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Technology Your Rights Online

GPS-tracked Clothing 192

Posted by CmdrTaco 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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GPS-tracked Clothing More

GPS-tracked Clothing

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  • When will the public revolt about issues like this and demand either:

    (A) Real privacy laws with shark's teeth to enforce them.

    or (B) A completely transparent society where everything is public -- including our corporate master's finance books and the data of the wealthy elites?
    • You don't need laws for this as:

      - 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.
      • any women could sue the ass of her husband if someone was stupid enough to try it, no need for new laws.

        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.
        • I think it's a hoax for technical reasons. There's no way in hell a watch battery can power a GPS receiver AND some kind of transceiver (cellular? come on.) to send GPS data back to a tracking device.
          • Also, have you seen how big the antenna on a GPS receiver needs to be? Not an ideal piece of electronics to cram into your girlfriend's thong.
        • Uh... I'm thinking Disney World with two kids.

          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.

          • I've done similar with the family, and it's just a matter of organization and familial compromise.

            "Meet us at X at 4:30."

            And if you have to carry some sort of receiver (phone, GPS, PDA) to show where the other party is, why not a cell phone or walkie talkie? Convey far more information than just knowing 'where'.

    • Remember that most people are sheep and just do as they are told.

      So dont hold your breath on the revolt.. ( or the 2nd revolution here in this country )
    • Uh, if this is real, I expect there to be an 'off' switch somewhere :)
    • When will the public revolt about issues like this and demand either: (A) Real privacy laws with shark's teeth to enforce them. or (B) A completely transparent society where everything is public -- including our corporate master's finance books and the data of the wealthy elites?

      "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

      • If you were tracking someone who's clothing you had access to, you could, get a device which stores datapoints on some small memory chip. When you recover the tracking device, that data could be downloaded and shown on a map. It wouldn't need to record everything, maybe just locations that they stayed at for more than 10 minutes. I'm sure this kind of technology is more possible than we think. If you put enough thought into it.
        • If you were tracking someone who's clothing you had access to, you could, get a device which stores datapoints on some small memory chip. When you recover the tracking device, that data could be downloaded and shown on a map. It wouldn't need to record everything, maybe just locations that they stayed at for more than 10 minutes. I'm sure this kind of technology is more possible than we think. If you put enough thought into it.

          Great! Then all you have to do is arrange for the person being tracked to wear

    • If you could put this on your children and it monitored bio-metric info (thus showing if the clothing was taken off) it may help in identifying where your children are in the case of an abdution or any other mishap.

    • (B) A completely transparent society where everything is public -- including our corporate master's finance books and the data of the wealthy elites?

      I have a better idea. When are people such as yourself going to get the ability to see through transparent jokes? Then maybe your call for a transparent society will have some merit.

      If you didn't pick up on this, maybe you're wrong about all those goofy conspiracy theories you constantly banter about?
  • "These panties can give you her location, and even her temperature and heart rate"

    When you're hot, you're hot!

  • April Fools (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    plus 58 days...
  • Another way to "fight terrorism".

    Just what we need...

  • spoof (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Hank Chinaski ( 257573 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @12:11PM (#12670244) Homepage
    this is obviously fake ... slashdot editors do your homework.

    • Re:spoof (Score:5, Informative)

      by NetFusion ( 86828 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @12:15PM (#12670273)
      The contagiousmedia.org is the giveaway. Slashdot covered this web page meme advertising contest earlier.
    • I tested your comment by trying to order. The buttons are grayed out due to being "Sold out". A real biz would have just put your order on back order - like Amazon. I think you're right.
      • Exactly. A real business will never refuse an order. Unless the product has been discontinued, and there is no chance that they will get any more in stock, there is no reason to stop someone from trying to buy a product from you.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • the link (Score:5, Informative)

      by westlake ( 615356 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @12:39PM (#12670439)
      Contagious Media Showdown [contagiousmedia.org]

      Currently in second place, 175,000 visitors, 115 blog links. Geeks are so gullible when it comes to sex and tech.

    • Re:spoof (Score:4, Interesting)

      by A beautiful mind ( 821714 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @12:46PM (#12670465)
      And Taco obviously attempted to do some perl scripting, with a revolutionary new way:

      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.

