TECHNOLOGY Cornell student's jacket shows how to dress smart

The graduate student designed the garment herself.
ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) -- When Lucy Dunne talks about dressing smart, it's not exactly looking dapper that she has on her mind.
Dunne wears a jacket that automatically heats up in the cold and lights up when it is dark.
Dunne, a Cornell University graduate student pursuing a degree in wearable technology, has spent the past several months attending international conferences in Seattle, Germany and Switzerland, modeling the prototype of a smart jacket that she developed -- on a graduate student's budget, no less.
"I wanted to show people how possible it is to develop wearable technology so that commercial companies might be less afraid to leap in since apparel companies have no experience with electronics and electronics companies have no experience with apparel," Dunne, of Albany, said.
Dunne said her sporty pewter-and-silver-colored jacket uses embedded sensors and wiring powered by AA batteries.
There are already a number of smart clothing items available to consumers, although it remains a novelty market with costly products, said Suzanne Loker, a Cornell professor of textiles and apparel.
Examples
Among them, socks that prevent smelly feet by inhibiting bacteria growth; snow suits embedded with Global Positioning System receivers to track location and with adjustable heating systems and emergency alarms; clothing that can wick away liquids without staining and even aromatherapy business suits.
And researchers are looking to develop others, including bikinis with tiny built-in audio players; shirts with integrated cell phones and undershirts that provide medics with remote physiological monitoring, she said.