The Austrian firm Coop Himmelb(l)au has designed a wacky quilted coat that blocks electronic surveillance. With pockets to protect your collection of phones and tablets, the Jammer Coat was commissioned for the Workwear exhibition at the Triennale in Milan.
The design is based on two principles. First, stripes and patterns disguise the shape of the wearer to confuse surveillance cameras; this is similar to the "dazzle" camouflage first used during World War One to hide ships from submarines and used recently at the Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport to visually break-up the buildings. Secondly, conductive metal in the fabric creates a Faraday cage that disrupts radio signals, so your location can't be tracked by your cell phone and the NSA can't watch your screen by bouncing a signal off a bug on your phone.
Unfortunately there's no hood, so facial recognition software could still lock on to your face, but Martin Backes's Pixelhead mask will take care of that. And If you're worried about thermal imaging, there's always Adam Harvey and Johanna Bloomfield's Anti-Drone Hoodie.
So will defensive design become a normal part of wardrobes or buildings? And should architects be the ones to attempt it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
