Beagle Scarf – medical fashion for Autism
During discussions around wearable electronic a repeated topic is the usefulness or the lack thereof to integrate technical functions into clothing.
While usually the debate of function into ‘every-days clothing’ is controversial and full of opinions there is one area where most can connect easily, seeing the benefits and usefulness of textile electronics, the medical area.
Nobody likes to be in a situation where the life quality depends on medical devices to be carried, to be worn. Especially not if they look purely functional, shouting out to the world – here you see I am in need of medical aids.
Leo Chao, student at Vancouver’s Emily Charr Institute is one of the creative/innovative designer who observe carefully the needs of certain groups of people and combine it with the possibilities wearable technologies offer.
Leo’s concept: the Beagle Scarf, a garment co-created with autistic children and their parents. Beagle Scarf integrates sound, smell, and texture, making it a wearable and portable medical assistance device for Autistic children who suffer from a sensory disorder where they sometimes need to be blocked or stimulated from certain senses to feel relieved.
Speakers integrated into the hood provide a soothing sound wrap around the child’s ears. Customized aroma patches and textured inner pockets provide another layer of aid, giving autistic children relieve in stress situations.
The design of the Beagle Scarf is in from of a hooded scarf shaped like beagle ears. Worn either like a scarf wrapped around the neck or zipped up like a sleeves jacket, the scarf looks more like a cool fashion accessory than a medical aid.
The beauty on this concept is the ease of how such medical clothing accessory could be actually commercialized. There would be no need for lengthy FDA approval and the involved eTextile technology is available. Anyone out there to pick this up?
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Posted in Category: Concept Design, Student work | 14 Comments »
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Comments
I’m a teacher for children with autism and had this site passed along to me by a friend of mine. I just thought I would tell you that this is a really neat concept and I would love to hear about it if you ever get it to market. What a fantastic idea.
-Amber
I’ve sent this to a good friend who is autistic – personally I cant imagine the embarassment caused by wearing this would do them any good at all..
Speaking as an autistic adult – why is it, by the way, that people seem to forget we exist too? – I think this is an awesome idea. I wish it were commercially available, but as it seems it’s not, I think I’ll just have to make it myself with the help of a friend of mine who knows how to sew!
[...] Beagle Scarf ??? medical fashion for Autism – Leo Chao, Customized, eTextile, Speakers, Autistic, Vancouver???s, Institute, Especially – talk2myShirt [...]
[...] from Talk2MyShirt.com writes, “While usually the debate of function into ‘every-days clothing’ is controversial [...]
[...] contender is a scarf with built-in speakers called The Beagle. Developed by Leo Chao, it was initially made for autistic children to provide them with a mixture [...]
This is a really great concept, and it could probably be beneficial to people who suffer from anxiety disorders too.
I know that there are other ways to make a jacket/scarf to hide that it is for a medical condition. Kids and adults are wearing earbuds under their jackets all the time anyways! My son is questionable if he is autistic or not, but he and I both suffer with similar autistic conditions and feel we would both benefit from a hoodie or scarf. It would keep us from public embarrassment of doing things we have no control over. God bless.
[...] 26, 2010 from talk2myShirt>> Beagle Scarf, a garment co-created with autistic children and their [...]