TWO NYU GRAD STUDENTS DESIGN "SMART HOODIE" TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN COMMUNICATE PRE-PROGRAMMED TEXT MESSAGES

SMART HOODIE 

Soon, our phones and computers won’t be the only way to send a message.

Two graduate students at New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program designed the “Smart Hoodie,” a hooded sweatshirt with technology that can respond to different gestures like touching the hood or sleeve to communicate a pre-programmed text message.

“The concept of putting the technology behind a cell phone into something truly wearable and everyday is what this project stands to represent. A portable, wearable phone,” wrote Alina Balean, one of the developers, on her website.



Balean experimented with her new invention with her own mother. If she rolled up her left sleeve, her mother would receive a pre-programmed text that said, “I am in class and can’t talk.”

With her partner Rucha Patwardhan, Balean sewed a GSM radio into the sweatshirt to program her messages.

While the Smart Hoodie is still being developed, Balean is already looking to find other uses for her invention, including using it as a safety device for parents or even for undercover agents who need to send covert messages.