The Japanese may not have a monopoly on quirky wearables, but they sure seem to have a handle on high concept. We’re hearing today about the Wearable Womanliness-Boosting Bra from manufacturer Triumph International Japan. The idea — and this is not ever going to be a real product — is that the bra will respond to a woman’s voice with confidence-inspiring compliments. Kind of like an Amazon Echo that you can wear.
Taking the concept a little further, it’s entirely possible (for some futuristic definition of “possible”) that sensors built into the bra would be able to tell when its wearer is stressed, maybe even identify the source and level of stress, and tailor its response accordingly. If blood pressure, sweat, and motion are higher as a wearer’s calendar indicates an imminent meeting with the boss, maybe the bra could respond with career-affirming niceties. And we’re sure your imagination can take it from there; you could start with haptics.
There is, of course, no reason that this couldn’t be adopted for men’s underwear, either. It’s just that men’s underwear is a couple of feet further away from their ears than women’s, so the conversation would have to be above the level of a murmur.
(Thanks to Robin Raskin, who would never be caught dead in one of these, for the pointer.)