Much WT in Munchen

Wearable Technologies Conference, ISPO, Munich 30 Jan 2012

There was snow, there were wrist-bands (welcome to the game Phillips' Vitality Band) and there were lots of smartphone apps for fitness...but WT is hosted by ISPO so sports applications were to be expected.

One design-led approach of note was the Protective Fashion Object (PFO), a designer bracelet with GSM and GPS technology. Impressively Boomslang the originators of this protective jewellery had engaged the services of Stefan Sagmeister for some of the branding  as well as  Swedish Accessories designer Oscar Magnuson. However the PFO is fundamentally a personal alarm targeted at young women and much as the makers said they did not want it to be a 'weak' statement it blatantly markets itself on fear. PFO says its mission is "to make the world better and safer for women" but many parties will find this overt connection between a woman's safety and what she does, or does not, wear a highly contentious issue.