Forget Phones. You Can Now Text With Your Sweatshirt?!
We hate to pull a “back in my day”… but back in our day, if you had a cellphone you were very skilled at texting from inside your pocket in class. You knew how many times to push each number button to type out words without looking. Remember buttons? Well forget them, because the Smart Hoodie is making our flashback phones and our snazzy smart ones look a little archaic. From inside this comfy hoodie, you can text your friends… no buttons required.
NYU grad students Alina Balean and Rucha Patwardhan are introducing us to the concept of gesture-based commands with the Smart Hoodie. After you manually program the default texts into the sweatshirt’s chip, it sends your programmed messages to preset contacts when triggered. You can roll up your sleeves, pull on your hood or act out any of the other subtle, reusable gestures. For now, it’s restricted to texting and doesn’t have a web or mobile interface, but the future takes time, people. Want to tell your S.O. that you’re getting on the train to head home? Just raise your sleeve. Done-zo.
The Smart Hoodie isn’t bug-free… or even fully practical… yet. For instance, we don’t have a “wearable tech” notch on our washing machines, and what if it’s too hot for a sweatshirt? Still, Balean and Patwardhan have made a stellar start in the world of wearables. Imagine if tapping your hood signaled an emergency response if you felt like you were in danger? And hey, we wouldn’t mind snapping a bra strap to instantly order a pizza. Just an idea.
You can add your name to the list for a notification when the Smart Hoodie is available for purchase. We’re excited to see where this technology goes! Check it out in action below.
Got any bright ideas for wearable tech? Pass ’em on in the comments.