terrors

Initiate Nightmare Sequence, Store Mannequins Are Smart Now

Photo: CBS

Plasticized human figures just waiting in line to be cyborgs — store mannequins — are about to start beaming stuff into your cell phones. It’s the very fabric of our night terrors, and it is directly upon us.

A company that purveys clothes-statues to stores like Uniqlo and Saks has inserted electronic implants into its “smart mannequins.” From the display window, these figures can send signals to cell phones of passersby about items for sale, prices, and designers. According to the manufacturers, the biggest issue was how to hide the “small, cylindrical beacon” of intelligence within the mannequins. New York Times writer Rachel Abrams reports: 

Open up the head and the line around the forehead could give the impression of a lobotomy. Other body parts did not offer the best reception … Eventually they decided on the waist. The mannequins can send a signal to people within a 100-foot range of the store, trying to entice them in.

Shooting from the hip: just like sworn enemies to the human race. 

Here’s a Nightmare: Mannequins Are Smart Now