Category: Wearables

Impact Lab > Wearables
Automation, Biotech, Ford Motor Company, Wearables

Exoskeletons debut at Ford factories

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Staff will now be augmented by exoskeletons in Ford factories across the world.

Following successful trials, Ford will now offer employees the use of exoskeletons to reduce the strain of factory work.

Despite the emergence of Industry 4.0, smart factories, sensors, and data analytics, much of the heavy-duty operations of today’s industrial and manufacturing still rely heavily on human input.

Over time, the physical demand of such work can cause injury, muscle stress, and accidents.

Continue reading… “Exoskeletons debut at Ford factories”

Engineering, Military, mobile technology, Wearables

Power-multiplying exoskeletons are slimming down for use on the battlefield

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The technology has been long-anticipated by military commanders.

With exoskeletons, soldiers don’t have to consume as much oxygen to perform a given task. Taking that edge off has associated benefits, including cutting the risk of bone and muscle injuries.

Continue reading… “Power-multiplying exoskeletons are slimming down for use on the battlefield”

Great New Product, Home Technology, Wearables

Bose’s new $250 Sleepbuds play soothing sounds instead of music

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Is quality sleep worth that much cash?

After a couple years of development and early prototype testing through an Indiegogo campaign, Bose is commercially releasing its noise-masking Sleepbuds. They go on sale tomorrow, June 21st, for $250 from Amazon, Best Buy, Bose, and other retailers. The Sleepbuds are truly wireless earbuds designed to stay in your ears overnight. As you go to sleep, they play audio tracks that drown out typical evening disturbances like street noise, loud neighbors, or a snoring partner.

They don’t play music or any other audio from external devices. Period. So forget about streaming Spotify, audiobooks, or podcasts. Nor do the Sleepbuds utilize Bose’s incredible noise-cancelation tech that’s the magic ingredient in products like the popular QuietComfort headphones.

Continue reading… “Bose’s new $250 Sleepbuds play soothing sounds instead of music”

Amazon.com, Analysis, Automation, Home Technology, Wearables

Smart speakers are becoming so popular, more people will use them than wearable tech products this year

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Smart speaker users will reach 76.5 million by 2020, according to the latest eMarketer forecast.

The average smart speaker user is still an older, millennial male, but the devices are gaining traction with younger, Gen X women with kids.

Amazon Echo is the most popular, but is losing share. Google Home will likely slow Echo’s growth.

Smart speaker adoption has been so strong, US adult users will surpass wearable users this year.

Continue reading… “Smart speakers are becoming so popular, more people will use them than wearable tech products this year”

App, Augmented Reality, Great New Product, Internet, Wearables

Snapchat launches Spectacles V2, camera glasses you’ll actually wear

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Snapchat Spectacles v2 Close Up

Photos, not just video. No yellow ring alerting people to the camera. Underwater-capable. Classier colors with lighter lenses. Prescription options. Faster syncing. And a much slimmer frame and charging case. Snapchat fixed the biggest pain points of its Spectacles camera sunglasses with V2, which launch today for $150. The company only sold 220,000 pairs of V1, with their limited functionality, tricky exports and goofy hues. But V2 is stylish, convenient and useful enough to keep handy. They’re not revolutionary. They’re a wearable camera for everybody.

Continue reading… “Snapchat launches Spectacles V2, camera glasses you’ll actually wear”

brain-computer interfaces, Breakthrough Thinking, communication, Inventions, Wearables

Computer system transcribes words users “speak silently”

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MIT researchers have developed a computer interface that can transcribe words that the user verbalizes internally but does not actually speak aloud.

The system consists of a wearable device and an associated computing system. Electrodes in the device pick up neuromuscular signals in the jaw and face that are triggered by internal verbalizations — saying words “in your head” — but are undetectable to the human eye. The signals are fed to a machine-learning system that has been trained to correlate particular signals with particular words.

Continue reading… “Computer system transcribes words users “speak silently””

China, government, Law Enforcement, Wearables

Beijing police are using facial-recognition glasses to identify car passengers and number plates

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A promotion video shows an actor wearing LLVision facial recognition smart glasses during a demonstration at the company’s office in Beijing, China February 28, 2018.

Beijing police began testing facial-recognition glasses last week.

They appear to be similar to those first used by police in a Henan railway station last month.

Continue reading… “Beijing police are using facial-recognition glasses to identify car passengers and number plates”

Biotech, Health & Fitness, Healthcare, Wearables

Electronic skin can display a heartbeat on your hand

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You’d know someone’s health just by looking at them.

Electronic skins might not only detect health troubles in the near future, but display them for the world to see. University of Tokyo researchers have developed an e-skin that can measure vital signs like your heartbeat and display them in real time on a skin display. The design blends a breathable nanomesh electrode and stretchable wiring with an array of micro LEDs that can output basic images bending with your body. Others know right away if you need help — they’d just have to look at your hand (or anywhere else the sensor works) to get an idea of what’s wrong. The sensor can pair with a smartphone and transmit its info to the cloud, too.

Continue reading… “Electronic skin can display a heartbeat on your hand”

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