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MIT Media Lab Fashions

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the geek-fashion dept.

robyn217 writes "At MIT's Media Lab, researchers are developing fashion accessories on which patterns and designs can change according to the wearer's whim, and fashion prints can be shared virally via wireless communication. This technology will be a real boon for fickle New York City baseball fans at the Subway Series in the future (they can simply flip a switch to change from a Mets to a Yankees jersey."

11 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. Give me a break... by MustardMan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's a freaking PDA screen showing through a hole cut in the bag. The Media lab keeps getting lamer and lamer.

  2. As if advertising wasn't bad enough already... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...this'll make it a lot easier for people to sell themselves as add space.

  3. Shame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I thought MIT was a leading technology school. How come we keep seeing this lame crap coming from them? OMG, I twisted some cat5e into a pony and had a fashion show. Or, I cut a hole in a bag so my PDA would show through. Aren't these best and brightest supposed to be working on cool things like figuring out how to mass manufacture a fabric with OLEDs? Stop posting this crap.

    Going AC here since I know folks with MIT degrees.

    1. Re:Shame by AEton · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's the Media Lab. Their job is to make flashy things and get funny press coverage (and One Laptop Per Child: that's right, kid with two laptops, I'm talking to you -- get back here and give me that!)

      Outside of E15, there's quite a lot of "real" (conventional, Nature-worthy) research.

      --
      We recently had heard in the office over one of the Yellow Machine that's made by Anthology Solutions.
    2. Re:Shame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Should serious research into the intersection of art and technology be conducted at universities (where perhaps the most significant innovations in IT has occurred in the past), or should it be left to marketers at Apple and the video game vendors?

  4. Little use in fashion, as such by AdmNaismith · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Real fashion statements are made in fabric cut and silhouette. Women's fashion is dependent on a constantly changing outline. Men's fashion might benefit, but even in a man's suit there is some variation between designers and from season to season. Changing the color and pattern is kind of useless when you've been wearing the same shirt for a week. If it get's cold, your windbreaker can't color change into a parka and scarf. I figure this has limited use in fashion design, but plenty of use as adaptive camoflage.

    1. Re:Little use in fashion, as such by LordLucless · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually this has little use period. This isn't some cool e-ink for printing on fabric. This is a PDA with it's screen superglued to a transparent window in a backpack. Not flexible, cannot maintain state without power, bloody expensive and impractical for large uses. It'd be no more useful for adaptive camoflage than walking around with a plasma TV haning from your neck would be.

      --
      Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
  5. One more yawn..? by lawaetf1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Urbanhermes defines a communicative fashion framework that would ultimately consist

    I have this idea of a robotic housemaid that can also tune my car and cure cancer. Can I get a post on slashdot?

    It's pathetic how anything that MIT can conjecture automatically makes it news.

    A teddy bear that's also a 100mbit switch? OMFG what innovation!

    I know some of the older school media lab guys and even they are getting tired of the "news" they see in Tech Briefs etc.
    Please, give it a rest and treat the rest of us like we're not damned fanboys of anything MIT does. It's a good school that does some great science but it's not some flaming oracle.

    --
    CommentBot 0.7a running with args "-module irritate,disagree -target random"
  6. I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful
    This kind of technology would be better suited for something like a wireless OLED signpost that could warn a motorist of any car accidents ahead or black ice on the road etc....

    Much more useful than using it for some no good punk teen with too much money..

  7. Patterns for $2.50 each! Cheap! by Laxitive · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No, you will NOT be able to switch from a Yankees Jersey to a Mets Jersey in the flip of a switch. That would violate intellectual property rules.

    But you'll be able to do things ALMOST as cool. For a low payment of $2.50 per use, your fabric will connect to a AT&T mobile fabric pattern access point, from which you will be able to download AWESOME patterns which include all your favourite TV stars, American Idols, and Pop Starlets. "Locked" fabric will be rented to you at discounted prices in exchange for 2 year contracts costing roughly $200. Fabrics will be locked to only allow patterns from the manufacturer you bought it from. You will not be able to upload patterns from your computer to your fabric. You will not be able to share patterns with your neighbor.

    Enjoy your high-tech clothing of the future.

    -Laxitive

  8. Re:This is all well and good by kfg · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Just what do law makers do with someone that creates a virus that makes little girls clothes go transparent?

    Well, with a little bit of luck they'll realize how stupid the laws are, but that doesn't seem likely, does it?

    In the meantime, Mr. Smartypants, try setting your desktop background color to "transparent" and make your monitor disappear.

    KFG