In the “Stranger than Amazon’s Drones” department comes news of a new idea from Microsoft – a bra which monitors a woman’s vital signs and detects the kind of stress levels that signal overeating, then sending a message to the wearer’s phone telling her to stop chowing down.

Click through to the CNN article for more information if you are curious, but I have to say that this idea creeps me out on a number of different levels, all the while being intriguing.

People who want to release weight usually want all the help they can get, if they’re really motivated, so the idea of a biometric warning system is not bad in and of itself. It might actually give some people the extra incentive they need to watch portions.

But in a bra? Somehow, this seems to send a message that only women need to watch their food intake, or that only women have problems with excess weight.

Couldn’t one come up with a unisex band worn around the chest (below the bustline) that would accomplish the same thing, similar to the sporty heart monitors, or is Microsoft thinking about the weight loss jockstrap for guys, just to keep the playing field level? This device, of course, instead of sending a message to the wearer’s phone would deliver a good strong shock to the “boys,” because guys need extra incentive and they’re all tough as nails, right?

Whatever the case, they didn’t ask me. And while I love all things geeky, this one seems to cross the line from smart into disturbing.

The Old Wolf has spoken.