WearTec

I thought I had seen all of the USB powered gadgets, such as heated coffee cups. This air conditioned shirt is a new take on USB gadgets however. Two 2 centimeter fans located at the back of the shirt suck in air and keep you cools. I would be interested in noise level and whether a battery pack could be developed for a mobile solution, instead of being hooked up to a USB port.

The shirt has been developed by Kouzi Ichigaya an ex Sony technician and is apparently available for purchase in Japan.

Technorati Tags: air conditioned shirt, wearable technology, wearable gadget, usb gadget

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“Initial meetings and introductions mark the first moments of building new relationships. Yet these important moments are often awkward or forgotten, sometimes because of the natural failings of human memory (not being able to recall someone’s name) or because there is a lack of a catalyst for a richer interaction. The iBand is a new wearable technology that aims to address these problems. The device is a bracelet that stores and exchanges information about you and your relationships. Data exchange occurs only when you shake hands with another user. Information gathered and processed is reflected on the bracelet itself and can serve as a reminder or as an ice breaker for further conversation.”

If you are like me and have a bad memory for names, then this one might become a life saver for you. According to the project website at Media Lab Euro - Human Connectedness Research Group . The information would not simply be transferred by also displayed on the iBand. So the iBand could actually tell you whether you have met this person before, what his/her name is, whether there is a relationship to any of your other friends stored in the iBand, etc.

The iBand displayed in the picture is still a prototype. The design could obviously be enhanced to make it look more like a piece of jewellery or bracelet for example.

Technorati Tags: wearable technology, wearable gadget, iBand

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The German website iPodFun has had a look at O’Neill’s upcoming h3 video backpack, that allows you to record videos, listen to your music and operate your cell phone.
The video backpack system consists of a -who would have thought- backpack, which is equipped with protective pockets for an ipod and a video camera. The system also comes with an external action cam, basically a lens that you can wear on your head, glasses, helmet, etc, that feed back to your video camera inside the backpack (your video camera must support recording from external sources). The video camera, the ipod as well as a bluetooth enabled cell phone can then be remotely controlled via a joystick integrated into the backpack’s shoulder straps

The video backpack will go on sale in September for around 300 Euros, which seems to be a fair price for what you get.

Technorati Tags: wearable technology, wearable gadget, o’neill h3 video backpack

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Think-A-Move have developed an earpiece with an integrated microphone, basically a headset that sits in your ear, without the need for any external microphone. According to Think-A-Move, “this revolutionary and patented technology picks up and transmits the speaking voice of the user from inside the ear canal, and simultaneously eliminates all ambient noise. For example, using the InnerVoice Pro, you would be able to whisper in the midst of a roaring football stadium and still be clearly heard on a mobile phone.”

Apart from a potential use for cell phones the second most likely application is in the field of speech recognition an voice control, especially where people with disabilities would be able to control devices via voice. Because any ambient noise is blocked out the reliability of recognizing the voice command would be substantially higher.

You won’t find the InnverVoice Pro in the shops just as yet, but apparently the US military seems to be pretty interested.

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Just in time for the soccer world championship finds us this unique gadget which is a hot contestant in the ‘useless things we don’t need’ category. May we present the beerbelly bladder. The beerbelly bladder is basically a drink bladder usually worn on the your back, equipped with a sipping hose to hydrate you while your hiking, cycling, etc. The bright guys behind the beerbelly bladder have discovered that “guys with beer bellys have more fun” and have to decided to create a fake beer belly for anyone who aren’t already equipped one. So there you have it, your very own beer belly, which you can fill with beer (or any other beverage) to work on your own belly.

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According to an article in Newswise, “the ability to coat fabrics with nano-particles (or powders) allows for the creation of bio-functional coatings for applications such as anti-bacterial fabrics and bio-sensors that can do everything from warn you when you are in the presence of a biological attack to greatly improving fire retardant properties in all kinds of fabrics, to monitoring blood sugar in sweat […]”

Wilkes University is currently running a 240.000 dollar project to develop and commercialize a machine that will be able to coat fabrics with these nano particles, about 50 times smaller than then width of a human hair.

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“A faculty member and two graduate students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) who developed a motorized brace that enables people suffering from muscular dystrophy to perform simple tasks with their hands, and gain a greater sense of independence, have received WPI’s first Kalenian Award for entrepreneurship […]

Young people with muscular dystrophy retain dexterity in their hands, but, due to the wasting in their shoulders, upper arms, and trunk, are unable move their arms. The orthosis is a brace that fits over the arm. A joystick, held with the free hand, is used to operate motors that flex the arm at the elbow and rotate it to direct the hand to where it is needed. With the brace, the user can grip and move up to three pounds, making it possible, for example, to use a toothbrush or utensils for eating. A lap tray is used as a horizontal pivot point for the elbow, giving the user two degrees of freedom.”

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An article at discovery channel reports on a theory of display that sits inside the human skin. The device, called a dermal display would consist of thousands of microscopic robots that sit under the skin and equipped with a light emitting source could display information by rearranging their position. The display would get its data from other nano robots stationed in various locations of the body, which would monitor a person’s vital signs. The display could also be interactive where the user would manipulate the information displayed, or switch the display on and off by pressing on the skin.

If it works, this type of monitoring device/display wouldn’t need replacing as it would draw its power from the body’s glucose supplies.

[via igargoyle]

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Running under water can be an important exercise for fitness training as well as recovery and rehabilitation, because it puts less stress on the joints while offering increased resistance. AQx Sports have developed the AQx Aquatic Training Shoe, specifically designed to make running under water feel more natural. According to AQx Sports, the shoe “decreases the amount of pounding generally needed to enhance a runner’s performance(s), is an aid to recovery or an adjunct to normal training regimen, used as a method of rehabilitation from a running-related or musculoskeletal injury, enhances range of motion and proper mechanics of land-based running.”

The most important differences of the aquatic shoe compared to normal running shoes are its fins “for correct, subtle plane of motion resistance”, a sticky rubber sole for extra grip, as well as several drainage ports.

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“Life-saving medical implants like pacemakers and defibrillators face a big drawback: their batteries eventually run out. So every few years, patients need surgery to have the batteries replaced. Now a company in New York state is planning to tackle the problem by providing patients with an implantable power source that recharges their implant’s batteries using electricity generated by the patient’s own body heat.”

The device would contain thousands of thermoelectric generators, which generate electricity through different temperatures on either side of the generator. An area close to the skin would provide sufficient temperature difference for the generators to work.

[via igargoyle]

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