Each week, we spotlight a cool innovation recommended by some of the industry's top tech writers. This week's pick is a jacket that uses machine learning to keep you perfectly toasty.
"Heated jackets aren't new," said Erin Winick at Technology Review. But those currently available depend on the wearer to activate and adjust them. Boston-based clothing company Ministry of Supply is hoping to take some of that work out of the equation with a heated jacket that "customizes its temperature using machine learning." The jacket, dubbed the Mercury, uses an accelerometer along with temperature sensors to alter the heat it pumps out "according to the ambient temperature and your activity levels."
That means the jacket can quickly adjust going from frigid outdoor temperatures to sweaty interiors like crowded subway cars. Intriguingly, the company will be able to measure how often customers wear the jacket, the length of their commutes, and even their temperature preferences. Currently in its prototype-testing phase, the Mercury should be widely available in November.
