Microsoft has ventured into the wearables space. However, this isn’t what you’re expecting. The company has not been looking at smart watches or glasses but is talking about a smart bra. Yes, you read this right. Microsoft has developed smart lingerie. Researchers at Microsoft have reportedly developed a prototype of a smart bra that is embedded with sensors that monitor heart and skin activity to indicate mood levels. The aim of this smart brassiere was to figure out if wearable technology can be used to help prevent stress-related overeating and other disorders, according to a report by the BBC.
It helps women keep stress related overeating under check. No, seriously
Mood data gauged by the smart bra is seen by the wearer on a smartphone app. This highlights the period where emotional eating was likely to occur for the woman. The smart bra is fit with activity sensors like an accelerometer and a gyroscope and also contains electrocardiogram and an electro-dermal activities sensor. The researchers went on to state that the bra was an ideal piece of clothing to try something of this sort because of its proximity to the heart. It allowed researchers to collect EKG (electrocardiogram) from quite close to the heart. Funnily enough, the researchers said that they did try to make a similar underwear for men, but since the sensors were too far away from the heart, the experiment understandably didn’t do as well. The experiments with the smart bra too were fraught with issues. The bra needed to be charged every three to four hours, allowing the women wearing it as an experiment to be able to report their emotions only for a few hours each day. While developing a smart piece of clothing that helps warn women about their stress levels is a laudable effort by Microsoft, we can’t help but look at the Google angle to this. To jog your memory, a couple of weeks ago as part of its “Scroogled” campaign, Microsoft had released a range of merchandise such as t-shirts, hoodies and caps that took a dig at Google. On its part, Google hit back at Microsoft saying that the competition in the wearables space was indeed heating up. Even though Google was hinting at its own Google Glass eyewear, Microsoft has actually come up with a wearable in this smart bra experiment now. Chalk this one up for Scroogled.
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