Clothing Yourself In Technology

Sixyphe writes "Burton Snowboards has just released a very, very nice snowboarding jacket called the Analog Clone. It includes a padded pouch designed to hold a Sony MZ-N1 MiniDisc player and, more importantly, a large textile control pad on the left arm that acts as a remote control for the MD player. This pad is based on technology from SOFTswitch, a UK company. Production, 100 units, price tag, around 1000US$, MZ-N1 included. Not the first textile-based application I've seen (textile keyboards have been around for a while, I believe), but a nice one. This is cool, geeky, musical, sporty and damn useful all at once. Wow. The part I like best is where they mention that the coat is machine-washable when the MD player is removed. Thanks to minidisc.org for the tip." skratchjerk writes "Financial Times has a short article about Levi Strauss' new anti-radiation jeans. They state that 'The trousers, to be launched in the UK next year under Levi's Dockers brand, contain mobile phone pockets with "anti-radiation lining to prevent possible health risks".' I guess it's about time we protected 'the boys.'" Update: 09/13 21:13 GMT by T : The updated Burton link should make the folks at Burton happier ;)

Comments

You'll kill yourself

[gatkinso]

Don't listen to tunes while skiing or snowboarding.

You may think it's your choice.... until you take out a little girl who is just learning how to ski.

Re:You'll kill yourself

[zulux]

This is so god-damn true...

If you are engaged in an activity that could kill you or others, you don't need to be destracted by anthing - mucic, conversation, cell-phones, naked people.

Activities such as:
Rock climbing, Autoroutes/Autobahn/Montanna, Posing on Slashot, DOD Programming deserve your full attention.

It actually galls me to think that's it's an accepted practice to have blareing music in an operating theatre. If I'm paying $2000 an hour for somebody to cut into my heart, then they better pay attention to their scalpel and not to Britney Spear's latest tean-bop.

Re:You'll kill yourself

[CaffeineAddict2001]

"oops, I did it again!
Cut a hole in your heart
and my watch fell in."

Re:You'll kill yourself

[gwernol]

Which is why deaf people don't snowboard or ski, right?
You can't navigate by sound while riding. The tunes don't really matter.

The point is not just that you can't hear what is going on around you, but that you are concentrating on something else instead of on skiing/snowboarding. Listening to music requires a certain amount of concentration which isn't available for navigation - there is a finite amount of stuff you can attend to at one time.

The good news is that the brain is relatively good at not concentrating on music when other stimuli grab its attention. Music processing is a low priority task. This is different from, for example, taking part in a conversation, which the brain will treat as a less interuptable activity. This is why talking on a cell phone while driving is considerably more dangerous than listening to music while driving - your brain will continue to concentrate on the conversation even when something else (a red light, a driver cutting into your lane, a child crossing the street) should grab your immediate attention.

So, I tend to disagree that music is a huge danger when skiing, although it does impose some burden on the listener.

oh goodie

[Sc00ter]

"The trousers, to be launched in the UK next year under Levi's Dockers brand, contain mobile phone pockets with "anti-radiation lining to prevent possible health risks""

And cuts off all ability to actually recive a call while in the pocket..

Re:oh goodie

[maddh]

Actually reading further into that Levi cellphone pocket article it says that the radiation protection is only on the inner side of the pocket between you and the phone. So as long as that material doesn't absorb any more radiation then your leg would, its not going to cut reception.
matt

Levi's marketing genious

[gazuga]

"anti-radiation lining to prevent possible health risks"
I guess it's about time we protected 'the boys.'

They've just captured the entire male market precisely for the above reason. When it comes to the family jewels, better safe than sorry ;)

Hey...

[GeneralEmergency]

.

...I thought all geeks were too fat to ski!

Re:Hey...

[John Whitley]

No, they just slide down the hill on their tummies... like Tux does. ;-)

spindles?

[[amorphis]]

Minidisc??

Why not something solid-state, like MP3 or OGG?

Built in 802.11b would be cool, too, so you could download new songs while waiting on the chairlift :)

Re:spindles?

