Neuro Headset
The Emotiv EPOC neuroheadset is for gamers and is available for $299. It’s described as "a high resolution, neuro-signal acquisition and processing wireless neuroheadset." The headset uses a set of sensors to "tune into electric signals produced by the brain to detect player thoughts, feelings and expressions and connects wirelessly to most PCs."
According to the company, the headset can detect emotions such as anger, excitement and tension, as well as facial expressions and cognitive actions like pushing and pulling objects.
Thought Helmet
Let’s get very futuristic for a minute. Six Revisions references an article in Time from September 2008, which claims that the U.S. Army is actively pursuing "thought helmets" for secure mind-to-mind communication between soldiers. The goal "is a system where entire military systems could be controlled by thought alone. While this kind of technology is still far off, the fact that the military has awarded a $4 million contract to a team of scientists from the University of California at Irvine, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Maryland means that we might be seeing prototypes of these systems within the next decade."
Image: Wikimedia
iPod Watch
Back to the now, and there are already a range of iPod watches available from different manufacturers. These watches let you control your iPod using your wireless watch.
Biosensor Underwear
RSC Publishing reported recently that US scientists have developed durable biosensors that can be printed directly onto clothing, to allow continuous biomedical monitoring outside hospitals. The aim is to enable constant monitoring of blood pressure and heart rate:
"Joseph Wang and colleagues at the University of California San Diego, La Jolla have developed a method for printing biosensors directly onto clothing. To form the sensors, Wang screen-printed carbon electrode arrays directly onto the elastic bands of mens’ underwear. The tight contact and direct exposure to the skin allows hydrogen peroxide and the enzyme NADH, which are both associated with numerous biomedical processes, to be monitored using the sensor, explains Wang."
Nanofibers
To round out our list, we go a level down the clothing chain and look at next generation fabrics. Delta Farm Press reports that Cornell University’s Department of Textiles and Apparel aims to develop fibers that have computing devices in them. An example use case is a shirt "made of cotton threads coated with a thin layer of semiconductor polymers and nanoparticles that conduct electric and can power your cell phone or iPod or monitor your heartbeat, brainwaves, and other functions."
The University is also investigating "textiles that can act as sensors that could be used to detect the presence of hazardous bacteria, such as E. coli or anthrax." A further example is smart clothes made of fibers that can change colors – "one appropriate for daytime business environment, a different one for nighttime socializing."
One thing is for sure with all ten of these examples of ‘smart clothing’ – at least some of the clothing that we wear in the future is likely to be networked, in one form or another!
Thanks to Deane Rimerman, who provided research for this article.