Here is a sneak peek at what Arduino powered interactive hair extensions will look like.
Technology is changing the way we interact with things. For the most part, it’s pretty predictable — like smartwatches, AR glasses, and stuff — but what you’re going to see next will make you feel so cringy that you’ll think for yourself “That’s enough Internet for me today”.
The HairIO is a smart hair extension that is capable of changing color and shape, sensing touch, and communicating with your phone over Bluetooth. But I can’t really say, I haven’t seen this coming. I mean, they at least don’t sound as awful as the smart underwear that you can control using a smartphone.
The peeps over at Hybrid Ecologies Lab — Sarah Sterman, Molly Nicholas, and Christine Dierk — who built the project has put up all the details on Instructables in case you’re looking for a DIY to take up this weekend.
The HairIO setup consists of a custom circuit, an Arduino Nano microcontroller, an Adafruit Bluetooth board, shape memory alloy, and thermochromic pigments.
The HairIO system works off two basic principles: capacitive touch and resistive heating. By sensing touch, we can make the hair extension respond to touches. And by heating the extension, we can cause color change with thermochromic pigments and shape change with a shape memory alloy. A Bluetooth chip allows devices such as phones and laptops to communicate with the hair as well, either to cause a shape or color change or to receive a signal when a touch to the hair is sensed.
Keep going for the video that showcases the features of HairIO.
