fad catch on, it will destroy our heritage. We aren't, and will never be, mainstream; anyone saying so is a liar.

All of that IMHO. Or maybe I should calm down. :P)

Oops ...

[gcondon]

I think I just crashed my pants!