A new wearable tech in the form of a graphene dress is strutting its wares on the catwalk.
A tech company that develops wearable tech has created an actual wearable dress that is made from one of the strongest yet most versatile materials on earth - graphene. The dress is the product of the creative minds of CuteCircuit with the help of the University of Cambridge's National Graphene Institute.
CNN noted that graphene is tougher than the supposedly forever-lasting diamond. Graphene is also a Nobel Prize winner so its importance is not in question here. What's interesting to know is why a group of fashion designers and scientists decided to use this material to make a black dress.
CuteCircuit co-founder Francesca Rosella answered that query by explaining that the group simply wishes to "showcase the amazing properties of graphene". Rosella went on to say that graphene did not only make up the dress, it inspired it. Graphene appears as hexagonal crystals when viewed under an electron microscope. The hexagonal pattern is evident on the dress.
Aside from its look, the dress itself conducts electricity, one of graphene's impressive properties. The designers also used sensors enhanced by graphene to determine the breathing patterns of the person wearing the dress. The sensors are located at the top half of the little black dress while along with a microprocessor which not only powers the dress but also analyzes the data gathered by the sensor. The data is translated by the microprocessor to cause the LED lights on the dress to change color depending on whether the wearer is inhaling or exhaling deeply. The LED light will turn orange when the wearer breathes lightly and will turn purple with deep breaths.
Graphene was discovered by University of Manchester professors and physicists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov in 2002. It received the Nobel Prize in 2010.
