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GPS-tracked Clothing
Posted by
CmdrTaco
on Sun May 29, 2005 11:07 AM
from the finally-i-have-to-ask-why dept.
from the finally-i-have-to-ask-why dept.
Anil Kandangath writes "A Japanese firm has shown off new technology that enables GPS units to be embedded in clothing that will enable the wearer to be tracked continuously. The device is thin enough to be tacked on unobtrusively and is powered by a thin watch battery. It is also capable of taking biometric measurements and transmitting them PCs and handheld devices. Though marketed as a device to enable people to keep track of spouses, how long before such technology becomes intrusive in our lives?" Like tracking your spouse is ok?. What a world! Update: 05/29 18:00 GMT by Z : Not actually real. A Contagious Media project. Please do not try to monitor your SO's panties.
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April Fools (Score:2, Funny)
spoof (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:spoof (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:spoof (Score:3, Insightful)
You may be right.... (Score:2)
Re:spoof (Score:2)
the link (Score:5, Informative)
Currently in second place, 175,000 visitors, 115 blog links. Geeks are so gullible when it comes to sex and tech.
Parent
Re:spoof (Score:4, Interesting)
Like tracking your spouse is ok?. What a world!
I mean, most, less experienced or cunning perl coders would have done it this way:
"$comment = $track_spouse ? 'What a world!':'';"
If you look at the revolutionary concatisanation, the new way to use ? and . next to each other clearly indicate a brilliant new way to use the Conditional Operator and the "." Additive Operator.
Some less experienced people on slashdot might wonder, that it was just a typo(sic!). They must be new here and do not grasp the subtle indications of the existence of a brilliant mind CmdrTaco must be possessing.
Parent
Nice! (Score:2)
It is also capable of taking biometric measurements and transmitting them PCs and handheld devices.
My biometric information will love to have a PC transmitted to it! Can I get one as well?Ridiculous (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Ridiculous (Score:5, Funny)
"Oh no, her heart rate spiked! I'd better get over there before she gets to the sales counter!"
Parent
Around 1 in 5 of fathers, aren't. (Score:3, Interesting)
http://tinyurl.com/2yl43 [tinyurl.com]
Up to nearly 1 in 3 in some areas. Sooo there appears to be fairly good statistical evolutionary reasons for males to be naturally distrustful.
DNA tests are quick, cheap and easy these days.
Japanese spouses (Score:2)
Though marketed as a device to enable people to keep track of spouses [...]
What exactly are spouses up to in Japan?
Isn't this a viral media competition entry? (Score:3, Informative)
forgetmenotpanties.
www.contagiousmedia.org
This surely looks like a joke to me... (Score:2)
Have you ever had either a battery or a GPS sensor and antenna embedded in your shorts? There's not a good way to do this and make it "invisible" to the wearer, yet.
Nice leg pull, though.
I call hoax (Score:3, Interesting)
a whole new market for tinfiol (Score:2, Funny)
Re:a whole new market for tinfiol (Score:3, Funny)
Tracking... (Score:5, Funny)
Finally! (Score:2)
"Where are my pants?"
Re:Finally! (Score:2)
then, in a mugging (Score:2)
She was wearing a blouse under it, you Slashdot pervs!
It would answer... (Score:2)
Chastity Rays (Score:2)
If you need electronics to track your spouse (Score:5, Funny)
It's a joke, but still (Score:4, Interesting)
But even though this is a joke, the technology to achieve this isn't that far away. I'm going to be a parent in about 6 months, and while my kid is young, I wouldn't mind attaching a GPS to the kid. Of course, once he/she reaches a certain age, I will have to trust him/her. But until then, I'd be using such a device in a jiffy. I think... it's my first, so I don't know what to expect from having kids
Google Maps (Score:2)
Medical uses. If this were real. (Score:3, Interesting)
Grandpa, senile, heart condition, and who's also a diabetic, gets lost while walking and has a heart attack. Now, you can find him and get him treatment. I can see it now, ADT and Brinks will start offering this service. It gives a new meaning to the add, "I've fallen and can't get up!"
Quite hilarious (Score:2)
Although the idea is a combination of abhorrent and hilarious, this is quite probably just a joke. I read it this morning prior to slashdottedness.
It would be cool if it was possible to embed electronics that seamlessly into clothing, but it isn't possible- at least not according to what I've seen, and I work a lot in designing portable electronic instrumentation.
It would take some extreme perversion to have parents constantly monitoring the pubic temperature of their daughters. That's far more invasive
Absolute Hoax. (Score:5, Informative)
Now, let's add the following:
Batteries. The engine requires a steady 3.0 - 3.6 V supply capable of sustained current of 50mA. You're looking at a 1/2 AA form factor minimum.
