I am loving this experimental work by Art Center College of Design student Daniel Lara called Useless Networks. Daniel describes us as becoming numb to our own sophisticated body sensors and playfully aids us in our most basic sensing capabilities through technology. The result is an evocative commentary on our own awareness (or lack thereof). Watch the video to see the project in action:
A low-cost rehabilitation glove
Students from Montreal's McGill University have created a prototype recovery glove that encourages stroke patients who suffer the loss of hand motor skills to "relearn" how to use it through game play. The prototype is also aimed to cost relatively little to produce and allows the patients to use it at home through a video game interface. If you can get past the rather scary looking, cyborg implementation, what's interesting is the use of game mechanics (a trending topic in the tech industry) to encourage rehabilitation. I hope to see further iterations on this concept as well as a more considered wearable implementation.
More at gizmag.
Wearable device helps chronic back pain
[gallery] Industrial Design student Justine Smith has looked to new technology for a solution to one of the most common ailments in the world today – chronic back pain. The result is Spinovo (spine + new) – a concept smart clothing product that uses modular packs to treat pain through heating, cooling, and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) therapies, as well as incorporating bend sensors to ensure the wearer maintains the correct posture. Continue reading on Gizmag.
It's an interesting concept, however I would love to see it designed more elegantly and less medical. Can it look more soft and cozy and invite me to wear it as it eases my back pain?
Images from Gizmag
modwells: Personal modules for wellness
[gallery] I've been working on another wearable technology project via Artefact. The project is focused on the topic of healthcare and takes an integrated approach to the design that combines technology garments, industrial design and software. Here's an update on the project, the concept, and where I'm at with it, which is only scratching the surface of the many possibilities of this platform. I would love to hear your thoughts!
Healthcare today
Today there is a significant conversation around health, wellness and healthcare experiences and an equal amount of investment happening in the consumer arena. So, I put on my thinking cap and started asking a few questions around this topic:
- How can we motivate people to live a healthier lifestyle?
- How can we engage people more in preventative care, and how can we increase their health awareness?
- How can we teach people how to stay healthy?
- How can we make health data more accessible?
- How can a personal health product adjust to the needs of different people? There are many systems which track a single set of data very well, but nothing that adapts to the personal needs of people and tracks multiple data combinations.
- How can this be done in a way that inspires us to want to use it and wear it?
I've been dissecting these questions into bite-sized chunks and came up with the following platform solution (read about some of the research findings on the Artefact website here):
modwells: Personal modules for wellness
The modwells system is a platform that delivers a consumer-focused healthcare experience integrated into your daily life. It improves your physical and emotional health, and enhances your quality of life. The system respects the unique health and wellbeing needs of each user and accommodates those needs through a customizable solution that blurs the line between traditional medical products and consumer products. The system consists of:
- Mods: a collection of input and output sensors that collect and assess health data, provide basic feedback and alerts.
- Trestle: A trestle that presents data and interaction. The trestle also recharges the mods wirelessly.
- Accessories: A collection of optional accessories that extend the mod’s capabilities. In this case, it is a body positioning garment.
- A cross-platform software application: enables users to work with their personal health data, manage goals, share experiences with friends and connect with healthcare professionals
Continue reading on the artefact website ...
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Robotic arm cuff therapy
[gallery] Fire your shrink. Jens Dyvik, a freelance designer in Holland, has created a therapeutic robot that provides more intimate psychological coddling than you ever knew you needed. That’s because you wear it.
Ref is a haptic creature that straps onto your wrist and twists, curls, and nuzzles against your skin in response to changes in your pulse. The movements are designed to soothe, to “help people become familiar with their emotional world,” Dyvik says and, by extension, calm their demons. Would something like this work? Well, the simple act of being more aware of your emotions and stress levels has a long history in psychology and even Buddhism -- it's the main tenet behind both Cognitive Behavioral therapy and mindfulness meditation.
Continue reading on Fast Company Images from Fast Company
Clothing with integrated displays
Austrian designer Wolfgang Langeder just sent in a project he's currently working on. Langeder and the Fraunhofer IZM / Stretchable Circuits in Berlin, have joined forces since january 2010 to develop clothing with integrated displays. The first of the series of 'the utope projects' is an intelligent business suit titled Cybernomade includes a display that interacts with a smart phone put within a pocket on the inside of the jacket and indicates a call or sms on its surface. "The main objective of this cooperation is to create a smart urban wear product line for men. 'the utope project' conceives itself as a laboratory for fashion, in which intelligent design merges with our time ́s most innovative technologies in order to create something thoroughly new and future oriented for clothing and fashion." Continue reading on the project site.