British carrier O2, together with artist Sean Miles, has created a pair of “Talk to the Hand” gloves that allow you to take phone calls using your thumb and pinky. They look just like regular gloves, only that have recycled cellphone parts built into them so that they can double as a Bluetooth headset.

Sean Miles is famous for fuzing fashion and technology to create all kinds of weird and wonderful gadgets. He’s built cellphones into shoes, and walkie-talkies into rain boots. But his latest project isn’t just plain crazy — it’s actually pretty useful, too.

With the help of O2, Miles has taken old Pineider and Miu Miu gloves and built recycled mobile phones into them to create handy headsets that are perfect for the winter. They have microphones in the pinky fingers and speakers in the thumb, so when you get a call, you simply need to hold your hand up to your face.

Miles started the project in an effort to get people thinking about the waste they’re creating by not recycling gadgets.

“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 components,” he said.

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

Miles and O2 are going to continue working together to create other things from old gadgets, so look out for others. Personally, I’d love a pair of socks with built-in vacuum cleaners. Miles?

• ViaPocket-lint