This hoodie gives surprisingly decent massages
SINGAPORE -- Getting massaged all day by a jacket you can wear sounds like an insane genius idea.
It's just crazy enough to have won Tware, the Singaporean startup behind the AiraWear jacket, more than 1,000 backers and $150,000 on Kickstarter.
We got our hands on the latest prototype of the AiraWear jacket, which Tware says has undergone improvements since the earlier version it showed at CES.
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The jacket is basically a regular hoodie with an inflatable vest zipped into it. The vest has six protruding plastic nubs located along both sides of the spine, from shoulders to lower back -- the typical back-massage zones.
As the vest inflates behind each accupressure point, the nub presses into your back and shoulder muscles, mimicking kneading fingers.
The hoodie pairs with an app that shows you which parts of the jacket are inflating to exert pressure. You can slider controls to adjust the intensity.
For such a simple design, the jacket's massage feels surprisingly decent. I like my massages strong, and on maximum strength. The AiraWear was powerful enough to work out some painful spots along my lower back.
That said, the AiraWear isn't perfect yet. Its nubs move in and out as the air pads behind them are inflated and deflated, but they can't make circular motions the way an actual massage therapist, or some other massage devices, can.
The mechanism isn't capable of vibration -- a function common on many massage chairs -- but Tware said it may build that into a future model based on requests for it.
The jacket also works best if you sit in a chair with a back during use, so your body weight can help push the nubs into your muscles.
And even though the jacket is touted as a discreet massager you can wear at your desk, when inflated it does give you kind of an unflattering, Hunchback-of-Notre-Dame look. It also makes audible hissing noises as air is pumped in and released during the massage, making it much less likely that we're going to be enjoying secret massages during boring work meetings.
Still, it's a smart idea that will likely find more than a handful of satisfied buyers. Tware says the jacket will eventually list for $249. Its battery lasts for about three hours of use and is chargeable by micro USB, so massage addicts can hook it up to a portable charger and use it all day.
Before it made the AiraWear, Tware also produced a vest targeted at children with autism, which tightens around the wearer to simulate the feeling of being hugged. The company says it has sold some 600 of those jackets globally so far.
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Victoria Ho is Mashable's Asia Editor, based in Singapore. She previously reported on news and tech at The Business Times, TechCrunch and ZDNet. When she isn't writing, she's making music with her band
