It used to be that dogs, small children, and the noticeboard at the library were great aids for people new in town wanting to meet people.

Then there were apps that did the same thing – Meetup, for example, lets you know about groups going on in your hood. Nearify, does a similar thing with events – type in your city and you get a run-down of recommended local happenings. You can even filter findings by keyword, venue or mood, increasing the chances presumably of stumbling across like-minded potential mates.

Now there’s the smart shirt that tells you if a person walking nearby (within 3 metres, for example) by is a potential BFF.

The DesignTaxi website reports on a wearable tech project from MIT’s Tangible Media Group (no relation), where your t-shirt captures your social media profile (via Bluetooth from your smartphone) and let’s you know whether people nearby (also wearing a clever shirt) have similar interests.

Because the shirts use your Facebook or Twitter profiles, they could also connect you with people who went to the same school, like the same movies, or know people you know.

The shirts could presumably use a smart phone alert system to let you know a potential friend (or even romantic attachment) is passing.

The wackier version is a tee which contains ink that can display words when they match up – a visual clue to the proximity of a potential friend.

So both shirts might light up with “sci-fi” and “Abba”, to mark common ground.

Frightening, eh?