Jace

The Jace

Hot flashes are a common symptom of the menopause, but no product so far targets this problem in a useful and physical way for these women. This smart piece of clothing will be one of the first physical (no hormones or pills) products to help women during a hot flash. The product will be able to sense the temperature of a woman’s body and react to it. When the temperature exceeds a specific temperature, the product starts cooling down. 

Next to the function of cooling down, this product will have influences on the woman wearing it mentally. Because it is integrated in a textile, it is not an obvious (stigmatizing) product. More over the idea of getting help during a hot flash alone will make it less stressful for women to have a hot flash. 

Development

The technology behind this product is the Peltier Effect. When a electric current is applied on a Peltier-device one side of the product will turn cold, while the other side becomes warm. By integrating the Peltier-devices in fabrics with the cold side turned to the skin, it makes the cloth able to cool down. In this project several configurations of Peltier-devices were tested (single, double and applying the current in pulses) and these were tested on the target group.The opinion of the target group was research as well. This gave a lot of knowlegde what includes in the experience of a hot flash and what they actually want during a hot flash. 

Graduation student:

Geertje Hofstee