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, convenience and easy portability are devoutly to be wished in your electronic devices, and tech-embedded clothing is a coming thing, and keyboard substitutes are turning up all over the body. However, this, we believe, is taking things too far.
For starters, and this is a little hard to get past, the flexible keyboard is printed across the user’s crotch. Also the jeans seem to sag a lot. They look as they might slip down and you’ll be typing across your knees, flaunting your underwear before you know it. Uncomfortable, since the knees are where the speakers reside.
Notwithstanding, de Nijs said that they “are only a little bit heavier than your regular jeans,” speaking of the handmade-by-the-heren prototypes.
We’re trying to imagine a whole class of students fiddling around in their laps, taking notes. Now we’re trying to un-imagine it.
This product, perhaps not surprisingly, has a high possibility of never being realized. As de Nijs said, “The whole project is too complex and we don’t have enough money right now to get it ready for the market.”
