WearTec

Biojewellery.com is a project that explores how bone cells can be grown and used to make jewellery from them.
The idea behind the project is that couples could have their unique and personal jewellery created, so personal in fact that the jewellery includes bone tissue, grown from the couples own cells. The website states several methods to harvest bone cells, for example extracting a wisdom tooth or (my personal favourite) through biopsy of the femur. The harvested bone cells are then grown on a “bioactive scaffold”.
Their website also includes a section on how the bone tissue is grown.
The grown bone tissue can then be used to create jewellery, where it can be combined with precious metals and other materials.

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Wearable Technology: Imation has introduced a new USB flash drive product: the USB wristband.
The wristband is made from flexible rubber and the USB connector doubles as the closing mechanism for the band. The design of the wristbands reminds me a lot of the popular support and awareness bracelets that come in a wide variety of colors and messages.
The wristband comes in a range of colors and storage capacities. Maximum storage is 1GB. Companies can have their wristbands customized with their logos.

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Hewlett Packard’s research labs have developed and implemented a few ideas on tomorrow’s technologies.
In the wearable technology field they came up with a wearable camera. The device is made up of a 1.3 megapixel camera integrated into a pair of sun glasses and capable of recording 7.5 frames per second, and up to 30 frames per second at a lower resolution. The data is stored onto 20 gigabyte hard disks, which can hold up to 3 hours of video. Once downloaded to the PC, a software developed by HP analyses the recorded video in regards to head motion to automatically determine the parts of the video that might be of interest.

[via CNet News]

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Knepo is offering a jacket with integrated Ipod controls.
A row of touch sensitive buttons is sown into the fabric of the jacket sleeve, forming a control panel for your Ipod. A wire leads to a pocket where you can store your Ipod, allowing you to remote control it.
The control panel technology, which is machine washable, has been developed by Eleksen.
Currently, the Ipod jacket is available in the US and Canada.

[via Stuff]

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Audex Technology are manufacturing a range of cool jackets that allow you to connect with your cell phone and/or ipod.
Some of the technological features include:

• control panel with LCD screen in the sleeve of the jacket that lets you make and receive calls and select ipod songs
• bluetooth connectivity to your cell phone
• microphone and speakers in the hood/collar of the jacket
• microphone, speakers and control panel can be removed to allow for easy cleaning of the jacket

Audex also offers a helmet equipped with Motorola bluetooth technology, with inbuilt speakers and headset and also compatible with ipod, or any mini disk/CD player.

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Wearable Gadget
A shoe with a message: strange as it might sound, youngsters are using a new shoe as a new form of communication.

The Stripe Shifter has five stripes on the side. Each is changeable in colour and height, creating unique combinations that can be used to convey a personal message. It’s a great way to express yourself, a whole new language with its own set of rules. Perfect if you want to say the unsayable.

Idea came from youngsters

It all started when the American manufacturer showed the shoe to European youngsters. Their response: why not use the stripe shifting system to express a personal message?

Since there are so many different combinations, each shoe is unique. The youngsters identified five universal messages: I’m single, Peace, Want 2 Play?, Respect, and I’m in love. These messages form the basis of a language that provides a unique form of self-expression for young people.

Let the shoe do the talking

You can now make your own contribution to this language by creating a design and message at http://www.kswiss.co.uk. To bring this language to life, the unique designs will be featured in leading newspapers in the UK, Germany and Holland. They’ll also appear on a digital “wall of fame”.
(source: Press release)

[via The Techwear Weblog]

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Engadget is reporting on a set of glasses that not only make you see better, but also hear better. The glasses are equipped with 4 microphones on each side of the frame and are supposed to pick up conversational sounds, while filtering out background noise. Seems like quite a useful invention really, combining two different aids to enhance our senses into one piece of wearable technology. The glasses have been developed by the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and are being sold by Varibel.

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Nap Alarm is a little device that you wear behind your ear (similar to a hearing aid). When your head falls forward, the Nap Alarm detects this as a sign of you falling asleep and starts to vibrate.
According to the manufacturer, Takanoha the Nap Alarm is used to “Ensure drive safety and prevent traffic accident caused by napping”, a risky use for the Nap Alarm as your car would have already travelled quite a few meters before you regain consciousness and control over the car again. I wish I’d had such a device during the lectures at university though…
The Nap Alarm is available in Japan for around $12.

[via I4U News]

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Following up on the Forbes article about wearable technology where they mentioned a spray on dress, here is the company that has come up with the technology: Fabrican Ltd.
Regarding the technology, they say:
“Fabrican is the fusion of art and science, combining expertise from London’s Royal College of Art with Imperial College, London.

Whilst the principle is simple, the underlying technology is unique. Importantly, the technology is being developed with a number of key market sectors in mind. The fabric is flexible enough to deliver product of varying characteristics to suit the needs of the fashion industry, or the automotive industry, or cleansing companies. It is as soft as silk for some uses, or a tough as hemp for others. It can be applied to soft or hard surfaces and it is as durable as needs be.”

And while their website looks a bit incomplete and not to say unprofessional at the moment, they have already identified several possible market sectors, such as the fashion industry, and applications in the medical industry, as well as the design of hygiene products (toilet paper in a can anyone?).

Also, they are currently looking for business partners to develop and market the ideas further. Wanna sell clothes in a can?

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TrackStick is a minute GPS receiving device, about the size of a mp3 player. It is powered by 2 AAA batteries, which last for up to 7 days. The TrackStick’s information accuracy is plus-minus 22 metres.

The really cool thing about TrackStick is that it allows you to export the location data into Google Earth and a variety of other mapping services. With these coordinates and using Google Earth you can create a virtual 3D flight of exactly where you have been. And by where you have been I don’t just mean the area, but the 3D flight will move and turn exactly the way you moved. A sample video is available here.

You could use the TrackStick to monitor your kids location (keep in mind that you can only access the TrackStick location information AFTERWARDS), to keep track of your company drivers, etc.

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