An Emotion-Sensing High-Tech Scarf

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, MD, USA. A team of researchers together with the Microsoft Research team have come up with an idea of a very fashionable piece of technology; a scarf which can help the wearer determine their emotional state. SWARM (Sensing Whether Affect Requires Mediation) as they call it, show great possibilities in the future. For example, Swarm can play lively music if a person is happy or weights can be added if a person feels stressed. Some of the emotions that the device can react to are stressed, sad, calm, happy, and excited.

This concept was created for people with autism and hearing and visual impairments. It was designed as a scarf for multiple reasons. One of them is that the item is widely used as a fashion piece anywhere and that the person wearing it would not feel they are using an assistive device. The weighted vests used in ASD therapy is also one of the inspirations used to develop the scarf. It is also designed to help the person handle their emotions and supply the needed information. This is specifically made for people with disabilities.

The research team is headed by Michele A. Williams, a PhD Candidate in Human-Centered Computing in the Information Systems Department at UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County). The prototype is an adjustable laser-cut garment made of hexagons of modern felt coated with conductive copper taffeta. Some of the components change its temperature while the others pulsate. It works together with a phone application via Bluetooth technology.

Researchers are still working on future developments of the scarf. They would like this gadget to be able to monitor more than emotions. Another advancement they would like is a full emotion detection and the ability to monitor an individual’s heart rate. More system updates are being done for the moment.

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