Gimmicky² - and expensive - new gloves allow chatterboxes to take the term 'handsfree' to a new level - by talking into them as they make a call.

 

The gloves are known as 'Talk to the Hand' and cost £1,000 a pair.

 

They come with a speaker unit embedded into the thumb and a microphone built into the little finger that can be connected to any mobile handset using Bluetooth.

 

Artist Sean Miles designed the innovative³ gloves that double as a phone in part of his project that illustrates⁴ the possibilities of gadget⁵ recycling.

 

He uses vintage Miu Miu and Pineider gloves and combines them with parts from mobile handsets recycled through O2, which commissioned the project.

 

Mobile phone users will be able to keep their hands warm while they chat without taking their phone out of their pocket or handbag.

 

Mr Miles, from Windsor, designed two pairs of the new gloves - one in pink and the other in brown and yellow.

 

They will appear in an exhibition this July and visitors will be able to win the gloves.

 

If demand is high, they will then be produced on a larger scale.

 

O2 Recycle, which backed the project, estimates that there are already 70 million unused mobile handsets in the UK.

 

The service pays up to 260 pounds to those who recycle gadgets⁶ including phones, handheld consoles, SatNavs, MP3 players and digital cameras.

 

Designer Sean Miles, the man behind the designs, hopes his work will get people thinking about recycling.

 

The 41-year-old said: 'I hope that my Talk to the Hand project will get people to think again about the waste created by not recycling gadgets.

 

'While these might not be for everyone, there are hundreds of other uses that old phones can be put to - from being reconditioned and used again to being mined for their components⁷.

 

'If a few more people recycle their gadgets rather than send them to landfill, I think this project will have fulfilled its aim.'

 

The Talk to the Hand mobile phone gloves are the second product in a series that O2 Recycle and Miles have created.

 

The first, known as Walkie Talkies, combined vintage footwear with old handsets to create customised, fully-functional phones.

 

Miles is now working on combining phones with handbags - so people don't spend time rummaging⁸ around in their bags to find a phone when it rings.

 

Bill Eyres, head of O2 Recycle, urges people to recycle their phone responsibly.

 

He said: 'There's a pressing need for all of us to look at old handsets, and all the gadgets that we move on from or upgrade each year.

 

'Whether it's consoles or cameras we should think of them as a resource that we need to recycle responsibly rather than dispose of.'

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