Not only is this jacket cute, it also will emit a shock to anyone who touches you unwantedly. Developed by MIT researchers, the No Contact jacket is meant to, conceptually, "intervene into the social condition of violence against women."
The No-Contact Jacket is a wearable defensive jacket created to aid women in their struggle for protection from violence. When activated by the wearer, 80,000 volts of low amperage electric current pulses just below the surface shell of the entire jacket. This exo-electric armor prevents any person from unauthorized contact with the wearer's body. If an assailant were to grab hold of the wearer the high voltage shocking exterior would interrupt their neurological impulses which control voluntary muscle movement. The neuromuscular system would be overwhelmed causing disorientation and loss of balance to occur and of course pain. The pain experienced is non-lethal but is enough of a shock to effectively and immediately deter contact with her body and provide a critical life saving option for escape.
The jacket is to retail at $900 and will be available this fall. [Via NY Daily News]
Gothamist on street harrassment.
