In the 1986 movie Maximum Overdrive based on a book by Stephen King, the character Bill Robinson says, “It isn’t the comet. It’s a broom. Imagine you’re a race of aliens, right? And, you’re looking for a new place to live. Say you’re looking for a planet like you and I looking for a new place to live. A new house. So here’s Earth. Only it’s like this big old house. And, it’s kind of polluted, dirty, and smoky. Grease on the walls, soot in the chimney. So, they send in their interstellar housecleaners. Send in their broom. Sweep us all up. That’s what this it is, it’s a broom. Using our own machines to sweep us right off.”

Conspiracy theory? True or not, machines are finding their way into what we wear.

Fashion electronics or wearable technology are clothing and accessories that incorporate one or more technologies. The goals are to have a technological appearance and to provide practical functions and features. DIY (do it your way) fashion is another fun way to share your image with others.

Tweeters can wear a “Pocket Tweet” using a java application. They do something like CTRL C and CTRL V of their favorite Twitter text bubble to a person’s shirt.  See the tne example of Do-it-yourself wearable geekery that was part of an art exhibit for the Wearable Technology AIR project in spring 2009.

Is there a demand for neck-stroking or for writing the next hit concerto?

Some practical applications of fashion electronics is for  monitoring and feedback in realtime for athletes, military, and medical patients. Like all technologies, the more research and application, the more the cost of using such decreases, plus the cost of processing power and other components is making your e-Brand of fashion more accessible to purchase.

What would be the advantages or disadvantages of having the heart-rate monitor in jog bras or in the waist-band of running shorts? Maybe there could be a slightly wider temple area to hold a heart monitor, stop watch, and GPS?

Prototypes for digital eyewear with heads up display (HUD) are being developed. Even thhe US and other countries’ military utilize headgear with monitors for soldiers. This uses a technology called holographic optics.

What about a dress that lights up when you get a cell phone call? Is that your dress ringing?

It’s the M-dress! It’s produced by a UK firm called CuteCircuit. The M-Dress actually works with a standard SIM card. When the dress rings, you raise your hand to your head to answer the call. (Remember the watch that you listen to music and take calls on? At $199 USD with a SIM capability.)

Fashion electronics has always been alluded to in movies and television. Remember the old Dick Tracy wrist radio and the new Igugu 14 karat gold with leather strap phone watch at ShowStoppers; Maxwell Smart’s shoe phone, badge communicator and locating device; the trichorder scanner like a gun in Doc Bones McCoy’s holster, James Bond’s watch, Batman’s utility belt, Spiderman’s web shooter in his costume, James Bond’s nemesis’s odd-job “The Hat” razor hat, and even Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill from ZZ Top had Guitar jumpsuits?

Fashion and/or functional, wearable technology lets you e-Brand yourself. What will you wear today?