HAIR TODAY, GADGET TOMORROW I Sony reportedly developing ‘smart wig’

Japanese multinational electronics firm Sony is reportedly working on a wearable computer device in the form of a wig.

In a patent application to the US Patent and Trademark Office, Sony said that compared to other wearable computing smart gadgets, the “smart wig” device has several benefits.

“The usage of a wig has several advantages that, compared to other known wearable computing devices, include a significantly increased user comfort and an improved handling of the wearable computing device,” the company said in its patent application.

But aside from the supposed comfort, another advantage is that the device can be worn and be unnoticed in plain sight.

“[T]he user can wear the wearable computing device as a regular wig while looking natural at the same time,” Sony said.

The company also clarified that the wig could be also worn by people with a full-head of hair.

“The proposed device could even be used as a king of combined technically intelligent item and fashion item at the same time,” the company said.

Potential uses of the device include a navigation system, a laser pointer, as well as deployment of an attachable video camera. The “smart wig” may also be used in tandem with other device such as computer glasses or smart phones.