The socks use a method of rest and activity monitoring known as actigraphy. So a built-in accelerometer will wait for you to stop moving for a prolonged period of time before sending a signal to the TV to prevent you from losing your place in Mad Men for the 20th time. An LED light will blink beforehand, notifying anyone who may just be chilling very hard to move their foot if they’re still awake and watching.
Quite an interesting project for those minded to try it – requires an Arduino and knitting skills. Obvious publicity aspect aside, I think this is quite a nice way to get the imagination going: how else could we combine textiles and technology?