Become Part of Sartorial and Technological History…

…beta-test the "smart shirt," which has

tiny conductive fibers [woven] into the cotton fabric of a shirt to enable monitoring of physiological activity.

A device smaller than a PDA snaps on the side of the shirt to collect data and transmit it to a computer. The data then is sent wired or wirelessly to clinicians or researchers.

The conductive fiber collects data on a wearer's movement, heart rate and respiration rate in real time. The shirt, minus the snap-on device, is washable….

[Via Slashdot]

Comments

[happyjuggler0]

"They" have been doing this for years with brainwaves. That is the bad news. The good news is that wearing a tinfoil hat blocks the signal.

[joe]

Since this thread will likely be populated by techies, can one of you help me out?

My credit card company sent me a new card with a "Paypass" feature. It allows me to just waive the card in front of something to pay.

Does this mean that my card contains one of those RF chip thingies? If I understand it correctly, that means that, when my card is exposed to a certain radiation field, it will send out a signal containing my credit card data, which can be read.

I don't like the way that sounds at all, if that's the case.

[E. Steven]

I await the 'smart underpants'.

[Jon H]

Beat the rush, before we're all required to wear them for purposes of NSA data collection.

[Creech]

We need a shirt that our legislators can wear: it would measure rational brain activity and prevent them from voting "yes" or "no" until they demonstrate some.

[Brian Courts]

Does this mean that my card contains one of those RF chip thingies?

Yes it has an RFID chip.

If I understand it correctly, that means that, when my card is exposed to a certain radiation field, it will send out a signal containing my credit card data, which can be read.

Not exactly. When it is exposed to a particular RF frequency it sends back an authorization code which the credit card company knows is your card - it does not send your card number. Also, from what I understand, they use a unique authorization code for each purchase, so even if it were intercepted it couldn't be reused. Further, the codes are good only for RFID transactions so even if it could be reused and someone managed to intercept it, he couldn't use it for any ordinary transaction anyway.

One scenario might be some very sophisticated thieves with the right RFID reader who walk around zapping authorization codes from you without your knowing. They would then have to be even more sophisticated to figure out how to use that code since it isn't like they can just go on an ebay spending spree with it. And, even if all that happened, which seems highly unlikely, it would be pretty obvious that it was a fraudulent charge so you wouldn't be liable and they wouldn't be able to get your card number anyway.

I suppose another scenario I might be more concerned with is accidentally walking too close to the stores RFID reader while some guy was buying his fiancee a ring or something. Not only would that be a lot of money but it might be hard to explain to the girlfriend or wife when she sees the bill. 🙂

[Pro Libertate]

joe, don't worry. The people tracking your every movement and thought are benevolent. They can forgive.

[Rick Barton]

Cool, I wanna participate in the beta test.

[Pro Libertate]

joe, don't worry. The people tracking your every movement and thought are benevolent. They can forgive.

[taktix]

I'd rather test the shirt that has a flexible LCD screen woven into it and a USB port near the tag. It supposedly allows you to download new shirt designs from the company's website.

I forget who's making it, but it's one of those expesive foreign clothing companies.

[Todd Fletcher]

I'm a techie but I prefer to have as few things on me as possible. 3 keys on my key ring, a wallet and that's it. I'm not snapping in a PDA thing into my shirt, no way.

[Larry A]

The company envisions the shirt being used to remotely monitor home-based patients, first responders, hazardous materials workers and soldiers.

I'll believe all but the soldiers. Gearing up for combat with a constant-output transmitter on my shirt would tend to send my heartrate through the roof.

[Cliff]

I suggest shirts for our politicians with a lie detector feature which shocks the wearer when he or she lies. I see this as similar to a shock collar for dogs.

[AnonCowherd]

I'll believe all but the soldiers.

It already exists for soldiers. I saw it demo'd at an AUSA convention in DC last year. Monitors/reports their vitals. It was called the "Life Shirt", although it was more of a vest. It plugged into the vehicle, it wasn't wireless/transmitter.

[AnonCowherd]

I'll believe all but the soldiers.

It already exists for soldiers. I saw it demo'd at an AUSA convention in DC last year. Monitors/reports their vitals. It was called the "Life Shirt", although it was more of a vest. It plugged into the vehicle, it wasn't wireless/transmitter.