Wearables
Smartglasses help the visually impaired use their smartphone
Researchers from the Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School have developed a smartphone application that projects a magnified smartphone screen to Google Glass, which users can navigate using head movements to view a corresponding portion of the magnified screen. They have shown that the technology can potentially benefit low-vision users, many of whom find the smartphone’s built-in zoom feature ...
ADI & LifeQ to improve body monitoring effectiveness
Analog Devices has announced a collaboration with LifeQ to develop technology that will make it possible for non-invasive body monitoring devices to provide highly accurate physiological data that currently is only available through the use of expensive, invasive and hard-to-access equipment.
Stylish fitness tracker features OLED screen
Chipworks definitely has an interest in the latest in wearable technology. So, naturally, when such a big name in the market as Fitbit announced a change of pace with the new, more-stylish Alta fitness tracker, the company was excited to take a look. Contributed by Mandi Gingerich, Julia Elvidge and Jim Morrison of Chipworks.
Smart skin is self-powered by frictional contact
Researchers have fabricated a smart skin that is self-powered by its frictional contact with the objects that it touches. When a honeybee crawls across the smart skin, the skin not only senses the insect, it also uses the spontaneous triboelectric charge that builds up between the honeybee and the smart skin to power its sensing ability, eliminating the need for batteries. The smart skin could have applications for robots, artificial intelligence...
Wearables set to revolutionise the route to sporting success
Over the last 20 years technology has altered the way sport across the world is played and officiated. For example, tennis and cricket have each embraced video technology to challenge disputed decisions like line-calls and run-outs, and television referees have been an undisputed success in both rugby league and rugby union to assist the on-field official to make the correct decision when allowing a try.
Flexible haptic actuator suited for wearables
KEMET and Novasentis have together announced a collaboration to develop next-gen Electro-Mechanical Polymer (EMP) film based haptic actuators for wearable devices. Novasentis will provide the core technology and haptic actuator film while KEMET will develop the manufacturing process for the final assembly.
Ultrasound could transform your hands into a touchscreen
Using your skin as a touchscreen has been brought a step closer after UK scientists successfully created tactile sensations on the palm using ultrasound sent through the hand. The University of Sussex-led study - funded by the Nokia Research Centre and the European Research Council – is the first to find a way for users to feel what they are doing when interacting with displays projected on their hand.
Wearable sweat sensor works without battery
Plants and trees soak up water in the soil by letting it vaporise through pores in the leaves. Scientists at TU/E have now taken this principle to develop a sweat sensor through which the sweat itself flows at a steady rate and is analysed. Using laser micro-manufacturing, they made minuscule structures in flexible plastic and integrated a small analytic chip. Their work overcomes an important hurdle towards the development of flexible sweat sens...
Biometrics strike at the heart of Major League Baseball
As part of the increasing level of integration of technology within real time sporting environments, Major League Baseball (MLB) in the US, has approved two wearable devices for use during this season’s games.
Detecting human activity on mobile and wearable devices
To aid the development of motion sensing applications, STMicroelectronics has introduced three additions to its Open.MEMS portfolio of free and software libraries.