A home security startup made a holiday sweater with build-in alarms that go off when someone steps within 6 feet

• Home security company SimpliSafe has unveiled a prototype holiday sweater with a siren and flashing LED lights that are activated when someone steps within six feet of the sweater wearer.
• The home security company is giving away versions of the sweater without the tech, and has published instructions that explain how to alarm-ify the knitwear.
• Those interested in receiving the sweater can enter by donating to the NeighborWorks America Rental Resilience Fund.

Home security company SimpliSafe has unveiled a holiday sweater prototype that promotes social distancing by using alarms and flashing lights.

As the holiday season approaches and coronavirus cases continue to spike across the US, more people have started considering whether it's safe or not to meet up with loved ones. To tackle this problem, SimpliSafe designed the Social Distancing Sweater, which is rigged with motion sensors that set off the knitwear's siren and flashing LED lights when someone steps within six feet of the sweater wearer.

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"As the experts on protection, albeit home protection, we wanted to give people a playful way to protect themselves during this year's holiday celebrations," SimpliSafe creative director Wade Devers said in a news statement announcing the sweater. "It's really meant to bring some lightheartedness to a time that's otherwise proven very stressful."

Inadvertently, Simplisafe is also highlighting how unevenly the pain of the pandemic is spread through the retail industry.

"Ugly" sweaters have become something of an annual tradition, and they've grown into a multi-million dollar cottage industry. They're not worn for fashion, but to parties purposefully thrown to show off garish threads around the holidays

No parties to go to this year likely means fewer ugly sweater sales too. At the same time, sales for holiday decorations have gone way up, selling out at many stores, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

"Heading into the holiday season, it became clear that the typical stressors and logistics of the holidays were going to be exacerbated this year," Devers said in the statement.

The SimpliSafe Social Distancing Sweater.      SimpliSafe

SimpliSafe's holiday sweater is just a prototype, but the home security company is giving away versions of the knitwear without the tech and sensors.

The SimpliSafe Social Distancing Sweater.      SimpliSafe

Those who receive the sweater can then head to sweater.simplisafe.com for instructions on how to upgrade the knitwear with an alarm, lights, and sensors.

The SimpliSafe Social Distancing Sweater.      SimpliSafe

Source: SimpliSafe

Materials needed to DIY the sweater include a speaker, 3D printed LED and sensor mounts, and an Adafruit FeatherWing music maker.

The SimpliSafe Social Distancing Sweater.      SimpliSafe

Source: SimpliSafe

People can enter to receive the sweater by donating to the NeighborWorks America Rental Resilience Fund, which provides relief to people during the coronavirus pandemic.

The SimpliSafe Social Distancing Sweater.      SimpliSafe

Source: SimpliSafe