GPS-tracked Clothing

Anil Kandangath writes "A Japanese firm has shown off new technology that enables GPS units to be embedded in clothing that will enable the wearer to be tracked continuously. The device is thin enough to be tacked on unobtrusively and is powered by a thin watch battery. It is also capable of taking biometric measurements and transmitting them PCs and handheld devices. Though marketed as a device to enable people to keep track of spouses, how long before such technology becomes intrusive in our lives?" Like tracking your spouse is ok?. What a world! Update: 05/29 18:00 GMT by Z : Not actually real. A Contagious Media project. Please do not try to monitor your SO's panties.

Comments

spoof

[Hank Chinaski]

this is obviously fake ... slashdot editors do your homework.

Re:spoof

[NetFusion]

The contagiousmedia.org is the giveaway. Slashdot covered this web page meme advertising contest earlier.

Re:spoof

[A beautiful mind]

And Taco obviously attempted to do some perl scripting, with a revolutionary new way:

Like tracking your spouse is ok?. What a world!

I mean, most, less experienced or cunning perl coders would have done it this way:

"$comment = $track_spouse ? 'What a world!':'';"

If you look at the revolutionary concatisanation, the new way to use ? and . next to each other clearly indicate a brilliant new way to use the Conditional Operator and the "." Additive Operator.

Some less experienced people on slashdot might wonder, that it was just a typo(sic!). They must be new here and do not grasp the subtle indications of the existence of a brilliant mind CmdrTaco must be possessing.

Tracking...

[darkov]

Really, what is the point of stalking them after you've married them?

If you need electronics to track your spouse

[Xargle]

you've made their chain too long.

It's a joke, but still

[broothal]

Ok - at first I didn't realize this was a joke, but just a quick look at the advertized product gives it away.

But even though this is a joke, the technology to achieve this isn't that far away. I'm going to be a parent in about 6 months, and while my kid is young, I wouldn't mind attaching a GPS to the kid. Of course, once he/she reaches a certain age, I will have to trust him/her. But until then, I'd be using such a device in a jiffy. I think... it's my first, so I don't know what to expect from having kids ;)

Absolute Hoax.

[Beardo the Bearded]

I'm an EE. I work with GPS. Right now (well okay, during the week) I'm working with the cutting edge Xemics GPS engine. It's about 3cm x 4cm x 0.5 cm. That's the engine plus the em shield.

Now, let's add the following:

Batteries. The engine requires a steady 3.0 - 3.6 V supply capable of sustained current of 50mA. You're looking at a 1/2 AA form factor minimum.

Antenna. GPS antennas require a view of the sky. Beyond that, special antennas designed to fit against the skin are about as thick as a pencil and about 2 cm long.

CPU and circuitry to decode the GPS signal. (Polling RS232) The size is up to you. The minimum is about the size of a quarter, so I'll grant this part if they use the internal oscillator.

Let's assume the signal is to be broadcast. Then add:

Transmitter. This will probably include a crystal.

Antenna for the transmitter. If we're talking about a VHF transmitter at 150 MHz, the antenna is going to be about 24 INCHES long. (That's already 1/4 wave!)

Now fit this into panties unobstrustively.

No way. There is absolutely NO WAY a GPS tracker could be fit into a pair of panties. A jacket, maybe IF it was puffy.

Re:Absolute Hoax.

[Dun Malg]

I'm an EE. I work with GPS. Right now (well okay, during the week) I'm working with the cutting edge Xemics GPS engine. It's about 3cm x 4cm x 0.5 cm. That's the engine plus the em shield.

Transmitter. This will probably include a crystal. Antenna for the transmitter. If we're talking about a VHF transmitter at 150 MHz, the antenna is going to be about 24 INCHES long. (That's already 1/4 wave!)

This is a point which can't be repeated too often: GPS is a totally passive system at the user end. I look forward to a time when regular people understand GPS well enough to know that GPS doesn't track anything ! All a GPS device does is calculate its own location using radio and math. If I had a nickel for every time some jackass script writer has a TV/movie character say "we're tracking him via GPS satellites"...well...I'd have a lot of nickels. I fear eventually we'll get a society full of semi-educated dolts who think that GPS=Tracking Device and will demand that laws be passed mandating GPS devices be at least footstool sized so nobody can "plant one on them"; but they'll all walk around with cell phones, of course, which have no tracking capabilities at all, right?

A quick google search reveals

[fohat]

That this site is indeed a farce. http://www.gearlive.com/index.php/news/article/for get_me_not_panties_05260101/

Re:Ridiculous

[ShieldW0lf]

Spoken like someone who's never lost their spouse at the mall. I'd much rather track her RFID panties down with my Dick Tracy watch than have her show up at our meeting place an hour late with a thousand dollars worth of clothes that make her look fat in any mirror besides the one in the store...

"Oh no, her heart rate spiked! I'd better get over there before she gets to the sales counter!"

the link

[westlake]

Contagious Media Showdown

Currently in second place, 175,000 visitors, 115 blog links. Geeks are so gullible when it comes to sex and tech.

It seems they broke the rules:

[zippthorne]

7) No ads, no bots, no scams.
You are permitted to promote your entry however you see fit, with three exceptions: You may not use paid advertisements, automated processes that fake traffic, or scams that produce traffic without people actually seeing your content. Most other stuff is fair game.

emphasis mine.

It seems that by posting to slashdot, they have violated the rules.