We're pretty sure we've heard about this before, but it may be worth repeating. The "adult toy" manufacturer OhMyBod is taking preorders for a vibrator controllable with a Bluetooth phone. (You may insert jokes about pairing and discoverability at your own discretion. We're too high class to do it ourselves.) They were showing it at CES. Just wait for the howls when Google … [Read more...]
eSight Assistive Goggle for Low Vision
Here's an interesting approach to using wearable tech to assist those suffering from low vision. The eSight goggle uses a highly portable computer to enhance live video of the world around the wearer, and then display the video through the goggle. The manufacturer, based in Ottawa, Canada, says eSight can help people suffering from, among other ailments, macular … [Read more...]
Wearable Skinner Boxes
Here's a particularly creepy adaptation of wearable tech: if it doesn't think you're focussing or being active enough, it can hand you a shock. Generations of psychology students (and the English majors who were paid as their research subjects) know that "operant conditioning chambers" are devices that dole out rewards and punishments according to behavior. If the research … [Read more...]
For the Record: Misfit Adds $15.2M Funding
Misfit Technologies, maker of the Shine motion tracker, has reportedly raised another round of $15.2 million, in addition to the $7.6 million raised in a founder's cycle and $800,000 raised on Indiegogo. The money will go for a new product, slated to ship in early 2014. … [Read more...]
Are Gadgets Good for Training or Just a Distraction?
Physical activity, at some level, is about being in the moment. But at another level, it's also about stepping outside yourself and analyzing what you're doing so you can adjust and improve. Wearable tech sits at the vertex of those schools of thought. Anyone who's strapped on a heart monitor can understand the appeal (if not necessity) of tracking performance; anyone who's … [Read more...]
The Microsoft Bra
It turns out that Microsoft is working on things besides tablets, enterprise infrastructure, and office productivity apps. Some researchers are working with ladies' undergarments. To be more accurate, researcher Mary Czerwinski is looking into how stress can lead to overeating (PDF), and she's tracking it by placing electrocardiogram and electrodermal sensors in brassieres. … [Read more...]
Reuters: Apple in the Hearing Aid Business?
iWhat? Somehow, a Reuters article saying that Apple was teaming up with the Danish company GN ReSound to make an iPhone-compatible hearing aid missed most people's attention. The story's not entirely coherent, but it seems that Apple went shopping for partners to make hearing aids that operate on Bluetooth's 2.4GHz band. Most competing companies use lower-frequency … [Read more...]
Lots of Talk and Action in NYC Wearables; Event Reports from Eyebeam and HUGE
WTI was out a lot last week, seeing a bunch of new wearable products here in New York City and listening to some interesting ideas. Not much trend or narrative emerged -- the wearbles business isn't quite mature enough to cohere that way -- but some patterns may be starting to peek out. Eyebeam, a gallery in the Chelsea section of New York, has an ongoing research initiative … [Read more...]
Evena Blade: Glasses to See Your Veins
Ever gone for medical tests or needed IV fluids, and the phlebotomist or nurse took a few years to find the vein? That may be a little uncomfortable in a doctor's office. On the battlefield, in a medical emergency, getting that vein becomes critically important. Evena Medical has a set of goggles that essentially makes your skin disappear and lets medical staff see exactly … [Read more...]
Baby Monitors
There's a scene in the movie Terms of Endearment where the relationship between the characters played by Shirley MacLaine and her screen daughter Debra Winger is illustrated by the mother obsessively waking her baby to make sure she was still breathing. I wonder if wearable baby tech is the same thing in more palatable clothing. Babble's got a roundup of baby monitoring … [Read more...]