Photo: Courtesy Of Proceedings of IEEE Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction.
What do Victoria's Secret and Microsoft have in common? Turns out, they're both in the bra business. Maybe it was only a matter of time until this whole wearable tech mania expanded into our underwear drawers. And now, it has — in a big (weird) way.
Researchers at the computer giant have been quietly working on a prototype for a "smart bra" capable of reading your mood, recording activity data, and measuring your heart rate, among many other things. The bra incorporates a small EKG sensor, as well as an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and electro-dermal activities sensors, which feed into a motherboard in the front of the bra. Data collected by the sensors then syncs automatically to a smartphone app (because of course), giving the wearer up-to-date information on some pretty complex body physiology.
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Photo: Courtesy Of Proceedings of IEEE Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction.All very impressive tech-wise, for sure, but we can't help but wonder: Why a smart bra? Researchers say that the close proximity of the sensors to the heart means more accurate measurements of all kinds of data — everything from metabolic rate to stress levels.
In fact, the project was designed to see whether providing information on stress levels in real time would have any effect on eating habits. In other words, if you knew you were stressed, would you be less likely to make food choices based on stress? Sounds promising, but there is one little caveat: The batteries have to be recharged every three to four hours. Ahh, the future. (BBC)