Ping: a social networking garment

Ping is a garment that connects to your Facebook account wirelessly and from anywhere. It allows you to stay connected to your friends and groups of friends simply by performing natural gestures that are built into the mechanics of the garments we wear. Lift up a hood, tie a bow, zip, button, and simply move, bend and swing to ping your friends naturally and automatically. No phone, no laptop, no hardware. Simply go about your day, look good and stay connected.

The Experience

Communicate to your friends
Technology is integrated into the mechanics of the garment. For example, a sensor is integrated into the hood allowing the natural gesture of lifting the hood and putting it back down to communicate to Facebook. Lifting up the hood automatically sends a message and updates your status. Putting the hood down sends another message. A Facebook application allows you to customize your messages, assign them to groups of friends and even manage many different types of messages based on where you are, who you're pinging, or what your mood is.

Get a ping back
Technology is integrated into the shoulder of the garment that provides a subtle "tapping" feeling. If your friends send you a comment or a message back, the garment will notify you by tapping you on the shoulder.

Create your own language
The Facebook application allows you to assign different tapping rythms to different groups of people so you can begin to create your own personalized feedback language that lets you know who is communicating to you and who is trying to connect.

Future applications
The platform is applied to a hoodie wrap that has specific built-in mechanics. Imagine how it could be applied to other types of garments that have different types of built-in mechanisms. And imagine a collection of accessories that offer even more communication capability, i.e., 3D gesture-recognition technology or environmental sensing.

Learn more at the project site »