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Kripa Raman

Technology and fashion came together at Cannes. Wearable devices that promise to keep one `cool and connected' caught the eye and imagination.

Recently in Cannes

THE creative producer of the show, Kathy Clingele, refers to it as a convergence of fashion and technology that will revolutionise both industries. The `Cool and Connected' fashion show at the 3GSM 2004 World Congress in Cannes showed off the prototypes of `wearable technology', some of them practical and unobtrusive, others in-your-face gizmos, making the models look like sci-fi movie characters.

In the lifestyle engineering category were a Bluetooth stethoscope from PDD design, a child-safety system which allows the parent to see what the child is up to at home, a Bluetooth wrist cuff which enables Internet browsing, a message pen from Seiko Instruments Inc which allows one to receive and send SMS, a scooter helmet from Motorola which enables the wearer to see images from the Net, and assorted items such as a Bluetooth pill dispenser. Another pen stores everything that one has written. There were arm bands, wearable SIM devices and even a wrist band which could hold all of one's medical history, or through which one could access, through wireless, one's medical history from a central server.

Technology-enabled clothing, maps, eye-glasses which can display video images, video-chat devices embedded in a scooter helmet or eye glass, were some of the other gadgets on display.

On the business connections front, there were clip-on Geographical Positioning Systems, technology-enabled clothing with embedded connection devices and even a wearable GSM base station. This last product would be useful in the event of a catastrophe such as an earthquake when other connectivity might not be available. One of the rescue workers "wears" the base station and has a clutch of rescue workers about him within a particular radius who have, among themselves, a connected network. The same would be useful to a small army team or a police team that is on a specific mission confined to a specific location.

Headset jewellery, watch phones, soft fabric MP3 players and suchlike prototypes belonged in the `Funky and Fun' wearable category. The microphone could be a jewelled locket, for instance, and the receiver a brilliant diamond-encrusted earphone.

The Congress, which celebrated GSM's crossing of the one-billion subscriber mark, said the gathering will be the place to show how mobile technology will continue to increase its role in everyday life.

The fashion show would be an example of what will emerge — fashion accessories, lifestyle enhancers and modern tools for the workplace.

Although some of the ideas did seem a bit overstretched, the organisers said the fashion show addressed an exciting new aspect of the mobile industry, rather than being just a gimmick or attention grabber.

"Personal access to the world wide Web is shifting more and more toward portable personal and wearable devices, making it integral to daily routine," said a statement from Clingele.

kripram@thehindu.co.in

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