Lifeboat Foundation

A new way to harvest electricity from body heat could inspire new wearable devices that never need to be plugged in. The millivolts of electricity this thermoelectric technology produces mandates slim power usage from any electronics plugged in to its feed. However, the developers say there already are fitness trackers and medical monitors today that could work within their device’s power envelope. The new, wearable thermoelectric generator is also sourced from non-toxic and non-allergenic substances, making it a viable candidate for wearable technology.

Made with cotton, this generator harvests body heat to power wearable electronics.

Researchers have developed a new kind of sensor designed to let artificial skin sense pressure, vibrations, and even magnetic fields. Developed by engineers, chemists, and biologists at the University of Connecticut and University of Toronto, the technology could help burn victims and amputees “feel” again through their prosthetic skin.

“The type of artificial skin we developed can be called an electronic skin or e-skin,” Islam Mosa, a postdoctoral fellow at UConn, told Digital Trends. “It is a new group of smart wearable electronics that are flexible, stretchable, shapable, and possess unique sensing capabilities that mimic human skin.”

To create the sensor for the artificial skin, Mosa and his team wrapped a silicone tube with a copper wire and filled the tube with an iron oxide nanoparticle fluid. As the nanoparticles move around the tube, they create an electrical current, which is picked up by the copper wire. When the tube experiences pressure, the current changes.

Device made from flexible, inexpensive materials could power large-area electronics, wearables, medical devices, and more.

ASU Smartwatch is not only a wearable gadget, but a projection puts the “screen” on back of the hand, walls, or desktop etc.

A new wearable patch can monitor your health through your sweat.

Fitness and health trackers are everywhere, but most of them are limited to collecting data on your heartbeat, how much your moving and information you manually input to their paired apps.

That’s helpful if you’re trying to get in shape, but for people suffering from chronic conditions and diseases — like kidney disease or cystic fibrosis — more exact and frequent analyses could alert them to life-endangering changes.

Continue reading “Tiny skin patch the size of a dollar coin uses your sweat to measure health risks without a needle” »

While the company is no doubt losing quality employees, Fossil is still committed to wearable tech.

Rumors about a Pixel Watch have abounded for years. Such a device would certainly make sense as Google attempts to prove the viability of its struggling wearable operating system, Wear OSeems the company is finally getting serious about the prospect. Today Fossil announced plans to sell its smartwatch IP to the software giant for $40 million.

Sounds like Google will be getting a nice head start here as well. The deal pertains to “a smartwatch technology currently under development” and involves the transfer of a number of Fossil employees to team Google.

Continue reading “Google is buying Fossil’s smartwatch tech for $40 million” »

Innovation in fashion is sparking radical change. In the future clothes could be computers, made with materials designed and grown in a lab.

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Continue reading “What will people wear in the future? | The Economist” »

Power suits, robotaxis, Leonardo da Vinci mania—just a few of the things to look out for in 2019. But what else will make our top ten stories for the year ahead?

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Continue reading “What will be the biggest stories of 2019? | Part One | The Economist” »

What if you could store your memories in a digital bank? Neo Mohsenvand from MIT Media Lab is experimenting with the science behind memories and emotion by using wearable tech.