How would you like to have zippers on your clothes that zip and unzip automatically?

Whether you like it or not, the technology that can accomplish feat has arrived.

Enter Zipperbot, the world's first robot zipper. As its name implies, it's a miniaturized robot that does only one thing well: zip and unzip your clothes.

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It's the brainchild of Adam Whiton, a PhD from MIT, more specifically its Personal Robots Group.

Zipperbot gets the job done by using optical sensors to accurately align the zipper's teeth so the zip doesn't jam or snag on the surrounding cloth. The device also uses motion sensors to detect movement as it crawls along the zipper like a small tank.

The latter is particularly useful since Zipperbot will automatically zip your fly if you happen to leave it unzipped.

You can see what Zipperbot does in this YouTube video here.

In this video, the robot zipper moves on its own across a zip placed on a flat surface. It's also shown zipping a length of cloth wrapped around an arm.

Whiton said this autonomous capability means Zipperbot could be used to loosen or tighten after a meal, or between standing up and sitting down. The tiny robot could also help children or persons with disabilities dress themselves. 

"Zipperbot, a robotic continuous closure for fabric edge joining, was developed to explore autonomous control of a sartorial gesture and performed as a wearable robot which was evaluated through social interactions", Whiton explained.