Smart and fashionable, how could you not be impressed by designer Birce Ozkan Augmented Jacket? Inspired by nature and biomimicry, the jacket brags built-in technology that turns the stylish garment into a navigational instrument.
When you adorn the Augmented Jacket you will find yourself no longer so dependant on your mobile phone for directions, because this impressive smart jacket has been designed to help you find your bearings when you are are out and about. Featuring technology that imitates birds’ navigational systems, the jacket gives the wearer the kind of senses that will allow him/her to identify which direction he/she is heading. On the the design Ozkan shared, “During my research, I found that when humans lose their way, the easiest way to reorient themselves is to face north and visualize the map.”
Ozkan, a fashion and technology lecturer at Parsons School of Design, embedded electronics that include a microcontroller, servo motors and an electronic compass that measures earth’s magnetic field; and the result is that the black rooster feathers, connected to the 2-servo motors, will gently rise when the wearer walks in a northern direction.
Created with a matching feathered skirt that also interacts in the same way, we look forward to Ozkan syncing the garments to Google Maps so that the feather movements can communicate left and right turns along a particular route. So is it impractical? for sure, but ask yourself, what stunning beautiful fashion couture piece ever is?
Founding editor-in-chief of FashNerd.com, Muchaneta is currently one of the leading influencers writing about the merger of fashion with technology and wearable technology. She has also given talks at Premiere Vision, Munich Fabric Start and Pure London, to name a few. Besides working as a fashion innovation consultant for various fashion companies like LVMH Atelier, Muchaneta has also contributed to Vogue Business, is a senior contributor at The Interline and an associate lecturer at London College of Fashion, UAL.