Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: wearables

The role of technology within our personal and professional lives continues evolving at an exceptionally fast pace. From utility-based mobile apps and wearable devices, to the emergence of augmented and virtual reality, the digital revolution is expanding to cover every aspect of the human experience.

In an era of entrepreneurship, founders rely heavily on advancements in technology to develop cutting edge products, platforms and experiences that meet the growing demands of a global consumer base. As content remains essential to building a brand or launching a business, it’s also critical that companies have the capability to swiftly adapt in changing markets. Being able to successfully scale a business, amidst the inevitable pivots and unexpected turns, requires having access to the tools and solution-based software needed to create, modify and fix things on-demand.

For companies dependent on manpower to manage these responsibilities, efficiency becomes contingent upon talent and training, guided by sharp instincts and relentlessly working around the clock to assure tasks are not only completed effectively, but to further offset the likelihood of human error. For software developers, who have an extremely detailed and meticulous role, being such an invaluable piece to the puzzle can prove to be very risky, time-consuming and equally as expensive; especially as testing, predicting and automating becomes increasingly paramount. As companies aim to cut costs without sacrificing quality, while understanding the core function of technology is to provide streamline solutions to complex problems, what arises is the notorious battle of man versus machine, and also where a company like Dev9 steps in.

Read more

A new technique has been developed to implant high-performance magnetic memory chip on a flexible plastic surface without compromising performance.

It looks like a small piece of transparent film with tiny engravings on it, and is flexible enough to be bent into a tube. Yet, this piece of “smart” plastic demonstrates excellent performance in terms of data storage and processing capabilities. This novel invention, developed by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS), hails a breakthrough in the flexible electronics revolution, and brings researchers a step closer towards making flexible, wearable electronics a reality in the near future.

The technological advancement is achieved in collaboration with researchers from Yonsei University, Ghent University and Singapore’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering. The research team has successfully embedded a powerful magnetic memory chip on a flexible plastic material, and this malleable memory chip will be a critical component for the design and development of flexible and lightweight devices. Such devices have great potential in applications such as automotive, healthcare electronics, industrial motor control and robotics, industrial power and energy management, as well as military and avionics systems.

Read more

Maybe time to create “Fashion’s Tech Golden Rules”.

Mistakes You Cannot Make.

The beginning of 2015 has found the smart sensors ecosystem at the top of its hype, with experts claiming that wearable technology is the driving force behind profound transformations across industries, and the secret ingredient to a new paradigm in fashion.

The predicted developments covered the automatisation of the manufacturing, the use of augmented reality in fashion marketing, the rise of fashion technology and the inevitable reinvention of the garments in a complete disruption of the fashion industry.

Read more

Way cool! Your stitches monitors and reports your progress to your doctor/s.

BTW — In 1999, I told a guy from Diamond Intl. that the thread in our clothing would be able to do this in the next 15 to 20 years. He laughed at me; never say never.

For the first time, researchers led by Tufts University engineers have integrated nano-scale sensors, electronics and microfluidics into threads — ranging from simple cotton to sophisticated synthetics — that can be sutured through multiple layers of tissue to gather diagnostic data wirelessly in real time, according to a paper published online July 18 in Microsystems & Nanoengineering. The research suggests that the thread-based diagnostic platform could be an effective substrate for a new generation of implantable diagnostic devices and smart wearable systems.

The researchers used a variety of conductive threads that were dipped in physical and chemical sensing compounds and connected to wireless electronic circuitry to create a flexible platform that they sutured into tissue in rats as well as in vitro. The threads collected data on tissue health (e.g. pressure, stress, strain and temperature), pH and glucose levels that can be used to determine such things as how a wound is healing, whether infection is emerging, or whether the body’s chemistry is out of balance. The results were transmitted wirelessly to a cell phone and computer.

The three-dimensional platform is able to conform to complex structures such as organs, wounds or orthopedic implants.

Read more

Personally, I wouldn’t state that tech got the whole wearables wrong; its more been operated in a mode of experimentation with the public in an order to perfect the technology. I believe we’re now on a track to broaden this technology to accommodate more consumers on multiple levels such as business travelers may wish to have suits and bus attire that self cleans and can (when your wearing and biosensor is activated) be leveraged to store your id information or when you’re processed through airports instead of having to juggle for your license/ passport.

The key to unlocking the $150 billion wearables market is textiles not silicon.

Read more

Has anyone seen “The Yes Men” youtube video where they present to the WTO their proposed employee monitoring suit to ensure employees were working and performing while the supervisor is at the beach. This reminds me a little of that same scenario; except this time it’s the employees wearing the wearable monitor to measure & track their performance.

Working in the intelligence community can be stressful. The IC’s research arm wants to use sensors to evaluate how people respond to the demands of the job.

