Mercury: a sleek urban jacket that adjusts to your optimal temperature

March 20, 2018 Ivan Jovin Smart clothes 3 min read

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Mercury is a sleek looking urban jacket from Ministry of Supply. The garment is 90% recycled, voice-controllable through assistants like Amazon Alexa, wind/waterproof, and best of all, uses machine learning to heat to your optimal temperature.

Recently launched on Kickstarter, the campaign to make this product a reality has smashed many times through its goal. With 3 days left, the Boston-based company has managed to raise over half a million dollars. So what makes this intelligent heated jacket so popular?

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There are other battery-powered thermal jackets on the market, but what’s really innovative about Mercury is the machine-learning piece. It reads temperature, motion data, and user preferences to provide the right amount of heat across a wide range of environments. Put more simply, it knows what you want before you even tell it.

Say someone puts on the jacket before their morning commute; the jacket’s heating system turns on once they walk outdoors. When walking to their train stop, elevating heart rate and heating the body, the jacket combines both the outdoor and internal temperatures to regulate heat distribution. The three carbon fiber heating elements are nearly weightless, so when not in use you won’t even know they’re there.

Over time, the machine-washable jacket will learn your preferences. It will get better the more and more you use it.

“Our mission is to invent clothing that blends form and functionality—and temperature regulation is one of the most important factors in comfort, ” Notes the Ministry of Supply team.
“We’re excited to present our vision of what wearable technology can become, not just a way to monitor our vitals—but also act on it allowing us to become more comfortable and capable because of it. The Intelligent Heated Jacket is just that literally putting a learning thermostat in your jacket.”

Lots of thought has obviously been put into the fashion and comfort side of things as well. Built to provide protection from the elements, the sleek looking jacket is ready to repel wind, snow, water and odors. At the same time, its extremely breathable and stretchable.

There is also an attachable hood and you can use the jacket’s battery to charge your smartphone as well. If you’re not a fan of the garment or are in slightly warmer climates, there is a more lightweight vest you can opt for instead.

The company says its taken them 3 years of research to reach this stage. This is Ministry of Supply’s third time on Kickstarter, where they launched in 2012 after graduating from MIT to take a scientific approach to design.