[DaytonCIM]

Probably wouldn't be too difficult to adapt the "fabric control panel" to access an MP3 player.

But you're forgetting that Sony had to come up with some kind of "cool" marketing idea to get rid of all of the MD players collecting dist in warehouses across the country.

$1000US... uh, no thanks.

Pinky are you thinking what I'm thinking?

[theophilosophilus]

Well yeah brain but where are we gonna get lead pants our size this time of night?

Not like protection is needed anyway...

[Andy Dodd]

The phone transmits a minimum amount of power when it is in standby mode. The time you have to worry about it is when it's next to your head, if at all.

You don't get power for free... If a phone has 6 days of standby battery life and 4-5 hours of talk time, it's clearly NOT transmitting much when in standby.

They just need to include a bong somehow

[pyite69]

Maybe a hash pipe holder would be ideal.

Re:OT but why do my electronics freak out

[msheppard]

Yes, it has something to do with the cold.

Batteries don't work well in the cold.

Take the batteries OUT of the device and put them in a pocket close to your skin until you use them. I use a camcorder/GPS/Mp3 player when I ski and keep the batteries in my inside pants pocket.

(Why do I need a GPS skiing? Max Speed readout!)

M@

Thoughts on expensive jackets, future innovations

[m_chan]

I spend a lot of time in weather that is less than pleasant, under conditions where good gear makes a big difference. Audio hardware integrated into your clothing to make it easier to listen to music while riding is not necessarily very safe, as evidenced by numerous incidents of which I am aware where riders have hit snow cats and other riders while oblivious to external sounds. That aside, it sure is fun, being so free on the mountain while listening to your favorite tunes.

I witnessed an experience of a friend of mine about 15 or 20 years ago that makes me think twice whenever I want to drop a few hundred dollars on a new coat.

I was skiing with a teammate on our racing team. She took a fall as we were heading toward the lift line and slid through a plastic mesh fence. Her arm got stuck in the fence as she slid underneath, resulting in a compound fracture. When the Ski Patrol came to extract her from the fence and get her to a care facility, they had to cut off her rather new $300 Descente racing jacket.

I remember, in between her yelling about how much her arm hurt, cursing at the Ski Patrol as they sliced through the exotic fabric and ruined the jacket.

Of course, it was only a jacket, but it is kind of funny how some people, myself included, grow quite fond of the gear we use when out in the elements. It is not entirely a money issue either, but more how one grows comfortable with, relies upon, and trusts the hardware we use.

I think that it will be really interesting when biometric monitors, GPS gear, and transponders are integrated into clothing to help first responders locate and field diagnose victims in the wilderness or on the trail.

And when you wipe out???

[fmaxwell]

Great idea. Put on a $1000 jacket with an expensive MiniDisc player into the pocket, put on your headphones, and then go snowboarding.

I can just see it now. You don't hear the skier/boarder behind you and you cut him off. You both wipe out hard. You're lying in the snow with headphones 15 feet behind you (entangled with your goggles) -- the cable still around your neck, the MiniDisc player crunched, and your $1000 jacket's keypad mysteriously non-functional.

Do us all a favor and don't get the radiation shielded pants. We don't need you breeding.

BFD!?!

[binaryDigit]

OK, so you stich a contact based control panel into the arm of a jacket to control a player you have in the inside pocket. Ohhh, ahhhh, boy aint that too kewl, now that's some advanced tech.

Can anyone explain to me how this is so cool and why people are so impressed? You could take a 20 year old atari joystick control board and wire this puppy up yourself in about an hour.

Hell, my normal attire (work or otherwise) is a pair of shorts and a tshirt, the last thing I need is a wearable anything to clutter up my ensemble. Give me something I can clip to my shorts or stick in my pocket with decent ergos and I'm a happy man. Having a 802.11 antennae in my pocket (are you happy to see me or is that a WiFi antennae in your pocket, then again, with the size of a typical antennae, it had better be an antennae or it will be the only thing keeping you warm down there) is not my idea of enpowering, except in the literal sense.

Harumphhh.