Jawbone wristband tracks health to fight obesity

Jawbone announced a project they've been quietly working on for years on stage at TED Global. It's a wearable band called Up, which is infused with sensors and a connected smartphone, allowing you to track your eating, sleeping, and activity patterns. Together, the combination of a sensor-infused wristband and a smartphone app will provide nudges for healthier living, based on your behavior. The industrial design was designed by Yves Behar's Fuseproject, and the software was developed by Jawbone's current CTO, Jeremiah Robison, who interestingly came from the social-gaming company Slide. It makes me wonder how (and if) game mechanics and game play will be used in the experience.

Continue reading at Fast Company. Image from Fast Company.

Gloves that capture your secrets

[gallery]Designer and maker, Meg Grant, has been exploring wearable technology and eTextiles. Her latest work Secret Keeper Gloves, extends human behavior and tendencies in a poetic, playful way through simple interaction triggered by natural gestures. The gloves capture your secret as you cup your hands over your mouth to whisper it. Here's how it works:

• The batteries, microchip and speaker are all in the left hand. This means that the left hand has a fully-contained playback circuit.
• In order to activate playback, press the thumb and the forefinger of the left hand together.
• The only components in the right hand are the microphone and an indicator LED.
• When the left and right palms are pressed together, the record circuit is connected at three points, two on the heel of the hand for power and ground and one on the side of the hand for input from the microphone.
• Record is activated by pressing the left and right thumbs together.
• The embroidery makes it possible for the wearer to use a variety of thumb positions for record and playback.

Via talk2myshirt More info at meggrant.com Images from meggrant.com

Wireless display in your contacts

[gallery]Technology from STMicroelectronics for a Swiss medical startup points the way to integrating a display in a contact lens. The lens includes a wireless MEMS sensor that acts as a transducer, antenna and mechanical support for additional read-out electronics Not only does the lens integrate display possibilities, it's aimed to enable better management of glaucoma that is tailored to the individual patient.

We have a strong focus on developing and manufacturing wireless sensor networks for diagnostics and other applications in medicine. This wireless, self-powered, on-body sensor will be used in a product that promises to greatly help the millions of people at risk and suffering from glaucoma. Sensimed’s imaginative application perfectly illustrates how, by working with healthcare experts, we can combine two different disciplines and know-how, along with our manufacturing infrastructure, to improve the health and wellbeing of people all over the world.

Said by Benedetto Vigna, General Manager of STMicroelectronics’ MEMS, Sensors and High Performance Analog division.

Continue reading on Embedded Images from Embedded

Bringing beauty to diabetes

[gallery] I love it when simple ideas can have such a big impact. Designer and creator, Jessica Floeh, is investigating the union of fashion and technology at Parsons' School of Art and Design. She believes that merging the two fields presents opportunities to "rethink aesthetic systems and sustainability", which she has begun to do in her project titled Hanky Pancreas. The project includes a collection of insulin pump accessories that decorate and bring aesthetic beauty to clunky, techy-looking pump hardware that is worn on the body. The accessories hide the hardware while also celebrating it and merging it into the aesthetic of the outfit.

In addition to her demo in the video, Jessica has some great customer quotes on her website that describe the value of her collection and how important this simple solution can be to people who suffer diabetes:

It's not just a piece of technology I'm hiding anymore, it's actually a part of me and how I'm dressing

It's important to me to feel connected to others who share my condition

I like that it brings attention to my pump because I like to tell people about my diabetes...

More info at Hanky Pancreas. Images from Hanky Pancreas, Products & Tech News, La Placard.

Light-embellished cufflinks

[gallery]Adafruit creates wearable electronics that are "subtle and fun to wear". Their premiere product, iCuffLinks, is a rather beautiful set of geekwear cufflinks that mimic the breathing light patterns of an Apple PowerBook power switch. Simple products like this is a great way to introduce technology-integrated (in this case "embellished") wearables into a wider commercial market. And the kicker? They can be purchased OR you can make them yourself. The iCuffLinks are open source, which includes circuit board files, schematics and CAD file posted on GitHub.

To compliment the iCuffLinks, Adafruit is currently working on a necklace version. I can't wait for that one!

Purchasing info here. Image source.

Analog interactions: braking objects to make new ones

[gallery]Mey and Boaz Kahn of Studio Kahn love the gesture of braking objects to create new meaning and reveal new functions with their most recent sculptural objects titled Fragile. Made out of white ceramic, Kahn's gorgeous jewelry is actually intended to be broken before it can be worn. "When you first get this enchanting necklace it is a small sculpture that looks like a row of spheres. Only by snapping it in two and pulling out the hidden chain, you turn it into a wearable piece of jewelry." It's a simple analog interaction that provides new meaning to the objects we wear. Continue reading on Studio Kahn. Images from Studio Kahn.