MP3 and Telephony Jacket

This is a nifty little thing. This jacket has built-in headphones and microphone along with a 128MB MP3 player. It actually looks neat. This seems to be the trend, bringing technology into our clothing. I know I've recently heard (can't find an article on it) where bicycle helmets are going to have built-in microphones and cell phone options along with other features (maps?):

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Source:Information Week

New Jacket Contains Telephony And MP3 Player July 26, 2004

The jacket, created by Infineon and a German clothing maker, includes a textile keyboard on the sleeve that controls the electronics features.
By Laurie Sullivan

Infineon Technologies AG and German clothing manufacturer rosner GmbH & Co. said Monday that they have jointly developed a men's jacket, known as mp3blue, that contains built-in mobile telephony via Bluetooth and an MP3 player. A textile keyboard on the sleeve controls the electronic features. The product is scheduled to become available for order on the Internet in August at www.mp3blue.de.

Electrically conductive fabric is sewn into the mp3blue jacket. It's connected to a compact electronics module and a textile keyboard on the left sleeve. The headphones and the microphone are integrated into the collar. The module contains an MP3 player with 128 Mbytes of memory, a Bluetooth gateway to control a mobile telephone, and a rechargeable battery that can supply power for up to eight hours. When the wearer of the jacket places a telephone call, the stereo system becomes a headset and the music is automatically interrupted when calls come in. To wash the jacket, it's necessary to remove the electronics module from its holder.

Infineon isn't a newcomer to wearable electronics. In January, Infineon and sportswear manufacturer O'Neill introduced a wearable electronics snowboard jacket, the Hub, complete with an MP3 player and Bluetooth capabilities that enables a snowboarder to control a mobile phone. The Venture Development Corp. estimates the intelligent textiles market will reach approximately $1 billion by 2007.

VDC defines smart fabrics and interactive textiles as electronically conductive materials, microelectronics, user interfaces, power sources, or communication links. The military and other government agencies are developing garments with conductive energy capabilities, as well as those that undergo a material change to meet specific environmental situations to provide shielding and protection against biological or chemical agents.

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Pretty cool. But, how well do you think something like that will really hold up? Could they make everything workable and durable enough to wear yet still be comfortable and functional? I don't know. Sounds cool though. I also saw on TV where they had "Boob Tubes" (TV's in the chest part of tshirts)