Microsoft Demonstrates Smart Scarf With Swappable Modules

Microsoft’s interesting in the wearables market is well-known. Just last year we saw Microsoft launch the Microsoft Band fitness wearable, and during their Windows 10 presentation this month the company also unveiled the HoloLens headset, and now it looks like the company is continuing to explore the types of wearables that could be possible in the future.

During a presentation at a conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction at Stanford University, researchers at Microsoft showed off what appeared to be a scarf. It wasn’t a regular scarf but a smart scarf which basically acted as a proof of concept as to the different ways that people could physically interact with technology.

The scarf, made from hexagonal industrial felt and conductive copper taffeta modules, will work when paired via Bluetooth with the wearer’s smartphone and an accompanying app. The app can then command the scarf to heat up or vibrate depending on the type of modules that have been embedded it in. What makes it interesting is the fact that the modules can be taken apart and rearranged according to the wearer’s comfort.

However its technology also means that it can be made into a different kind of wearable, like a sleeve. The reason the scarf form factor was chosen was because it helped to make the technology more discreet. Like we said earlier, this is more of a proof of concept of what could be achieved and it seems unlikely that the scarf would be made into an actual product, but it certainly is intriguing and a hint at what we could expect in the future of wearables.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Gadgets
Tags: Microsoft, Wearable Tech