Material designer Lauren Bowker, of the London-based fashion studio The Unseen, has a penchant for exploring unusual applications of biology, chemistry and technology in the fashion business.

Her latest project, the result of a unique collaboration with Swarovski, consists of a headdress made out of 4,000 custom-made crystals that change their colour depending on the wearer’s brain energy. The lab-grown gem stones have a similar composition to human bone, and are embedded with colour-changing ink to turn neural activity into a real-time visual performance.

Style isn’t the only point this project has to offer. "Going forward we are conducting research and looking to couple MRI technology to the visual results forming a more accurate analysis of our heat patterns and what exact emotion is being displayed through the stone – this piece is just a concept to get us started," Bowker told Dezeen. "We have had an overwhelming response to it so far, from patients' relatives asking to use the technology to indicate brain activity in loved ones that may be unable to communicate."

The headpiece will be on display this September, as part of the London Fashion Week.