Stealth Wear: Bridging the gap between concept and commercial

When we first reported on "Stealth Wear," conceptual clothing designs by artist and professor Adam Harvey, the projects seemed more on the edge of gimmick than containing true commercial value.

However, consumers -- potentially worried about the increased surveillance in our lives -- appear to differ.

Harvey said at the time there was a "growing need" for products that can protect your privacy. It wasn't certain whether products including "anti-surveillance" hoodies and caps would ever reach our stores, but now the designer is soon to launch a clothing and accessory range designed to dupe cameras, block signals and raise awareness over surveillance and privacy issues.

In collaboration with performance wear designer Johanna Bloomfield, Harvey successfully completed a Kickstarter campaign called "OFF Pocket," which is touted as a "privacy accessory for mobile phones to block all signals."

The casing apparently kills off GPS, Wi-Fi and cellular signals, rendering the device "untrackable, unhackable, undistractable."

On the back of the campaign -- which raised $56,447 -- Harvey is set to launch an online store called PRCVM ("privacy mode") on December 1. The official store will take over the sale of items currently on sale at the New Museum store.

The range includes:

A $450 anti-drone scarf; which "conceptually aligns itself with the rationale behind the traditional hijab to act as "the veil which separates man or the world from God" -- replacing God with drone.
A $350 anti-drone hoodie; which "protects against thermal imaging surveillance (a technology used widely by UAVs/drones) by reflecting heat, masking the wearer's thermal signature."
A $25 metal dollar bill; designed to "shield your wallet and credit cards from RFID skimming."

The accessory and clothing range may not have garnered so much interest before the NSA scandal, but it will be interesting to see how profitable a venture anti-surveillance products become in the future.

Related: