In 2003, Adam Whiton, an industrial designer at MIT, and Yolita Nugent, head designer at Advanced Research Apparel, developed the No-Contact Jacket, a stylish woman’s jacket that repels an assailant trying to grab the wearer with a powerful but non-lethal 80,000-volt shock while it’s active. The jacket insulation protects the wearer from the delivered electrical charge, which causes the assailant to experience a painful, uncomfortable shock, disorientation, and loss of balance, all of which provides the woman with time to escape. The inner layer of the jacket is made with a conductive fiber powered by a 9-volt battery, which builds a high-voltage but low-amp charge through a series of step-up circuits, much like the technology used in commercial stun guns. The wearer must arm the jacket to activate it by turning a small lock on an outer sleeve using a key, and then charge it by pressing a hand-held button attached by a cord to the inside of one of the sleeves. Even when not activated, audible crackle sounds of visible “electric arcs” on parts of the fabric warn that the jacket is armed. Unfortunately, surprise attacks would leave the victim unable to respond in time. The prototype jacket is made only in smaller sizes with narrow armholes suitable for many women, but prevent a man from donning it to use against a woman. The jacket is still not available for purchase, but the original price was around $1,000. The inventors expected the price to drop once they teamed up with apparel manufacturers for mass production. So far, that hasn’t happened.
