Hasta La Gadget!

I don’t care much for people who wear fur because I think there are many different and much more humane ways to keep warm when the weather’s being particularly unforgiving.

I have no such objections to this ‘fur’ coat commissioned by dairy company Arla, because the ‘fur’ part actually stops at its name. Though I still can’t endorse this coat for other reasons.

Instead of animal pelts, these coats are actually made from men’s chest hairs. Yes. Men’s. Chest. Hairs.

It doesn’t look that bad at first glance, but the more I think about it, the more queasy I get. You’ve got to hand it to the models who kept their breakfasts and lunches in their stomachs as they posed in the too-hairy coat.

So why would a dairy company commission a coat made from chest hair? Well, Arla’s using it as part of their advertising campaign for a new milk product that was made for men.

The product is described as a “chocolate milk drink with added protein directed at men in their 30s and 40s.”

I don’t know what hair has to do with milk (does milk help men grow thicker and fuller chests of hair?), but a lot of work definitely went into the making of the coats, which reportedly took over 200 hours.

I can’t say much about the milk drink, although I can say that the coat has generated a lot of buzz for Arla.

[METRO via The World’s Best Ever via Laughing Squid]

Some dresses have designs that are so unusual that you can’t help but stare at them. These two dresses designed by Ying Gao in collaboration with robotics designer Simon Laroche definitely will draw attention.

These interactive pieces of clothing, titled (no)where (now)here are equipped with eye-tracking technology so that they literally come alive when someone’s looking at them. Tiny motors are activated to set off wave-like motions all over the dresses, while the photoluminescent thread gives the dresses a distinctive glow.

The design is complicated but beautiful, and the concept intriguing.

The artist’s statement reads: “A photograph is said to be ‘spoiled’ by blinking eyes – here however, the concept of presence and of disappearance are questioned, as the experience of chiaroscuro (clarity/obscurity) is achieved through an unfixed gaze.”

[via Dezeen via C|NET]

Smog, haze, smoke, exhaust… The atmosphere is full of pollutants these days. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do about it. You could go out and face the world wearing a mask, or you could just slip the Hand Tree around your wrist the next time you take a stroll – assuming it existed.

The Hand Tree is a concept design by Alexandr Kostin that marries wearable technology with a relatively common appliance, the air purifier. The bracelet is essentially a wearable air purifier that filters air on the go, surrounding its wearer with fresh air that’s minus all the unpleasant smells and particulates normally found in city air.

It’s a neat concept but I think the task of shrinking a normally bulky air purifier down to wrist size would be very, very challenging.

The Hand Tree is a semi-finalist in the Electrolux Design Lab 2013.

[via Yanko Design]

When the Sun comes out, it’s time to slather on the sunblock. It’s also time to put on your Wearable Solar outfit – because while it’s not the most conservative looking clothing, it’s definitely one of the most functional, avant garde pieces you can wear.

The Wearable Solar project is headed by Christiaan Holland and Pauline van Dongen. With their team of researchers, they’ve created flexible solar cells that can be sewn into clothing and worn.

These cells essentially turn its wearer into a living, breathing power plant of sorts.

The Wearable Solar suit was designed not only with functionality in mind. No one would want to walk around in such a bulky suit all day, so the shoulder flaps easily fold in to hide the panels when the wearer is done soaking up the sun for the day.

Whoever said you can’t be fashionable but still be eco-friendly obviously hasn’t heard of the Wearable Solar.

[via Design.nl via Dvice]

While there are many futuristic uses for the heads-up display in Google Glass, several people I’ve met who were wearing them used them primarily to capture images and videos from their personal point of view. So if you don’t want to spend $1500 on a pair of real Google Glasses, you can get the camera part for less than 1/10th that cost.

Made by Japan’s Thanko, the Mitanmanma Megane HD Camera Glasses(JP) are designed so you can capture POV video on the cheap. Just place the glasses over your eyes, press the button, and start capturing video to a microSD card. Unlike Google Glass, however, that’s all these glasses do. If you start asking them where the nearest Starbucks is, you’ll be waiting a very long time for an answer. They don’t capture still images, and they won’t make appointments for you either.

Unlike other video glasses, these ones are quite minimal, weighing in at just 2.1 ounces (though a regular pair of sunglasses weighs about 1/4 of this). Also, they can’t be worn over other eyeglasses like Google Glass. They’re capable of capturing a (suspect) 1920×1080 resolution AVI format video at 20 to 30fps. They’re supposed to run for about 30 to 40 minutes on a charge. Here’s some craptacular sample video so you can check out the image quality:

I’m not sure if the frame rate gets any better than that, so they look like they’d be good for capturing animated GIFs and Vines more than full-motion video. Still, what do you want for a hundred bucks? You can get a pair of the Thanko Mitamanma Megane HD Camera Glasses from Japan Trend Shop for $112(USD) plus $12 for worldwide shipping.