We live in a digital world, and yet the medical community is fine with living in a paper one. That doesn’t make much sense. Thankfully, thanks to a spate of industrious inventors, this is about to change. First up? A miniature RFID chip that will store your entire medical history.
This tiny, 3cm-square charm, designed by Asahi Kasei, that can be read by a computer or smartphone and can be worn, well, just about anywhere. The device should enjoy broad connectivity with a variety of products, thanks to being built using a much-used programming code.
The company hopes to begin selling the devices to hospitals within the year at a low, low cost of just $25. Now we will truly never, ever be able to get away from that one unfortunate bout ..read more
Posted in: Asahi Kasei, Concept Design, Vitals Monitoring
Now this is one Power Glove that will impress both Fred Savage and us. Scientists at Georgia Tech have created a prototype of an extremely unique vibrating glove. This bad boy vibrates in such a way that it actually increases your touch sensitivity. Now shaking hands can feel sooooo good.
Just how does this work? It adds a modicum of vibration to everything done while wearing the glove. This ends up increasing touch sensitivity as all touch sensitivity is, really, is a bunch of vibrations of varying degrees.
It’s just a concept/prototype for now but the scientists behind the glove do envision some real world uses, including helping medical patients with dulled feeling in their hands. We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available. Until then, you are stuck with your ..read more
Posted in: Concept Design, Gloves, Tactile Feedback
We’ve all heard of vitals monitors, but what about, um, vittles monitors? According to two Clemson researchers, the time of the monitored vittle has come. Enter their brainchild, the Bite Counter.
The Bite Counter does exactly what the name implies: It counts your bites. You wear it as if it was a watch and the counter keeps track of how many bites of delicious foodstuffs you are shoving into your gaping maw. Then you stare at the large number and feel great, great shame. The intent is to hopefully harness this shame to create weight loss, or something.
This device may not be for everyone, well specifically it’s not for super skinny people. Still, it could be an interesting new weapon in the battle against obesity. At the very least we can ..read more
Posted in: Armbands, Concept Design, Vitals Monitoring
Tokyoflash is back! Well, in concept at least. The popular watchmaker has released a concept design for your favorite watch of the future. The hook? It’s all right angle LCD hotness. Yeah, look at the thing. You know you want one. It can be read via the wrist at a perfect right angle!
Want more information? Here it is straight from the horse’s mouth:
“This concept wrist watch design has an LED backlight that will completely illuminate the screen at the touch of a button and in addition to this, it has built in USB memory so that you can store important files and secret documents and always have them securely located on your wrist. To access your files, simply connect the watch to your computer with the USB cable provided.” A ..read more
Posted in: Concept Design, Tokyoflash, Watches
How many backpacks do you own that function as real-time world observers and sketch artists? Jansport this is not. Enter the Situationist Drawing Device, a real invention intended to map out the world around us.
It was concocted by designer Ji Soo Han and Paul Ornsby. It sits on your back, acting as a backpack of sort. Then it observes and sketches the world around you. How in the heck does it do that? It uses a series of placed mirrors that reflect to and from the user and, finally, to the input connections of the device. It is more or less an artistic expression than something that has real world applications. However, it sure is cool.
Obviously, this unit is concept only and probably won’t be turning up in store shelves anytime ..read more
Posted in: Backpack, Concept Design, Wearable Computing
Laser beams are cool. That much cannot be questioned. You know what’s even cooler, though? Laser beams that emit from your hand. Yeah, that’s some Iron Man junk right there. Well, it’s now a reality. Watch out, though. This hellish beam can make you blinder than a bat.
Patrick Priebe’s hand-worn 1,000 milliwatt laser is a unique entity. He used a two millimeter sheet of brass cut into a C-shape to fit into his hand, a Casio projector laser diode and lithium batteries. The laser can stay powered continuously for three whole minutes. Oh yeah, also, if it hits your eyes you just may go blind. Yowza.
No word on when these will hit store shelves, heralding a laser-borne apocalypse. We can’t wait!
Posted in: Armbands, Concept Design
LED displays keep popping up in the most random of places. But, come on, a lab coat?! Haven’t seen that one before. This ridiculously cool coat was designed by Dave Forbes and it is, essentially, a wearable video display that doubles as a swanky coat. Not bad.
Basically, a bunch of LEDs wrap around the lab coat, giving it the air of being an actual, moving television. It works by being plugged into an iPod or DVD player, and it’s all powered by a 12V battery. It will make its world-wide debut at this year’s Burning Man festival. Yikes, we bet someone pees on it.
Wanna see this bad boy in action? Click here!
Posted in: Concept Design, Jacket, LED, Wearable Tech
You know what the worst part of vacation is? Your friend or loved one that constantly halts proceedings so the can whip out their video camera. If this prototype design is to be believed, that annoyance will be a thing of the past.
The concept design, called Seed, is a robotic blimp that essentially follows you around consistently recording video. Yeah, it seems like something out of our collective dystopian future, but it could come in handy. It doesn’t just do video. SEED also keeps track of the weather, the temperature, and even ambient smells. That last one ought to make for great dinner party chitchat.
The unit will also be prepped to handle GPS duties, so it can tell you when you get lost or when you are about to get ..read more
Posted in: Accessories, Camera, Concept Design
Iron Man! The very words sends a coolness shiver down our spines. Well, it may be close to becoming a reality thanks to the Human Universal Load Carrier. This wearable exoskeleton exists to turn soldiers into supersoldiers. Cool!
HULC, for short, allows soldiers to carry over 200 pounds for a maximum distance of over twelve miles on just one charge. That is some heavy lifting. The unit was designed and built by Lockheed Martin, which is probably the closest we have to an actual Stark Industries in the real world. HULC also allows for a full range of human motion, including squats and crawls. Just imagine it, exoskeleton yoga.
The unit is still being tested and Lockheed Martin has given no word as to when it would start showing up in actual ..read more
Posted in: Concept Design, Lockheed Martin, Wearable Tech
So you are leaving the house and forgot to charge your phone. What to do? Not a lot, as it stands. However, thanks to a group of students at the Aalborg University this may soon be a thing of the past.
The crew invented something they call Powertex. The microfibers allow you to charge your device just by affixing the device to it. This means that chairs, walls and even clothing can one day be used to charge your many gadgets. It works using wireless induction. A wire coil generates a magnetic field that is picked up by the receiving end and transformed back into electrical current.
Of course, this is just a lowly concept design but it shows a lot of promise and soon, very soon, we may never miss an ..read more
Posted in: Concept Design, Mobile Phone Integration, iPhone Integration, iPod Integration