    • Re:spoof (Score:2, Insightful)

      by northcat ( 827059 )
      It'd be better if taco edited the story and made it clear that it was a hoax.
  • Now I can reach that panties that I forgot here on my bedroom.

  • 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)

    by CypherXero ( 798440 )
    Oh comeon, that's ridiculous. If you have to track your spouse, then you have a lot more issues than you might think. Good relationships are built on trust, and if you can't trust the person, then all hope is lost.

    • Re:Ridiculous (Score:5, Funny)

      by ShieldW0lf ( 601553 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @12:39PM (#12670435) Journal
      Spoken like someone who's never lost their spouse at the mall. I'd much rather track her RFID panties down with my Dick Tracy watch than have her show up at our meeting place an hour late with a thousand dollars worth of clothes that make her look fat in any mirror besides the one in the store...

      "Oh no, her heart rate spiked! I'd better get over there before she gets to the sales counter!"
      • The proper way is to call her on her cell-phone and tell her to "move your ass right here, right now, bitch!"

        No need for fancy GPS units.

        Oh and the article linked to is obviously a hoax.
    • e.g.
      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.

  • Though marketed as a device to enable people to keep track of spouses [...]

    What exactly are spouses up to in Japan?

    • Depending on the country, area, demographic etc. It seems that up to 1 in 5 fathers are not actually the genetic parent of at least one of the children they think is theirs.

      e.g.
      http://tinyurl.com/2yl43 [tinyurl.com]

      So it isn't just in Japan. Still with DNA testing there's no reason to be deceived in that matter these days.

  • Isn't this a viral media competition entry? (Score:3, Informative)

    by Colin Smith ( 2679 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @12:15PM (#12670279)
    To see how many hits you can generate?

    forgetmenotpanties.

    www.contagiousmedia.org

  • This looks like the ultimate high-tech joke to me. Do you know of any biometric sensors that can go through laundry after laundry?

    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)

    by iturbide ( 39881 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @12:16PM (#12670283) Homepage
    Check the testimonials. PantyMap tracking software? Come on people, I don't buy it. Still, hoaxes are fun. |Anyone remember fufme.com?
  • I can see a great new market for tinfoil hat manufacturers...

  • Tracking... (Score:5, Funny)

    by darkov ( 261309 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @12:17PM (#12670292)
    Really, what is the point of stalking them after you've married them?
  • An easy solution to the age old question,
    "Where are my pants?"
    • Heh, but has any company developed some simple "find wallet/dead cellphone" RFID technology? I'd get it in a second. Or is it easy to make it oneself..?
  • Someone stole his wife's sweater, and the tracker on his PC showed she was out of state, as she was walking in the door.

    She was wearing a blouse under it, you Slashdot pervs!
  • the age-old question of where socks go when they disappear from the wash!
  • So with this thing I'll be able to tell when my next door neighbours husbands leaves for work? hmmm...
  • Who wants a radio transmitter mounted that close to one's (or one's spouse's) genitals? The GPS itself might be a passive receiver (though its electronics make RF radiation), but sending the data to the tracking database requires transmission. Maybe if it also heats up and vibrates, the wearer might like it, but the longerm effects are too costly.
  • You mean you ain't tracking your spouse already??!

    O wait, this is slashdot..!

  • If you need electronics to track your spouse (Score:5, Funny)

    by Xargle ( 165143 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @12:23PM (#12670331)
    you've made their chain too long.

  • It's a joke, but still (Score:4, Interesting)

    by broothal ( 186066 ) <christian@fabel.dk> on Sunday May 29, 2005 @12:23PM (#12670332) Homepage Journal
    Ok - at first I didn't realize this was a joke, but just a quick look at the advertized product gives it away.

    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 ;)
    • As a parent of 4 (2 ex teens and two current teens):
      Nope. Not a chance I'd ever consider using something like this.

      Up until that 'certain age', they are either with you, at school, or at a friends. They are not generally out roaming by themselves.

      So, you trust yourself and the people they are with, or you don't. And if you don't, why are the kids with those people?

