Singapore team rubs shoulders discreetly with hi-tech massage jacket
By Yiming Woo SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A Singapore design team claims to have come up with a solution to coping with aches and pain in the office - a jacket that massages your muscles and attempts to correct your posture. Controlled by a mobile app and able to run for around three hours after a USB charge, 'Aira' uses air pressure devices inside the jacket which expand to target pressure points and produce the sensation of a massage. Lin Wei Liang, the CEO of designers TWare, said the jacket was a practical office aid for people who had developed posture problems from sitting at a desk for lengthy periods or spent too long hunched over a mobile device. "What we have here is much more invisible, discreet, something that you can wear just like a normal hoodie or jacket, and yet you can get that massage without people noticing," he told Reuters. Lin said his company was in the process of securing a patent for the jacket, which retails at $119 and has been developed with more than $75,000 of funds raised using crowdfunding website, Kickstarter. However, not everyone is convinced. Physiotherapist Michelle Tong agreed it could be used to de-stress but was unsure about its ability to treat pain. "You question whether the person would develop a tolerance to it," she told Reuters. "Each time they're using it, they end up having to apply a high pressure each time, just to get the same effect, as you would if you were taking painkillers for the long-term." (Writing by Patrick Johnston in Singapore. Editing by Nick Macfie)
