Up till now, dri-fit is the widely used material to keep sportsmen and sportswomen cool and dry. As one might think that this is as far as anyone could go when it comes to cooling our body and wicking away sweet, but over at MIT Media Lab, researchers have found out that we can actually harness what nature has to offer in our pursuit of cooling down with our clothing. The product, called Biologic, is a synthetic bio-skin that reacts to body heat and sweat via ancient bacteria, bio-printed on the fabric, that act as living actuators.
Think of the bacteria as microscopic motors, or servos, with inbuilt sensor fitted to openable flaps on clothing. Actually, no. They are more like nature’s version of bimetallic strips of sort, which the contraction results in the flaps in each of these openings to curl or bend, thereby allowing cool air in to cool the wearer. MIT Media Lab has partnered with New Balance, as well as designers from the Royal College of Art to create a clothing line known as Second Skin that features a series of openings with flaps, placed around high heat areas of the body, such as the shoulder blades and upper back, based on the heat map.
Second Skin proactively cools down the wearer as oppose to passively waiting for nature to take its course, such as apparels made from regular materials. The only caveat we foresee is, the neatly organized ventilation openings, especially when open, may gives some people (like me) the goosebumps, just like how lotus seed pods never fails make my hairs on my skin stands.
via Facebook
