Who doesn’t love temporary tattoos? They allow you to put stupid stuff on your skin and not have it last forever. This is perfect for those drunken nights when the thought of having “420 69″ on your left buttock just seems like the most hilarious idea of all time. Now, though, temp tats are also useful. Enter John Rogers and his Epidermal Electronic System.
The Epidermal Electronic Systen, or EES, consists of circuits which could contain electrodes capable of measuring brain, heart and muscle activity exactly like how an EEG does now. Only, you know, it will be on your skin with gives whole new meaning to the phrase “easy access.” This way you can wear the tattoo for elongated periods of time, thus giving doctors a better idea of what’s ..read more
Posted in: Concept Design, Tactile Feedback, Vitals Monitoring, Wearable Tech
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
Belts can do a lot of cool things in this world, but guide us where we need to go? The philosophical implications of this aside, the US Army has begun testing out a haptic belt to do just that for our armed forces on the ground.
The Army Research Office in North Carolina is working on the device and hopes to use it to eventually remotely guide soldiers on the battlefield. How does it work? A crackerjack combination of a GPS, an accelerometer and a good ole compass. The haptic part of the equation comes into play via vibrations which gently nudge the soldier in the right direction.
Early tests indicate that the devices are more accurate than a handheld GPS. With this in mind, it shouldn’t be long before these bad ..read more
Posted in: Belts, Concept Design, Tactile Feedback
The field of study that creates bionic limbs has been making great strides lately. So much striding, in fact, that it can be hard to keep track of everything. Of course, that is why we are here. But for that rare occasion you’d rather watch one of those new-fangled moving pictures instead of reading there’s PBS. The channel has just released a very informative documentary on the state of the industry.
The docu, linked here, interviews many luminaries in the field, including Dean Kamen and a number of other inventors. It’s an illuminating 11 minutes and, come on, we both know you weren’t doing anything that great to begin with.
The full transcript can be found here if you don’t feel like watching.
Posted in: Do-It-Yourself Industry Leaders, Tactile Feedback
Tokyo researchers, in their infinite wisdom, have figured out a way to control your hand. Yes, it sounds straight out of a horror movie. The project name, PosessedHand, doesn’t do much to help that image. Of course, the researchers assure us that this is all done in the name of science and progress. There are some cool ideas attached to the tech, after all.
How does it work? Electrodes of course. They wrap around your arm, and thanks to the magic of computers, then send signals to your fingers essentially making them do what they are told. Yes, there will probably be a middle finger program before too long. Once the hackers get ahold of it anyways.
The project is being undertaken by University of Tokyo and Sony Computer Science Lab. No ..read more
Posted in: Concept Design, Tactile Feedback
Since the Microsoft Kinect was released in November, hackers have been doing some amazing things with it. Until now, however, these hacks didn’t actually help people. This one does.
The hack in question is called NAVI (Navigational Aids for the Visually Impaired.) It was created by Michael Zöllner and Stephan Huber at the University of Konstanz. It helps the blind to see. Really.
Here is how it works. A Kinect is attached to a helmet and connected to a backpack-mounted Dell laptop. Also connected to the laptop is an Arduino controlled belt that has three separate regions of vibration and a Bluetooth headset. Then the walker is given instructions based on the visuals sent via the Kinect. Not bad. The system will even read signs to the walker, when necessary.
Posted in: Concept Design, Eyewear Display, Tactile Feedback
Cambridge Concepts have created a neat concept version of their innovative i-Dration water bottle. This fancypants water bottle actually knows when you are thirsty! Just how in the heck does it do that? Well it starts with sensors that that measure your temperature and other factors and then sends it along to an installed app on your smartphone. The bottle then measures ambient temperature and factors in how much fluid you have consumed and how much exercise you’ve done. And then, voila, it lets you know if you are thirsty. This is especially useful for people whose thirst sensors do not work.
It isn’t out yet but soon, very soon you too will be able to use the wonders of science to know if you are thirsty or not.
Posted in: Accessories, Cambridge Concepts, Sportswear, Tactile Feedback
Jeff Rowberg has designed the extremely functional Keyglove, which is essentially a wearable keyboard. We’ve certainly profiled some cool gloves in the past, but this may just take the cake. Touchscreens have been all the rage the past few years, but Mr. Rowberg has taken the touchscreen out of the equation and essentially made the entire world into one.
The Keyglove is a portable Arduino/Atmel-powered glove that uses touch combinations for keystrokes and a built-in accelometer for mouse control. Best of all, everything is done using only one glove which leaves your other hand free for sandwich eating and high fives.
The whole thing is intended to work wirelessly with the computing device of your choice. This is just a concept, albeit a working one, for now. Head on over to the ..read more
Posted in: Accessories, Concept Design, Gloves, Tactile Feedback, Technologies, Wearable Computing, Wearable Tech
It’s time to have a party, cyborg fans. DARPA has begun funding a cyborg arm concept introduced by Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory. The cy-arm(new name, given by me) has reached the clinical trials phase. It may not be a full Terminator, but it’s at least his arm.
DARPA has invested 34.5 million bucks, so it had better turn into something, lest some DARP-HEADS(new name, given by me) will be pissed. The nine pound arm features 22 degrees of freedom and sensory feedback. Not bad. It has been renamed the Modular Prosthetic Limb, which I guess is a hair better than cy-arm. Sigh…(arm.)
The eventual goal is for patients, trauma victims and the like, to use these arms instead of their own. The tech is still a long ways off but ..read more
Posted in: Concept Design, Tactile Feedback, Wearable Tech
Allerta got the nod to execute RIM first BlackBerry watch. Using Bluetooth, the watch syncs with the device to deliver incoming emails, text messages, and other alerts to you wrist. This is a viewing only device as messages cannot be composed on it. The watch is a full metal body, 1.3 OLED screen, vibrate, microUSB, and rechargeable. The unit is said to last up to 4 days of normal use. Due to ship in February, the price of $149.00 is not too bad. The Allerta inPulse is an interesting device, let’s see where this goes.
Posted in: Accessories, Allerta, Bluetooth, Display, Mobile Phone Integration, Mobile Phone Technology, Tactile Feedback, Watches, Wearable Computing
