 |
Pong Dress
The Pong Dress is the creation of artists Max Moswitzer and Magarete Jahrmann of the Ludic Society.
(The Pong Dress)
The classic video game Pong is implemented on a 5x7 LED screen worked into the dress. Two pixels on the right and left borders form the paddles; a single pixel is the "ball" moving back and forth.
At hip level, two retro-style game console controllers are plugged in to play the game. Every time a point is scored, the green score display at chest level blinks.
Update 22-Dec-2009: Take a look at a short video of the pong dress in action at a party.
End update.
Science fiction writers have, of course, led the way in thinking of ways that clothing can be so much more than mere fashion. In Philip K. Dick's 1977 novel A Scanner Darkly (recently released as a feature film), characters use a scramble suit to disguise themselves.
The scramble suit ... design consisted of a multifaceted quartz lens hooked up to a million and a half physiognomic fraction-representations of various people: men and women, children, with every variant encoded and then projected outward in all directions equally onto a superthin shroudlike membrane large enough to fit around an average human.As the computer looped through its banks, it projected every conceivable eye color, hair color, shape and type of nose, formation of teeth, configuration of facial bone structure - the entire shroudlike membrane took on whatever physical characteristics were projected at any nanosecond, then switched to the next...
(Read more about PKD's scramble suit)
In recent years, futuristic clothing has moved from fiction to reality:
- Chameleon T-Shirts With Electrochromic Polymers
Individual threads change colors. - Fabrican - Spray On Clothing
Temporary dresses or other apparel can be sprayed directly on the body. - Skiers Get Invulnerable Supersuits
Flexible body armor for athletes is now a reality.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 8/24/2006)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Clothing ")
iSphere Plastique Fantastique Face Mask Alternative
'Among these were some clad in the insulated space-suits, with their transparent glassite helmets.' - Edmond Hamilton, 1931.
Inkjet-Printed Wearable Solar Cells
Ultra-thin wearable organic photovoltaic material.
E - Ink's Automatic Self Styling Color-Changing Dress
'The racks of gowns itched and quivered, their colors running into blurred pools.' - JG Ballard, 1970.
Clothes That Do Photosynthesis
'Clothes are no longer made from dead fibers of fixed color and texture...' - JG Ballard, 1970
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
Mi TV LUX Transparent Edition OLED TV
The Look of Things To Come.
Metalenses Now Reconfigurable With Liquid Crystal
'Hufhuf oil held in static tension...'
'Alexa For Residential' A Landlord's Dream (Tenant's Nightmare?)
'...unseen mechanical entities... that are in our very midst. One of them following each of us.'
Gather Ye Moonrocks While Ye May
'The law of filing on newly discovered asteroids was definite.'
InMotion V11 Electric Unicycle Gets Air (Video)
'A tumblebug does not give a man dignity...'
Rid Thyself Of Ads On The Newsbox
'Can't we scramble that commercial?'
A.I. Jesus Proclaims Machine Gospel
'... he crossed the waiting room to the Padre booth; inside he put a dime into the slot and dialed at random.'
Google's Remixed 'Your News Update' ala Heinlein, Clarke, Pohl
'Perhaps we had better use the soundtrack and let it hunt.'
iSphere Plastique Fantastique Face Mask Alternative
'Among these were some clad in the insulated space-suits, with their transparent glassite helmets.'
Inkjet-Printed Wearable Solar Cells
Ultra-thin wearable organic photovoltaic material.
NDB Nuclear Waste Battery Lasts A Lifetime
'Trillions of units of power could be compressed thus into an inch-square cube of what looked like blue-white ice.'
Neuralink Will Land A Chip In Your Brain
'What are you talking about? Do you mean a neural lace?'
EPR Is Quick, Temporary Biostasis
'The cold-pack was being sucked out greedily by plastic suction tendrils...'
It's Time For Robots With Soft, Sensitive Skin
Sure, solid metal skin robots looked great once - like in science fiction movies of the 1920's.
An Ocean On Ceres
'We sailed gently forward, hull down to the asteroid's surface... A little sea was now beneath us.'
Microscopic Robots On The March!
'Microscopic machinery, smaller than ants, smaller than pins, working energetically, purposefully...'
