Wearables

UK technology start-up Pit-Pat, featured on Electronic Specifier back in June, will be facing the scrutiny of the Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones and co, as the device for the wearable pet market heads into the Dragons’ Den this Sunday, 28th August.

  In partnership with RioCard, Brazil’s smart card system for transportation in the state of Rio de Janeiro, NXP Semiconductors has announced the launch of a contactless wearable – adding a new form factor to RioCard’s NXP MIFARE contactless fare collection and payment solutions.

Reflecting back on incidents can help people manage their anxiety. However, since traditional reflection aids such as written diaries are often abandoned, wearable technology could provide the solution. Human computer interaction specialists at Lancaster University have worked with adults diagnosed with autism to create prototype personalised wristband devices called Snap that enable wearers to digitally record data when they are feeling anxious.

A member of the ams group, Cambridge CMOS Sensors, has announced that Chinese wearable device manufacturer HiCling is using its ultra-low power gas sensors to enable the new Cling VOC smart fitness wristband to measure indoor air quality and alcohol in breath. The CCS801 gas sensor integrated in the Cling VOC wristband can detect low levels of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) typically found indoors.

Head injuries are a hot topic today in sports medicine, with numerous studies pointing to a high prevalence of sports-related concussions, both diagnosed and undiagnosed, among youth and professional athletes. Now an MIT-invented tool is aiding in detecting and diagnosing concussions, in real time. 

Tattoos which contain your music? On-skin jewellery that can control your smartphone? Pay for your coffee with your elbow? …Sound a touch far fetched? A group of students from MIT Media Lab and Microsoft Research have developed prototypes of on-skin user interfaces, which resemble jewellery.

A system for making smartwatches and fitness-trackers easier to use, created by computer scientists at the University of St Andrews, could transform the technology for users without the need to buy new hardware. WatchMI allows wearers to access functions on their watch using a wider range of actions: for example by twisting the watch face, applying pressure to the screen, or by panning the watch to the right or left.

"Smart" eyewear—that can integrate AR with your own, feed you live information about your surroundings and even be used in the operating room—is no longer the stuff of science fiction. Wearable displays also have the potential to enhance cognitive ergonomics, or more simply, make it less mentally taxing to complete certain tasks. But before technologies like Google Glass become a part of daily life, engineers need a way to monito...

Ripped pants or a torn shirt usually means a trip to the tailor or a garbage can is in one's future. But scientists could be closing in on a new solution. They report in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces a fabric coating made of squid proteins that allows rips in cotton, linen and wool to "heal" themselves. Damage to a variety of surfaces, ranging from biomedical implants to clothing, can limit a product's usefulness.

  Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham are exploring the concept of a wearable personal cloud - a fully functioning, yet compact and lightweight cloud computing system embedded into clothing.