Kathleen McDermott, a Hong Kong-based artist designed the Personal Space DressĀ in order to keep creepy guys or even regular people at a safe and/or comfortable distance.
The dress is an electronic garment, featuring proximity sensors that identify when someone is too close and communicate to the dress to automatically expand outward in an umbrella-like fashion.
Whether or not the dress is a viable product remains to be seen as it is something McDermott calls more of a statement for women to take control of their personal space in public.
The Personal Space DressĀ is part of a larger movement of wearables called Urban Armor, which challenges “the persistence of ideologies asserted at women in public space through advertising, architecture and socially normative behavior.”