5/23/14, 11:20 AM5 cool 'wearable' prototypes that might be the next Google Glass | Off-Ramp | 89.3 KPCC

Page 1 of 3http://www.scpr.org/programs/offramp/2014/05/14/37446/5-cool-wearable-prototypes-that-might-be-the-next/

OFF-RAMP Saturday Noon to 1:00 p.m. and Sunday 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. with John Rabe

You can never leave the Hotel California - Off-Ramp for May 17, 2014

5 cool 'wearable' prototypes that might be the next Google GlassJohn Rabe | Off-Ramp | May 14th, 2014, 2:54pm

As wearable tech goes, Google Glass (http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2014/04/15/36959/is-google-s-one-day-sale-of-google-glass-really-ab/) is old hat.What you expect from Off-Ramp is the Next Big Thing — perhaps a hat that protects you from paparazzi and boom boxes, or a nail appliqué that doubles asa flashlight — so I spent Thursday morning at Art Center College of Design, where teams of of Media Design MFA students unveiled their wearableprototypes.

Professor Philip van Allen gave the assignment:

"The point is to explore what the potential of wearables is. Not for tomorrow but say 5-10 years from now. Where can we go, where can we develop thetechnology, design, and interaction to make things that are truly interesting for people?"

One of the most fully developed prototypes was Sangli Li's quite fashionable hat, which uses sensors to protect the wearer from light and sound.

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Sangli Li

Patt Morrison, eat your heart heart out. This is Sangli Li's wearable. The fans protect the wearer by responding to light and noise.

(http://www.scpr.org/programs/offramp/2014/05/14/37446/5-cool-wearable-prototypes-that-might-be-the-next/)

5/23/14, 11:20 AM5 cool 'wearable' prototypes that might be the next Google Glass | Off-Ramp | 89.3 KPCC

Page 2 of 3http://www.scpr.org/programs/offramp/2014/05/14/37446/5-cool-wearable-prototypes-that-might-be-the-next/

Watch Sangli Li's hat in action (http://youtu.be/03Vh3CjS9T0)

Other projects include:

A "Data Vaporizer," which emits a gas that erases the data on a would-be hacker's mobile devices.A puffy suit that mirrors the wearer's pensiveness or pomposity.Tiny fingernail add-ons that take the current nail sculpture concept one step further by allowing micro electronics to be attached to the surface of thenail.

Professor van Allen says, "the kinds of projects that our students are working on are probably a few years out, but we're about to go to Intel to share withtheir people the projects that were done here," so you might see some of these concepts put into play. So watch this space."