Something interesting is brewing at Sony, which is trying to make its presence felt in the wearable computing market. While other companies are working on smartwatches and smart glasses, Sony is doing something completely different - the Japanese giant and maker of the PlayStation 4 has patented something called "SmartWig," which is a wearable wig with computing capabilities.
The potential use of such a device includes checking the wearer's blood pressure, and flipping through presentation slides, among other things. Furthermore, this SmartWig is expected to provide tactile feedback.
"The usage of a wig has several advantages that, compared to known wearable computing devices, include significantly increased user comfort and an improved handling of the wearable computing device," per the U.S. patent filing.
Sony first filed for the patent back in May of this year, but it only came to light this week.
The wearable hairpiece comes with sensors that allow it to process data and to communicate wirelessly with various devices in range.
Furthermore, Sony's SmartWig can be made from human hair, horse hair, feathers, wool, buffalo hair, yak hair, or any form of synesthetic material available, according to Sony. A Sony spokesperson has confirmed the SmartWig is real, but said that research is ongoing and that the company hasn't decided yet whether to make it comemrcially available.
"It is an object to provide an improved wearable computing device," Sony said in the patent application. "At least one sensor, the processing unit and the communication interface are arranged in the wig and at least partly covered by the wig in order to be visually hidden during use."
What Sony is doing here is quite interesting, and, in the future, as wearable computing devices begin to find their place in the world, a Smart Wig could become a fashion trend for many individuals. But for now, we fail to comprehend how the SmartWig will actually look on somebody's head.
