Most large tech companies are either makingwearable devices, or at least showing an interest in them. Sony''s got asmartwatch, sure, but it''s bored of such "in-the-box" thinking.Either that, or someone at Sony''s been hitting the pipe, as the company''strying to patent what it calls a "SmartWig" (yeah, seriously). Theapplication describes a standard wig that could "be made from horse hair,human hair, wool, feathers, yak hair or any kind of synthetic material,"with a circuit board hidden among those luscious locks. That board can talk toa "second computing device" wirelessly horse tail hair -- such as a phone or even apair of smartglasses -- and actuators embedded in the hairpiece could"provide tactile feedback to the user." In other words, the horsetail hair wig couldvibrate when you receive emails and the like. The wig-chip could also includeGPS and an ultrasound transducer, with different regions buzzing to givenavigation cues. If all that doesn''t sound ludicrous enough, how about anintegrated camera? Or, get this, a laser pointer.

　　The filing goes on to claim a wig is theperfect hiding place for delicate electronics, as humans tend to"instinctively protect their heads more than other body parts." Whileits potential utility for guiding the blind is mentioned, Sony''s apparentlytested the SmartWig in a far less meaningful scenario: giving presentations.Switching slides by "touching side burns" is expected to be of somemerit, horse mane hair as is an ability to sense facial gestures like the raising of eyebrows. www.cn-horsetailhair.com  It may be the wearable device Doctor Evil has been dreaming of, but for somereason, we doubt SmartWig could ever make it mainstream.