Tech startups are striving to make all products smart as the world adopts the Internet of Things (IoT). Smartphones, smartwatches, smart cars, smart homes and other devices are slowly changing the way people live. One of Xiaomi‘s recent patent application is for a smart device that you’ve probably not heard of before – a Smart Scarf.

Scarfs are used frequently during winter or cold weather. During such weather conditions, it is common to notice users adjusting the scarf tightly around the neck when the weather is cold and then loosen it when they start feeling hot. Xiaomi’s smart scarf patent details a device that is designed to remove the need to adjust the scarf around the neck manually. The Smart Scarf adjusts its grip automatically and heats up in accordance with the change of the ambient temperature. 

The patent application which was spotted recently is titled  “A smart scarf and its control method” with application number: 201010365323.8. The scarf is composed of a scarf body, a temperature sensing unit and an infrared heating unit. The scarf itself is no different from the traditional scarf but it comes with a temperature sensing unit set on the scarf body to sense the temperature of the surrounding environment. The infrared heating unit is also embedded on the scarf and can be connected to the sensing unit to heat up the scarf using infra-red technology in accordance with the ambient temperature.

In addition, the sketch shows the scarf has an elastic adjustment unit which is connected to the temperature sensor. The scarf automatically loosens or tightens in according to the ambient temperature.

As shown in the above figure, the elastic adjustment unit includes a pair of electric motors (41) and an elastic member (42). The elastic member could be an elastic band. There is also a power supply unit which is also required to ensure proper operation of the motor and temperature sensing unit.

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We can’t say how heavy the scarf will be as the patent application didn’t contain details of the weight. However, except Xiaomi uses lightweight components, the inclusion of these components, especially the battery and motor may make it too heavy. However, the company says that multiple elastic components were connected to the same pair of electric motors. Also, the battery and motor were placed on both ends of the scarf body to keep the weight of the smart scarf low.

The Xiaomi Smart Scarf is a smart wearable device and that is because it can be connected to a mobile phone via Bluetooth or WiFi and then, parameters such as heating and tightness can be controlled through a dedicated mobile phone app.

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