Kroger made a stress-reducing smart apron for the holidays

For many, the holidays are a time of joy and togetherness that offer a much-needed reprieve from winter stress. But that may not always be the case if you are the (un)lucky person tasked with cooking a multi-course holiday meal for your entire family. But fear not, at-home chefs who’ve historically had nothing but a dull cloth apron to calm your nerves. Grocery giant Kroger has engineered a kitchen gadget just for you: the Holiday Apron, “a first-of-its kind prototype and technological marvel” that uses built-in smart features to soothe even the worst cooking anxiety, the company says. Developed by ad agency DDB New York in partnership with designers Diego Montoya and Ricky Reinoso as well as Brooklyn-based creative studio Smooth Technology, the denim apron—which happens to be the first-ever piece of wearable tech from Kroger—is designed to harness all five human senses in the name of reducing stress. For sound, the Holiday Apron will play a relaxing Christmas song or even tell a joke if it intelligently detects an increase in volume in any given room. For smell, it’ll periodically emit a gingerbread scent in the name of aromatherapy. And for touch, it comes with “massage-o-matic” vibrators embedded in the neck straps that will give the wearer a gentle shoulder rub on command. For sight, the apron will switch on its “feelings notifier,” a built-in LED panel that displays messages like “cook needs a break,” if it notices that the user’s body movements, internal temperature or heart rate are deviating from normal. And for taste, its “kitchen mishap detector” can somehow sense burnt or otherwise imperfect dishes and send the cook in question a $50 gift card code to buy a replacement meal from Kroger. While the Holiday Apron won’t be made available for purchase by the general public, a handful of prototypes have been dispatched to influencers to showcase on their various digital channels. Kroger will also roll out a couple of short-form videos to promote the wearable kitchen companion.

Kroger made a stress-reducing smart apron for the holidays

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