Send your hugs via text message

CuteCircuit was founded in 2004. It is a fashionable technology company with an excellence of design beauty of wearable technology and of interactive design. They are continuously creating "smart" clothing that'll be used as a fashionable, athletic, and communicational usability. With that in mind, CuteCircuit had created a proto-type shirt that allows the owners of cellphone (or more like towards frequent text-messengers) to send out hugs along with text message, videos, and images. The shirt itself communicates with the cellphone via bluetooth in order to transmit the hugs.

"The Hug Shirt™ is a Bluetooth accessory for Java enabled mobile phones. Hug Shirt™s don’t have any assigned phone number, all the data goes from the sensors Bluetooth to your mobile phone and your mobile phone delivers the hug data to your friend’s phone and it is seamlessly transmitted Bluetooth to his or her shirt"

There are senors and actuators that help create the experience of an actual hug. It then re-creates the distinctive cuddling, the sense of his/her warmth, pressure, duration and even heartbeat!

There aren't out on the market yet but the CuteCircuit company are coming out with another new interactive fashion collection this year.


Image from Time - Loreffrey for Time

For more info on the shirt visit their site here

"Can you hear me? Over?"

Nike's ACG COMMJacket has a two way radio that that can help communicte with your friends by hitting it on your chest (like STAR TREK). The ear piece by your ear, and the microphone by your mouth, it will allow communication among friends.

Light up that jacket!

I've heard of glow-in-the-dark sticks, mushrooms, tongues, and even fishes but jackets? Well...I guess it was no surprise. Marmot Phenomenon presents a glow-in-the-dark out door jacket that helps bring in the light in places where it's mostly needed. It requires four AAA batteries that power the panels for up to 12 hours when set on continual illumination, or twice that when set to flashing, and the entire system—predicted to weigh about six ounces—has sewn-in wiring that disappears between the jacket's layers.

Although the lights in the jackets don't really provide additional heat to your body, they are flexible enough to be worn and brought to anywhere and everywhere you would like to bring it to.

Built in heaters, recharable batteries, no it's not a electic blanket

It's North Face's jacket that provides the users to stay warm throughout any cold weather that may come blowing in. The jacket contains "Polartec Heat technology to provide added warmth when normal insulation just isn’t enough". With the combination of the "Polartec Power Shield" fabric combined with this heat technology, the North Face Met 5 Jacket provides warmth on demand with 3 user adjustment heating levels that run on rechargeable lithium ion batteries. This jacket helps reduce the need to add or subtract layers during stop and go activities. Plus it's got style to it.

iJacket?

So with wearable technology providing technology to be more and more compact and smaller, fashion (or more like the clothing industry) is combining both of them together to create a perfect harmony. Man...could you imagine? The ability of having all your small hand-held items IN your cloths instead of having it in your pockets?! With that in mind, the Burton Shield iPod Jacket provides the user to integrated your iPod with a control system in the jacket. It also contains updated SOFTswitch control pad. Other features included are:

- Compatible exclusively with the new generation of iPods
- 2-Layer Entrant HB Hybrid Shell
- ALS Lining
- Storm-lite 5.0-A Ballistic Nylon Fabric (20,000MM, 20,000G)
- Fully Taped Seams
- Mesh-Lined Pit Zips
- Molded iPod Chest Pocket
- Updated iPod Sleeve Control Panel
- Cargo Pockets with Waterproof Closure
- Fulltime Contour Hood
- Neckwarmer Collar
- Removable Foul Weather Face Shield

Hats off to you...

...Backcountry.com for having a number of wearable products. One which includes a Burton Audex Vibrant Headphone Beanie which brings audio to your ears while at the same time providing your head protection from the sun. It's a two-piece cord headphone with a long enough cord that can connect to your mp3 player that may be within your jacket or within your jeans.