How would you like clothing that would not only make you look, but also feel, like a million bucks? Microsoft—the original grey suit people—is thinking about doing something about that. The company recently applied for a patent for a shirt that can detect your “affective state” and if it’s a downer, send you feedback to perk you up or cool you off. There is so much room for … [Read more...]
Hyundai’s “Iron Man” Suit: Sci Fi Without the Fi
Hyundai has announced—in Korean, on its Korean website—that it is working on an exoskeleton suit that it compares to Iron Man, and that is identical to Lt. Bill Cage (Tom Cruise) in Edge of Tomorrow. The exoskeleton is an upgrade of Hyundai’s lighter weight H-LEX (Hyundai Lifecaring ExoSkeleton) that was designed to assist seniors and disabled people with mobility problems. … [Read more...]
NBA Whips Out a Can of Whoop on Whoop
Fitness and biometric wearables are a perfect fit for professional sports, even though the sports’ governing bodies do not always agree. International soccer talks about it, the NFL and MLB seem to be going for it in some form, and now it’s becoming an issue for the NBA. And the NBA says “no.” Why? Because, and here’s the sticking point, none of the professional leagues … [Read more...]
Garmin Updates Vivofit and Vivoactive Fitness Trackers
Garmin is a major player in the fitness wearables marketplace, mostly at the higher end. Last week at Mobile World Congress, the company showed upgrades to Vivofit and Vivoactive, two of its less pricey smartwatch fitness products. The Vivoactive HR has all the features of the original Vivoactive, including tracking runs, steps, and sleep, and has sports apps. The new HR … [Read more...]
MIT Researchers Want to Open the World for Blind, Visually Impaired People
For people who are blind or visually impaired, reading is too often a matter of dependence on other people, either as readers or as translators into Braille. More than 3 million books are published annually in the U.S; only a small percentage of those are also published in Braille. Researchers at MIT are tackling the problem with the prototype FingerReader, which would allow … [Read more...]
In the Same Vein: New Recognition Technology from Samsung
Fingerprint and iris scanners might soon be old hat in the recognition game. Samsung’s recently published patent “Wearable Device and of Operating the Same” is for a wearable device that can identify a user by an image of her veins. The device takes a picture of your veins via a camera/infrared combination and compares it to a stored image. If they match, the device could be … [Read more...]
Myo Armband: Armed and Ready for Prosthetics
Thalmic Labs’s Myo Armband, which lets you control various devices by gesture, has been recognized from the beginning as a device with great potential. There are now apps to control electronic devices and services such as drones, Netflix, iTunes, keyboards, computer screens, and menus by hand and arm gestures. It’s not quite full Internet access by gesture and VR that Keanu … [Read more...]
Volvo and Microsoft Band Together
The Microsoft Band 2 received generally positive reviews when it first appeared as an efficient way to keep track of your health, email, workouts, and golf game. Now, thanks to a partnership between Microsoft and Volvo, it’s coming to your car. If you have a Volvo. And a Band 2 Those of you who currently fall into the small intersection of Volvo and Band owners will be … [Read more...]
Dr. Doolittle to Be Replaced by Technology
Anicall, a Japanese firm, has debuted an as yet unnamed pet translation device at the Wearable Expo in Tokyo. The collar, which will be available for both dogs and cats, analyzes 40 movements. Billed as something like a pet telepathy machine, it actually just tells your in-the-immediate-vicinity smartphone whether the pet is excited or happy, relaxed, wanting to play, or … [Read more...]
Pet Sounds: Canine Tech at CES
The idea of electronics on a dog or cat collar is not particularly revolutionary; pet doors that require collar electronics have been around for a while. But the world of technology never stays stagnant, so three companies have come out with fitness trackers for pets and one with a game console for dogs. (The cats feel this last is unnecessarily species-ist.) The trackers … [Read more...]