Antenna. GPS antennas require a view of the sky. Beyond that, special antennas designed to fit against the skin are about as thick as a pencil and about 2 cm long.
CPU and circuitry to decode the GPS signal. (Polling RS232) The size is up to you. The minimum is about the size of a quarter, so I'll grant this part if they use the internal oscillator.
Let's assume the signal is to be broadcast. Then add:
Transmitter. This will probably include a crystal.
Antenna for the transmitter. If we're talking about a VHF transmitter at 150 MHz, the antenna is going to be about 24 INCHES long. (That's already 1/4 wave!)
Now fit this into panties unobstrustively.
No way. There is absolutely NO WAY a GPS tracker could be fit into a pair of panties. A jacket, maybe IF it was puffy.
Re:Absolute Hoax. (Score:4, Insightful)
Transmitter. This will probably include a crystal. Antenna for the transmitter. If we're talking about a VHF transmitter at 150 MHz, the antenna is going to be about 24 INCHES long. (That's already 1/4 wave!)
This is a point which can't be repeated too often: GPS is a totally passive system at the user end. I look forward to a time when regular people understand GPS well enough to know that GPS doesn't track anything ! All a GPS device does is calculate its own location using radio and math. If I had a nickel for every time some jackass script writer has a TV/movie character say "we're tracking him via GPS satellites"...well...I'd have a lot of nickels. I fear eventually we'll get a society full of semi-educated dolts who think that GPS=Tracking Device and will demand that laws be passed mandating GPS devices be at least footstool sized so nobody can "plant one on them"; but they'll all walk around with cell phones, of course, which have no tracking capabilities at all, right?
Parent
Re:Absolute Hoax. (Score:3, Funny)
Is that a 24 inch antenna in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?..
Degauss (Score:2, Interesting)
this is absurd. To throw the trackers off, I just leave peices of clothing at friends houses, in a locker at the bus station and the YMCA, all over the place, hell put a few garments in friends cars so ther are many moving targets..
How would this work anyway, do you have to register your boxers with "big brother"? is it tied to a unique id embedded into the unit and documented on
Ok, We know it is a hoax (Score:2)
After looking at the site... I am honestly scared.
First, this technology(GPS part), could easily be produced very soon. Just a battery with a GPS chip could easily be hidden in pairs of jeans, jackets, etc...
Now, the panties thing is far-fetched because if I buy my girlfriend 8 pairs of panties one day... she might be a lil suspicious, especially if I keep saying, wear these today.
A quick google search reveals (Score:5, Informative)
Fantastic (Score:2)
Wake up Taco (Score:3, Informative)
It seems they broke the rules: (Score:5, Funny)
You are permitted to promote your entry however you see fit, with three exceptions: You may not use paid advertisements, automated processes that fake traffic, or scams that produce traffic without people actually seeing your content. Most other stuff is fair game.
emphasis mine.
It seems that by posting to slashdot, they have violated the rules.
Why wait? (Score:2)
Go buy something...
Go for a drive..
Your privacy rights are already being exploited.
Re:When will the public revolt about issues like t (Score:3, Insightful)
- this story smells like a hoax: basic drawings without an explaination and "no one can order due to overwhelming demand"
- any women could sue the ass of her husband if someone was stupid enough to try it, no need for new laws.
Re:When will the public revolt about issues like t (Score:3, Insightful)
Hmmm... Where I'm at, a wife cannot sue her husband, at least not without a divorce. That's a silly idea - martial assets are shared. If a wife sues her husband she is essentially suing herself.
If you suspect your spouse is cheating, your relationship has bigger problems.
But yes, I too suspect this to be a hoax.
Agreed. (Score:2)
Re:When will the public revolt about issues like t (Score:3, Interesting)
Mom and Dad can each go with one kid to wherever that kid wants to go, be able to find each other later, no need for cell phones.
Sheep Never Revolt (Score:2)
So dont hold your breath on the revolt.. ( or the 2nd revolution here in this country )
Re:When will the public revolt about issues like t (Score:2)
Re:When will the public revolt about issues like t (Score:2)
"Issues like this"? You mean jokes? There's no surreptitious way to add GPS tracking to clothing. At present, the smallest GPS tracking device is about the size of a deck of playing cards, requires a clear view of the sky, and
Re:If your child was kidnapped... (Score:2)
Re:If your child was kidnapped... (Score:2)
Re:If your child was kidnapped... (Score:2)
Re:If your child was kidnapped... (Score:2)
The probability of the child wearing it would be much higher than the child not wearing it (that's what the "usually" part implies), so the kidnapper would do so just in case.
One possible solution to the "naked child problem" was already given. Another would be to hide the child so that it cannot be seen from outside (e.g. use a mini transporter).