      Do kidnappings happen? Sure, rarely. But if these things become common, all the bad guy has to do is take the kids clothes off. Unless you impl

  • Wow! I can't wait for the Google map add-on that lets me track these in my area! [/editors should check domains before posting articles]

  • Medical uses. If this were real. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MisanthropicProgram ( 763655 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @12:24PM (#12670339)
    I could see medical uses for a product like this. Especially for people with dementia.
    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!"

  • 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

  • This is a joke right I mean have you read what they say in there testimonials? "When my daughter hit puberty I nearly had a heart attack. She started looking like a woman and suddenly she was wearing revealing clothing and staying out late with her friends. Rather than become an over-protective parent , I decided to try forget-me-not panties(TM). They work wonderfully. My wife and I bought our Sarah several pairs so we can watch her around the clock, and if we see her temperature rising too high, we int
  • This whole website seems like crap. Plus I hardly doubt a watch battery can generate power enough for GPS tracking.
    • Spoken like a true geek. ;) "It's a hoax, and that's not even counting the technological challenges."

      It also fails to take into consideration *where* the watch battery is supposed to go. And what happens if the girl doesn't like the design.
  • how is this intrusive?

    I would just rip the battery out if I didn't want anyone spying on me, and put it back in if I'm gone hiking.

    But then again, I ain't part of the tinfoil crowd.
  • this is so stupid, it was on fark the other day. gps requires line-of-sight to the skies in order to operate. plus, how the hell would one receieve data from these panties? this is probably one of the most ridiculous slashdot stories ive ever seen.

  • Absolute Hoax. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Beardo the Bearded ( 321478 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @12:29PM (#12670377)
    I'm an EE. I work with GPS. Right now (well okay, during the week) I'm working with the cutting edge Xemics GPS engine. It's about 3cm x 4cm x 0.5 cm. That's the engine plus the em shield.

    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)

      by Dun Malg ( 230075 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @01:13PM (#12670598) Homepage
      I'm an EE. I work with GPS. Right now (well okay, during the week) I'm working with the cutting edge Xemics GPS engine. It's about 3cm x 4cm x 0.5 cm. That's the engine plus the em shield.

      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?

      • "The Wire" does it correctly. They plant a GPS unit with a hard drive on the target vehicle, and then retrieve the unit after a period of time and download the logs.

        I haven't seen another show approach it from that angle, except for The Shield and they didn't bother explaining it so the average watcher just gets the idea that they put something on the car.

    • I Do declair that top hats may come back into fashion then .
    • Yes, an obvious hoax that somehow the /. editors got suckered into.
      But...
      Battery - how about thermoelectric instead? Then you don't have to worry about charging.
      Granted, might need an extra capacitor or battery for those transmission bursts.

      Antenna length - could simply use a different frequency. Or spread spectrum. Or a fractal antenna could help.
      But yeah, not exactly gonna fit in panties. Not without a convincing explanation for the thick bulgy layer. uh... padding!
    • 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.

      Is that a 24 inch antenna in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?..

    • Besides, there is no way that its gonna pick up any satellites once installed inside a stainless steel chastity belt...
  • Though marketed as a device to enable people to keep track of spouses,

    It's time to become single again, I guess.

  • Degauss (Score:2, Interesting)

    by a_greer2005 ( 863926 )
    This is a great reason to keep some degaussing tools around, hell, why nit just rig up a degausser in the dryer, problem solved.

    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

  • It has been said several times.

    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)

    by fohat ( 168135 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @12:35PM (#12670408) Homepage
    That this site is indeed a farce. http://www.gearlive.com/index.php/news/article/for get_me_not_panties_05260101/ [gearlive.com]
  • This new technology should put any future pants/no pants issues to rest.
  • I am kind of curious about the durability.

    Could it withstand being put into a washing machine with the hottest water possible. First you'll want to turn up your water heater.

    Try microwaving your clothes. That should definately get the electronics. (I don't recommend this, as it's probably very dangerous.)

    Or just wrap your body in tin foil. That might cause some interference.

