Digital clothes

I guess this is kinda cool, a dress – at least the front side of one – composed of “scales” that can change from mirror-chrome to dull metallic on command. But even though it’s made of individual scales, it does not appear to be terribly flexible, and seems likely to be uncomfortable.

Still, if it could do more than just “shiny/matte,” but actually change colors, it seems like it might have a future. Specifically… plate *actual* steel scales with this material and make practical lamellar armor that can change color. That seems like it might be an interesting fashion for the future as society continues to get “enriched.” Shiny, perhaps even golden, armor when you’re out and about, and at the flick of a switch it turns matte black when the time comes to throw down.

Sure, here it seems to be pitched at the female market. But I suggest culturally appropriating the tech and making it the Must Have Man Product of the 2030’s.

 

8 responses to “Digital clothes”

  1. warhorse Avatar
    warhorse

    or hunting camo..each plate is connected to a camera on it’s opposite side and it matches the general color and light level of the image fed to it. as the plates get smaller the camo gets better.

    1. scottlowther Avatar
      scottlowther

      The trick *there* would be tailoring the output to the visual spectrum of the target species. What looks like forest green to human eyes might stand out like a nuclear powered Liberace to a deer, due to IR or UV emissions humans can’t see.

      1. warhorse Avatar
        warhorse

        true, extensive testing on the visual range of the target species would be wise. I would expect a lot of that research has already been done.

  2. Jeff Wright Avatar
    Jeff Wright

    Walking Graffiti is what we will see mostly…I saw something similar in the comic IRON MAN: HYPERVELOCITY where Stark’s empty, bleeding edge armor was assaulted by only slightly less cutting edge figures whose entire human shapes looked like the sides of subway cars.

    Protestors and sports fans will just become walking voxels… further dehumanizing us.

    1. Randino2001 Avatar
      Randino2001

      I think it was also in one of the Spiderman movies–the one where the Mega “C-17” has stealth camo in a scales form factor IIRC.

  3. Bill Hollifield Avatar
    Bill Hollifield

    There is a Halloween item now that is a see-through mask that is a decent resolution LCD screen. Shows all sorts of changeable scary faces. Wear it with a hoodie. Think of the changing patterns of Rorschach’s face in Watchmen. And the possible uses by Antifa protesters and other miscreants.

    1. scottlowther Avatar
      scottlowther

      I’m not concerned about protestor using this sort of thing. If they just want to hide their identities, a simple strip of cloth will do the job. All the LCD-mask will do is cost them money.

      Now if there was mask-tech that made you look like *someone* *else,* at least on AI-driven facial recognition, that might be a concern. But even fully masked your ID can be sussed out by gait analysis. I suspect that an early use for low cost powered exoskeletons might be to randomly modify your gait so that that can’t be used to ID you.

      1. warhorse Avatar
        warhorse

        I have one of these masks. visibility is limited in them. I certainly wouldn’t wear one in a riot. but you can upload still images of someone’s face, good enough to fool a facial recognition device at a distance. up close the pixelation becomes obvious.

        honestly I’m amazed one of these masks hasn’t been the centerpiece of some murder-mystery TV show yet.