A smartjacket… It’s like a smartwatch, for people that don’t like watches. Wearable electronics, it is becoming more and more popular. And why wouldn’t it? The probability of losing it, or getting it stolen in a club, is way smaller and at the same time you can make a fashion statement!
The ultimate goal of this so called “smart clothing”, is full integration of electronics into fashion. Integration of these two industries is the future for both the clothing, as the electronic industry, since collaboration will create added value for both industries. The production of interactive textiles, seems to have endless opportunities and can be useful for many different purposes. The military, public safety, healthcare, but also fitness, could all potentially benefit from the emerge of smart clothing. (Ariyatum et al., 2003), (The Guardian, 2017).
In the current digital world, most people are expected to be online 24 hours a day. Whether this is for business or family, the present norm is to be online whenever and wherever. This creates a double-faced situation: on the one hand, people are expected to stay live, on the other hand people get more and more annoyed by people who are constantly checking their phone. And I agree; it doesn’t look nice when your dinner date keeps checking his phone every two minutes. Well, this is the point smart clothes come in handy. You are now enabled to stay live in a much more subtitle way. (Park et al., 2003).
Since cycling while texting is an emerging problem, I think the topic of smart clothing becomes interesting. It has been proven to be very dangerous when you’re cycling, but keep looking at your screen (Kyle, 2017). Smart clothes might encounter this problem. And yes, it might be argued, wearing smart clothes will encourage people to check their messages and notification at all times. You don’t have to take your cell phone out of your pocket anymore. No. Your notifications are just right in front of you. All. The. Time.
But when you are checking your status while cycling, the use of smart clothes make it less dangerous. You can keep both hands on your steering wheel and in addition, the screen is much bigger, and positioned in a better way.
And the best is yet to come. As smart clothes have the ability to register every movement, your clothes will know whether you’re cycling, driving or walking. Your clothes can now make the decision for you, whether you, in that moment, should be online. A similar concept arose about two months ago; KPN launched a bicycle lock that blocks cell phone activities for as long as it is unlocked (De Beurs, 2017). With the aid of this lock, children aren’t able to use their phone while cycling. This same concept could, in the near future, be adopted by smart clothing, creating saver world.
Looking from a social-, time-management, safety ánd fashion- perspective, smart clothing seems to possess all the ingredients needed to become a great success.
Bibliography
1. Ariyatum, B., & Holland, R. (2003). A strategic approach to new product development in smart clothing. In Proceedings of the 6th Asian Design Conference (Vol. 70).
2. De Beurs (2017) Slim fietsslot blokkeert smartphonegebruik. Retrieved from https://www.debeurs.nl/Beursnieuws/ANP-210617-089/Slim-fietsslot-blokkeert-smartphonegebruik.aspx, viewed 06-10-2017.
3. Kyle, S. (2017). The connected Commuter jacket from Google and Levi’s is finally coming this fall. The Technews. Retrieved from http://thetechnews.com/2017/03/13/the-connected-commuter-jacket-from-google-and-levis-is-finally-coming-this-fall/, viewed 06-10-2017.
4. Park, S., & Jayaraman, S. (2003). Smart textiles: Wearable electronic systems. MRS bulletin, 28(8), 585-591.
5. The Guardian (2017). Jacquard: Google and Levi’s ‘smart jacket’ that you can only wash 10 times. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/26/jacquard-google-levis-smart-jacket-denim, viewed 06-10-2017.
Hello Gozewien,
Interesting to read that they are developing smart clothing. I think it is definitively dangerous that we use are smartphones while on the road, whether that is riding a bike/car or even walking on the streets without paying attention to traffic. But even though this can lead to a lot of accidents, I still believe it is our own responsibility. I would not want my clothing to stop me from using whatever device. I think a better solution would be to inform people better about the consequences of using certain devices. I think people would experience a “creep factor” when their clothing stops them from doing things. Then they always know what we are doing.