  • Wake up Taco (Score:3, Informative)

    by frovingslosh ( 582462 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @12:50PM (#12670479)
    Boy, what a stupid front page article. Not only is it an obvious fake article, but it doesn't make any sense. The device supposedly transmits to other devices, including laptops and cellphones, but how does the untrusting spouse get the data in real time? Are we to believe that the cell phone constantly transmits the data but the user isn't aware of it? Or maybe incoming calls go to the panties before they go to the phone owner? And it just makes no sense anyway. Maybe the biometrics in the panties, but why waste power and deal with a gps receiver and antenna, when the phone it has to be used with could just have the GPS components anyway? How could you believe this???
  • This technology is going to be abused so much by parents. Especially from more draconian cultures (*cough* Saudi Arabia *cough*). Even if laws give people the right not to be tracked it won't be enough to stop this. However its likely that many workarounds will be found, and once that happens the technology will become useless again. The evil part of me would have loved to set up a company producing this for the world-wide market (you only need to bother with the womens line), id have the added feature that
  • Maybe these folks [slashdot.org] aren't so crazy after all!
  • I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I proudly figlet:

    |w henm y daugh t er hitp uber t yinea r lyhada|
    |he ar ta ttack . shest arte dlooking li ke awoma n andsud|
    |den lys hewas w earin grev ealingclo thi ngand s taying|
    |outl atew i thher friends.ra ther t hanbec|
    |omea nove r-pro t ectiv epar ent,idecid edto tryfo r get-me|
    |-not pant ies.. t heywo rkwo nderfully. mywi feand i bought|
    |ours arah sever a lpair ssowecanwa tchh eraro u |

    Also, late breaking news: Bonsai kitten may not
  • Like tracking your spouse is ok?. What a world!

    So the editors can't see a reason other than spying to track one's spouse? How about because you care about them and you want to make sure they're OK at all times. If you have to ask yourself if your spouse is cheating on you, then maybe you are not in a good relationship.

  • how long before such technology becomes intrusive in our lives?

    Story time, kids...gather 'round...

    While doing an initial consultation on this woman's PC, I found the usual spyware....and then I found a spyware program which logs EVERYTHING. Keyboard strokes, mouse movement, net traffic, windows open, it takes random screen shots, etc. When I told the woman she had this thing on there, she said "I hoped you wouldn't find that." She uses it to track her husband without him knowing.

    I wanted to offer thi
  • Sure - the downsides are obvious - but think of the benefits for a nerd-slob...

    * An application that'll scan one sock and automagically tell me where the other one is.

    * Something that'll automatically tell me which of a pile of quasi-dirty tee shirts were least recently worn.

    * Laundry that screams out to the automatic laundry-o-matic when it's been stuck down the back of the sofa for more than three months. ...the possibilities are endless.
  • ...on Slashdot would something like this work; Where everyone comments on the article before actually clicking the link.
  • While I'm sure the idea of knowingly being watched 24/7 isn't too appealing to the wearer of such an article of clothing, the fact that clothes need to be washed brings up another strike against such an invention.

    The only options to overcome such an issue would be to completely waterproof the electronics in which case water-tight sealing would make that area of the clothing bulky and uncomfortable (especially considering the article posted was to a set of women's panties), or to make the electronic parts
  • It's a viral joke, people. Maybe you've never heard of "Black People Love Us"?

    Get a grip.

  • It is also capable of taking biometric measurements and transmitting them...

    Too bad it's fake. Would've been interesting to see the realization of The Climacticon, a '60s novel about a hand-held device that detects sexual interest from across the room. (Talk about speed-dating...)

  • Hey, let's add a circuit to the GPS-tracking clothing to check proximity to a subcutaneously implanted RFID chip.

    That way you'll know both where your spouse goes and when she takes her clothes off!

    Is this a great technology or what?
  • Well, It looks like forgetmenot panties has figured out how to win the contagiousmedia contest, just post their page to Slashdot.

  • It seems they broke the rules: (Score:5, Funny)

    by zippthorne ( 748122 ) on Sunday May 29, 2005 @02:43PM (#12671098) Journal
    7) No ads, no bots, no scams.
    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.
  • Since 2001, DoCoMo has had a GPS tracker that looks like a beeper you can give to your kids. The parent can track them on the Internet or get a map faxed to them.

    It is made specifically for keeping track of kids.

  • Though marketed as a device to enable people to keep track of spouses, how long before such technology becomes intrusive in our lives?

    Even though this is fake, it's interesting that the submitter did not think that this product is "intrusive in our lives."

    I for one welcome our new girlfriend-stalking overlords.

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