Researchers at Microsoft have developed a prototype of a "smart bra" embedded with physiological sensors that seek to monitor a woman's heart activity to track her emotional moods and combat overeating. The sensors can signal the wearer's smartphone, which then flash a warning message to help her step away from the fridge and make better diet decisions.
The company says it has no plans to make the bra into a commercial product, however.
So -- why a bra, exactly?
"First, we needed a form factor that would be comfortable when worn for long durations," said scientists in a research paper published online. "The bra form factor was ideal because it allowed us to collect (electrocardiogram data) near the heart."
Research has shown that many people reach for calorie-rich foods like doughnuts when they're feeling stressed, bored, discouraged or on edge. There's a reason it's called comfort food.
For the research paper, scientists from Microsoft, the University of Rochester and the University of Southampton in the UK interviewed women who said that interventions -- being alerted to their emotional states -- helped them identify triggers for binge eating.
If you can say anything about the geniuses over at Microsoft it's that they get women. How is this going to stop chicks from overeating? Yea you eat when you're stressed, this doesn't make you not stressed. In fact, this bra probably alerts you that you are stressed when you didn't even know it. Then the fact that you were stressed and you didn't even know it stresses you out more. Pretty soon you've polished off a dozen krispy kremes.
What they really should have done is made a bra that alerts female moods to men. Changing color or something. Like you come around the corner and her bra is glowing red. "Hey honey me and the guys were thinking about... Nevermind."
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