Microsoft Researchers Have Developed A Bra That Warns Women When They're Stressed Out And Eating Too Much

Microsoft's researchers have developed a bra to warn women when they're overeating because of stress, Eric Niiler at Discovery reports:

"It's mostly women who are emotional overeaters, and it turns out that a bra is perfect for measuring EKG (electrocardiogram)," said Mary Czerwinski, a cognitive psychologist and senior researcher in visualization and interaction at Microsoft. "We tried to do the same thing for men's underwear but it was too far away (from the heart)."

The bra has a special material and sensors to monitor stress, says Niiler. From there, a women is alerted to her mood, and can adjust her behavior:

The sensors captured heart rate and respiration with an EKG sensor, skin conductance with an electrodermal activity sensor, and movement with an accelerometer and gyroscope. The data was streamed to a smartphone app, as well as stored in the researchers' computer.

The prototype of the bra had a battery which ran out of juice after four hours. Czerwinski tested the bra on a small group of volunteers. They kept having to recharge their bras, which was a pain, she said.

Wearable technology is one of those big areas that companies are exploring. This idea needs refinement, but it's one of those things you could actually see being used in the not too distant future.

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