From Iris van Herpen’s designs that adapt to fit the wearer like a second skin to workout clothes that promise to act as your trainer, fashion is getting a lot more sentient these days. The latest example of this trend? Designer Behnaz Farahi’s Caress of the Gaze project: a 3-D-printed collar that can detect when someone’s eyes are on it and reacts accordingly, shrinking or extending porcupine-like spines in the direction of the eye contact. (The first line of defense against the male gaze?)
Not only that, but the device uses an algorithm to determine the gender and age of the person looking at it. “It was inspired by looking at the behavior and properties of skin,”
Farahi told Fast Company. “The idea was to create an artificial skin inspired by
nature, with enhanced functionality,fashion clothes which could function as an
extension of our actual skin, while providing novel forms of interaction
between our body and the surrounding environment.”
If it means having to deal with fewer awkward social interactions ourselves, we fully support this fashion rise of the machines. See it in action in the video below.