What Your Underwear Says About You

from the potty-talk dept

Fri, Oct 15th 2004 9:25am — Mike Masnick

Well, if you're not going to shove an ID chip under your skin how about sticking some sensors in your underwear? Researchers at Nokia, Vodafone and Philips (among others) are working on medical sensor equipment that can be woven into underwear, and can monitor a wearer's health and even warn them if they might be having a stroke. The idea is to make the sensor as unobtrusive as possible, but still have it so that it's always being worn (well, one would hope not always -- just don't have a stroke in the shower). Other possible uses would be to monitor your weight and exercise patterns and your general medical health. I imagine this would go well with the high tech toilet that monitors your health and emails your doctor with information as well. Hell, why not combine them. Let your underwear talk with your toilet via bluetooth or something.

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7 Comments

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dorpus, 15 Oct 2004 @ 12:43pm

HIPPAA?
I just got back from a human/animal research ethics training session at the medical school here.

This technology will create lots of ethical complexities for medical researchers, to be sure. For right now, even if we are working with anonymous tissue samples or anonymized clinical data, we still have to go through elaborate rituals of university and government approval. If such data can be accessed remotely, it will create lots of new ambiguities.

p.s. I asked the speaker what are the ethical guidelines if one wanted to mix anonymous sperm and egg cells on a petri dish, to study conception. The answer: it's complicated.
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drteknikal (profile), 15 Oct 2004 @ 2:18pm

no way
There are way too many other things that sensors in my underwear could tell you. Even worse if it keeps transmitting when I'm not in them.

Me thinks there be privacy issues...
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TJ, 15 Oct 2004 @ 5:14pm

Only if...
The only way I'd be interested in sensors in underwear is if they could remotely tell me whose pants I'd have a shot at getting into. ;-)
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DV Henkel-Wallace, 15 Oct 2004 @ 7:54pm

Another sense of "always on"
...but still have it so that it's [the sensor is] always being worn (well, one would hope not always -- just don't have a stroke in the shower).
... unless you're a mormon...
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Oct 2004 @ 8:37am

Re: Only if...
Good one, TJ! You the shiznit!
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thecaptain, 18 Oct 2004 @ 4:38am

Once more...
Once more the Porn industry will LEAD THE WAY :)
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2004 @ 6:48pm

Re: Another sense of
Or if you are one of the girls who frequently goes without panties�
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