Even with all the hype about the “intersection of fashion and technology,” you don’t often run across clothing that gets written up in Vogue, WWD, and Wired. However, Nadi X yoga pants from Wearable X seem to tick a lot of boxes for both the fashion-forward and technology junkies—and even some yogis. The company calls their product “Nadi X Pant & Pulse,” and its … [Read more...]
The Worm Has Turned: Graphene into Silk
Graphene might a 21st century’s philosopher’s stone: flexible, strong, fashionable material that’s also conductive; the goal is fabric that can support technology without being clunky about it. Scientists at Beijing’s Tsinghua University have come up with the idea of combining silk with graphene—conductive carbon one-atom thick -- by feeding it to silkworms. It works, … [Read more...]
Homeland Security Backs Wearables for First Responders
The Department of Homeland Security does more than patrol borders and run airport checkpoints. It's also busy in the world of technology. Through the Security Science and Technology Directorate’s EMERGE 2016 program, DHS supports wearable technology research for first responders. The program matches strategic partners, startups, and accelerators to expedite research and … [Read more...]
Shirt to Self: Stop Slouching!
The concept of clothes that electronically improve posture might bring to mind a sweatshirt concealing a robotic brace that grabs slumping shoulders and jerks them into place. Or it might make you think of attractive clothing that more subtly and discreetly urges you straighten up; for instance, Dutch designer Pauline van Dongen’s new smart shirt, FysioPal. This is not the … [Read more...]
Knit Picking Your Music with Cyberknitics
The first knitted socks date to Egypt in the 1100s. (They must not have fit or they would have worn out instead of surviving all those centuries.) And hand knitting is still popular today, even though the cost of yarn frequently means it is much cheaper to buy ready-made; but, you know, arts and crafts and all that. Knitting has longevity. It has not yet been ousted by … [Read more...]
Cancer and Wearable Technology: Home Visits without the Visit
Cancer treatment has become comparatively easier to live with over the past decades, without actually becoming out and out palatable. And for a lot of patients, the treatment is still worse than the disease. Not that living with the disease is ever a walk in the park. A friend of ours who knows once said that deciding whether to undergo treatment for cancer was like deciding … [Read more...]
Hey, Dude, Answer Your Phone, You’re Drunk!
There’s a new entry in the rapidly expanding wearable tech category of "Who Would Buy This?": a patch that sends your phone a text when you’re “too drunk.” What’s your phone going to do, call a cab? If you’re that drunk, you probably can’t even focus on a text message. And chances are pretty good that you know you’re drunk, although “too drunk” is a relative condition unless … [Read more...]
Wearables Moving from Tracking Fitness to Fighting Chronic Disease
At a time of rumors that the fitness wearables market might be slackening, there is a continuing increase in the use of the technology in helping people with far more serious problems than getting their 10,000 steps. Intel and Israeli pharmaceutical company Teva, for example, have recently agreed to collaborate to develop a wearable to track disease progression in people with … [Read more...]
Managing Runway Stress with Style
British fashion designer Hussein Chalayan recently partnered with Intel to give the clothes in his new show that little added something—electronics that monitor stress levels. This can only have been for both companies to show off a little, especially for Intel to make a fashion case for its Curie module, an itty-bitty computer. Chalayan has previously commented that “Only … [Read more...]
Is That a Computer on Your Jeans or Are You Just Glad to See Me?
Spoiler alert: This product is under development, but does not yet exist in the way that most people understand "existence." The Dutch design group Nieuwe Heren (New Gents), basically Erik de Nijs and Tim Smit, have announced a new, well, concept: controlling your laptop by means of a keyboard, mouse, and speakers imbedded in an apparently ill-fitting pair of jeans. OK, … [Read more...]