We’ve had the SmartWatch – now how about the “SmartWig”? Sony has filed a patent application for a wig with sensors to help you navigate, and monitor blood pressure. But would you wear it?

Photo: Rugby supporters sport wigs in Hong Kong

What if a wig could do more than transform a bad hair day? The Japanese tech giant Sony has filed a patent application to do just that: create a wig with in-built sensors that could communicate your data to other external devices.

The wig would monitor blood pressure, brain wave and pulse, along with outside environmental factors like sound, humidity and even CO2 levels. It would also help the user navigate by using a built-in GPS sensor, that could be programmed to vibrate in order to communicate specific directions, and this could be used within the gaming industry, or by blind people, Sony said.

The move by Sony is just the latest advance in the wearable technology market, but appears to be the first so far to use fake hair. The sensors that collect data would be hidden in the wig, which could be made from horse hair, human hair, wool, feathers, yak hair, buffalo hair “or any kind of synthetic material”, according to the filing with patent authorities in the US.

“It is an object to provide an improved wearable computing device and system including such a wearable computing device,” the application read.

A small video camera could also be embedded in the wig, under Sony’s plans, along with buttons and sensors that could control a computer presentation. It would be connected by wi-fi to another device and the patent application also references “wig-to-wig communication”.

Sony was one of the first tech companies to commit to wearable technology, and entered the market with its SmartWatch last year, which includes features like a thermometer, barometer and GPS sensors.

Since then there has been the “Google glass” headset and an “iWatch” from Apple is rumoured to be in the pipeline.

Nike has also been at the forefront of wearable technology, and launched its new Fuelband SE, which tracks the user’s activity and is supposed to motivate people to do more exercise.

Fashion forward

But with the smartwig (pictured above), Sony is clearly thinking fashion forward: it hopes the wig would a style statement, and appeal to the fashionistas, not just the geeks.

The wig could be a “technically intelligent item and fashion item at the same time,” the patent read, adding that it could be “very popular”.

Sony also hopes it could be more easy to wear: “The usage of a wig has several advantages that, compared to known wearable computing devices, include a significantly increased user comfort and an improved handling of the wearable computing device.”

Wearable technology is tipped as the boom industry in years to come, with research company Canalys claiming that sales of smartwatches will grow by ten fold by the end of 2014.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said back in May that it was an area “ripe for exploration”.

“I see [wearables] as a very important branch of the tree,” he said, but he added that to convince people to wear technology, “it has to be incredible”.

Apple’s rumoured interest in the area was thought to be the reason behind former Burberry CEO Angel Ahrendt’s move to the company in October – the company’s second hire from fashion in a matter of months.

Secret geeks



Increasing numbers of smartphone apps are turning phones into devices that we rely on for everything from tracking our heartbeat and exercise levels, to taking videos and sharing them online. And technology companies are keen to get on board with designing devices that slot neatly into our busy lives – and make them easier.

Sony has been the market leader so far. But tech giants need to be wary: a study by Citrix cloud-services company found that 61 per cent of US respondents had no plans to buy wearable tech device. If they do, they don’t want everyone to know about it.

The news spells bad news for Google Glass, which is designed to wear on your face. And it could mean that the SmartWig will have to prove its style credentials before users are won over by its technology.