Read more

Technology can be awkward. Our pockets are weighed down with ever-larger smartphones that are a pain to pull out when we’re in a rush. And attempts to make our devices more easily accessible with smartwatches have so far fallen flat. But what if a part of your body could become your computer, with a screen on your arm and maybe even a direct link to your brain?

Artificial electronic skin (e-skin) could one day make this a possibility. Researchers are developing flexible, bendable and even stretchable electronic circuits that can be applied directly to the skin. As well as turning your skin into a touchscreen, this could also help replace feeling if you’ve suffered burns or problems with your nervous system.

The simplest version of this technology is essentially an electronic tattoo. In 2004, researchers in the US and Japan unveiled a pressure sensor circuit made from pre-stretched thinned silicon strips that could be applied to the forearm. But inorganic materials such as silicon are rigid and the skin is flexible and stretchy. So researchers are now looking to electronic circuits made from organic materials (usually special plastics or forms of carbon such as graphene that conduct electricity) as the basis of e-skin.

Read more

A new article considering chip implants:

Among other tragedies in Florida recently gripping America’s attention, a 2-year-old boy was snatched away from its parents by an alligator at Walt Disney World on Wednesday. I have a similar-aged toddler myself, and I followed this heartbreaking story closely. Unfortunately, it ended as horribly as it began, with the recovery of a dead child.

My presidential campaign with the Transhumanist Party is based on advocating for radical science and technology to make the world a better place for humans. As a result, for nearly two years I have been advocating for using chip implants in people to help keep them safer. Chip implants are often just the size of a grain of rice and can be injected by a needle in a nearly pain-free 60-second procedure. The implants can do a multiple array of things depending on the type. And much of the technology has been used in pets for over a decade, so it’s already been shown to be relatively safe.

I have a RFID NFC chip in my hand that is programmed to send a text saying “Win in 2016” to people who have the right type of phone. To get the text, all you have to do is put your phone by my hand. My chip can also start a car with the right software, hand out a business card electronically, or give out my medical information.

But the future of implants—as well as other wearable tech—may end up being most useful for the safety it provides.

Read more

Robotic exoskeletons, long a staple of sci-fi novels, comic books, and movies, are now part of the real world—and they’ve mostly followed the sci-fi model. That is, exoskeletons are wearable robots. All metal, all the time. But metal suits are heavy and power hungry, and the human body isn’t metal. If you actually plan to use an exoskeleton for an extended period of time, this can be a bit of a design flaw.

That’s where a new exosuit developed by SRI International is looking to flip the script. Instead of working to build exoskeletons—which are rigid like their namesake—SRI is using soft robotics to make lightweight, wearable “exomuscles” and “exotendons.”

Instead of a human-shaped heavy metal frame, SRI’s exosuit is soft, pliable, and intelligent. The suit learns and adapts to its wearer’s movements to give them a boost when needed. It’s quick to put on and relatively energy efficient.

Read more

Medical/ Biocomputing will only continue to grow and advance as a result of the demand for more improved experiences by consumers and business in communications and entertainment, food, home life, travel, business, etc.

Today, we have seen early opportunities and benefits with 3D printing, BMI, early stage Gene/ Cell circuitry and computing. In the future, we will see these technologies more and more replaced by even more advance Biocomputing and gene circuitry technology that will ultimately transform the human experiences and quality of life that many like to call Singularity.

Printing technology has come a long way from screechy dot-matrix printers to 3D printers which can print real life objects from metals, plastics, chemicals and concrete. While, at first, 3D printers were being used to create just basic shapes with different materials, more recently, they have been used to create advanced electronics, bio-medical devices and even houses.

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus recently showcased the world’s first 3D-printed mini aircraft, Thor, at the International Aerospace Exhibition and Air Show in Berlin. Although Airbus and its competitor have been using 3D-printed parts for their bigger assemblies, recent attempt shows that aviation may be ready for a new future with much lighter and cheaper planes given 3D printing not only cuts down the costs with less wastage, it also makes the plane lighter, thereby making them faster and more fuel efficient. But planes and toys is not what 3D printing might be restricted to; though in the elementary stage at the moment, the technology is being used for creating complex electronics like phones and wearables and may be able to reduce costs for manufacturers like Samsung and Apple.

One of the most important uses for the technology comes in the field of medical sciences. While pharma companies have been working on producing medicines from 3D printers, with one winning approval from the US’s Food and Drug Administration earlier this year, the technology is also being used to create bones, cartilages and customisable prosthetic limbs. But the real test for the technology lies in bioprinting—creating living cells via a 3D printer. Doctors have been using 3D printed organs to practice on, but scientists at research institutes have been experimenting with printing stem cells, skin tissue, organs and DNA. Though this is still decades from being a reality, printing of regenerative tissues can help cure heart ailments. 3D printing is also helping in construction, with a printer being used to create the first office space in Dubai using concrete blocks. The city aims that 25% of its buildings will be 3D printed by 2030.

Read more