Sony files patent for bizarre hairpiece that gives directions by vibrating its sideburns

It is a truly hair-raising idea; a wig that can monitor your health, give you directions, and even change its shape.

The bizarre patent for a 'wearable computing device, comprising a wig that is adapted to cover at least a part of a head of a user' has been filed by electronics giant Sony.

The U.S. patent describes a terrifying-sounding device called a SmartWig, which is packed with sensors and special devices that vibrate on the user’s head to give them messages such as driving directions.




The bizarre patent for a 'wearable computing device, comprising a wig that is adapted to cover at least a part of a head of a user,' has been filed by electronics giant Sony. It has a circuit board hidden under the hair and can talk to a second device - such as a phone

The application describes a standard wig that could ‘be made from horse hair, human hair, wool, feathers, yak hair or any kind of synthetic material.’

However, the wig could also include special fibres that move, changing its shape.

It has a circuit board hidden under the hair and can talk to a second device - such as a phone.

‘The user can wear the wearable computing device as a regular wig while looking natural at the same time,’ the says.



Wearers of the wig can give presentations wearing it and switched slides by tapping their sideburns, under which buttons are hidden. They may not be as impressive as Bradley Wiggins' sideburns, who is pictured here after winning the 2012 Tour de France

WHY WEAR A SMARTWIG?

It vibrates on a user's head to give them messages, such as driving directions.

People can wear it to give presentations by tapping their sideburns.

It also has a laser pointer built in for presentations.

A built-in GPS chip could monitor the area around the wearer to make sure they don't bump into things.

The wig could include special fibres that move to change its shape.

They could be worn by couples who want to make each other's hairpieces vibrate.

Sony has already tested the wig with employees who gave presentations wearing it and switched slides by tapping their sideburns.

'One or two switch buttons may be provided under the sideburns of the wig, and the one or more buttons are connected to the external computer via a wireless connection (using the Wi-Fi module),' Sony’s documents reveal.

The SmartWig also has a GPS chip built in and ultrasound sensors that could monitor the area around the wearer to make sure they don’t walk into things.

'During a presentation the user may, for example, move forward or backward through presentation slides by simply pushing the sideburns. Thus, the user can control the presentation slides simply by natural behaviour like touching side burns.'



The SmartWig also has a GPS chip built in and ultrasound sensors that could monitor the area around the wearer to make sure they don't walk into things

The SmartWig also has a built in laser pointer for presentations.

‘The laser pointer may, for example, be arranged on a forehead part of the wig, so that the user may point out relevant information on the projected slide in the above-explained presentation mode.’

Sony even says the wigs could be worn by couples.

'If one user touches one of his/her vibration motors, the other users equivalent motor may vibrate,' the patent says.

As tech giants try to out-do each other by patenting cyborg-like technologies, Motorola has recently filed a patent for a 'tattoo,' which would be placed onto a person's throat and pick sounds created by their voice.

If the user is making a phone call, the tattoo would then send these sounds wirelessly to the smartphone and the caller.

The patent is called ‘Coupling an electronic skin tattoo to a mobile communication device’ and was originally filed in May last year.

Throughout the patent, Motorola calls the device ‘electronic tattoo 110’ and said it would ‘comprise audio circuitry that enables reception of acoustic signals from a person's throat’.

Put simply, the tattoo’s built-in microphone could pick up the sounds made by a person’s voice by reading vibrations and fluctuations of muscle or tissue from their voicebox.

It continues that the tattoo would either contain a battery that ‘may or may not be rechargeable’, or alternatively, could be powered by an NFC or Bluetooth charging device.


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