Zip It: Wearable Tech Jacket Runs iPod With Hand Gestures

Clothing and accessories with integrated circuitry and some kind of techy function are becoming ever more common, but for the most part they tend to look like clothes with electronics tacked on as an afterthought. The Zip Jacket, designed by Jennifer Darmour, is a much more stylish way to take your iPod or phone wherever you go and control it with intuitive movements. It’s not a dorky, ugly jacket with wires sticking out all over – it’s actually a unique and nice-looking accessory.

Rather than fumbling in your pocket for your iPod’s volume controls, the Zip Jacket lets you simply move the jacket’s zipper up or down. The integrated soft circuit wiring connects jacket and gadget to make controlling your music or phone a simple prospect, even when you’re focused on ordering a latte or trying to find the right train platform.

The current version of the Zip only includes the zipper-connected volume control and built-in headphones, but Darmour says that future versions will include all of the regular iPod functions, like browsing a playlist and pausing the music. Like the current Zip jacket, future versions will rely on natural movements to control all of the functions of the attached device.

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See more in Home & Personal or under Gadgets. January, 2011.