Among the myriad possible applications put forward by Sony for its unusual-sounding smartwig,  the monitoring of a user’s vital signs might be among the more promising.

The wig could be used to measure a user’s brainwaves, temperature, pulse, blood pressure, sweat and then wirelessly upload the data to medical professionals. The activity could fit a number of potential services, including gathering data from chronic patients or satisfying the certified self market.

Rather than gathering data, the wig might also provide a means to deliver messages to users, for instance directions for blind people. The same concept could also be used to direct gamers, for instance in forms of augmented reality.

More eccentrically, the wigs might be popular in costume play, a form of role-playing particularly popular in Japan which is also mentioned in the filing. In so-called cosplay, users wear wigs and costumers to imitate their favourite characters in comics and animated films.

Some of the filing’s other suggestions are more outrageous, such as how Sony’s suggestion that the wig could transform business presentations in an area where “the style has not undergone any significant changes.”

The company’s suggestion is for users to “move forward or backward through presentation slides by simply pushing the sideburns” on the wig. Using the wig in this way means the user can control their presentation slides by using what appears natural behaviour, the filing said.