T-Shirt Detects Pollution: 'Warning Signs' By Nien Lam, Sue Ngo (VIDEO)
Watch out, smokers. Sweatshirts may soon fashionably display more than you want to know about that smoke you're exhaling.
Two NYU graduate students have created an interactive project called "Warning Signs." According to WNYC Culture, the duo has made sweatshirts that change color when exposed to high carbon monoxide levels. The shirts feature a heart or set of lungs - when the fabric is exposed to pollution (ranging from cigarette smoke to car exhaust), blue veins appear on the organ image.
Co-creator Nien Lam enjoyed watching his shirt in action: "When people would step out to have a cigarette, they would see our project, and then feel guilty going out to have that cigarette realizing, 'Oh, this is actually what I'm doing to myself.'"
The American Lung Association reports that six in 10 Americans live in places with dangerous levels of air pollution. Cigarette smoking leads to over 440,000 deaths per year in the U.S. alone. 600 million trees are destroyed per year to make dry tobacco.
The students are now considering clothing with alcohol sensors. They may have the liver change color when the wearer has consumed too much.
WATCH the shirt change colors from pollution:
warning signs from Susan Ngo on Vimeo.
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The Huffington Post Joanna Zelman First Posted: 01/25/11 08:55 AM ET Updated: 05/25/11 07:25 PM ET