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Category: wearables – Page 32

University Of Singapore Invent VR Glove To Let You Feel Inside the Metaverse

The University of Singapore has invented a VR Glove that allows you to feel objects in the metaverse! The technology includes pressurized fingertips and restricted motion that mimics the real-life sensation of picking up objects. The goal is to assist medical professionals to practice in Virtual Reality (but we can see how these would make for some pretty incredible immersive gameplay). Production will begin over the next few years.

The VR glove is an important advancement in wearable tech, as it is a fully untethered haptic system. With this super fast feedback loop, the glove encounters the metaverse in what is essentially real-time. So, that means minimal to no lag for users. Additionally, the gloves are lighter and more affordable than the gloves that are currently on the market. This makes The National University of Singapore’s HaptGlove all the more impressive as a piece of wearable tech.

The glove was developed by The National University of Singapore for use with trainees at the National University Health System. Specifically, users will be able to use the technology to grasp surgical devices or check the pulse of a patient. Furthermore, the haptic system inside the glove should resemble the feeling of an object on your fingertips, providing real-time feedback. This is an important moment for the medical field that could have serious impact, as VR becomes a testing ground for future health tech. It’s interesting to note this development alongside other trends, like the push towards Web5.

Flexible, wearable electronics woven into gear can reduce firefighters’ rate of injury and mortality

Firefighting may look vastly different in the future thanks to intelligent fire suits and masks developed by multiple research institutions in China.

Researchers published results showing breathable electrodes woven into used in fire suits have proven to be stable at temperatures over 520ºC. At these temperatures, the fabric is found to be essentially non-combustible with high rates of thermal protection time.

The study was published on January 12, 2023 in Nano Research.

Gallium: The liquid metal that could transform soft electronics

Interest in gallium lagged in the past, partly because of the unfair association with toxic mercury, and partly because its tendency to form an oxide layer was seen as a negative. But with increased interest in flexible and, especially wearable electronics, many researchers are paying fresh attention.

To make bendable circuits with gallium, scientists form it into thin wires embedded between rubber or plastic sheets. These wires can connect tiny electronic devices such as computer chips, capacitors and antennas. The process creates a device that could wrap around an arm and be used to track an athlete’s motion, speed or vital signs, for instance, says Carmel Majidi, a mechanical engineer at Carnegie Mellon University.

6G wireless technology could use humans as a power source, study explains

What percentage of your battery is used…

AMHERST, Mass. – 5G wireless technology is just starting to take off worldwide, but a new study is already speculating on the future of 6G! Researchers from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst say, unlike older technology, 6G could end up using people as antennas.

Specifically, 6G telecommunications could possibly take advantage of Visible Light Communication (VLC), which is like a wireless version of fiberoptics. Right now, fiberoptics use incredibly thin glass or plastic strands to transmit information on flashes of light. These wires are extremely small, but also extremely fragile.

The UMass Amherst team says they have created a low-cost and innovative way of harvesting waste energy from VLC — using the human body as an antenna. Their invention can recycle waste energy to power wearable devices and possibly larger electronics as well.

German startup unveils the lightest and most versatile AI-supported ‘power suit’

German Bionic.

German Bionic was a pioneer in the field of wearable suits when it became the first firm to introduce connected exoskeletons for workplaces. The suit supports users in lifting movements and prevents poor posture. The award-winning Cray X exoskeleton, which is featured in the CES 2023 “Best of Innovation” (Wearable Technologies) category, will be available for demonstrations at the event from January 5–8.

Spray-on smart skin uses AI to rapidly understand hand tasks

A new smart skin developed at Stanford University might foretell a day when people type on invisible keyboards, identify objects by touch alone, or allow users to communicate by hand gestures with apps in immersive environments.

In a just-publish paper in the journal Nature Electronics the researchers describe a new type of stretchable biocompatible material that gets sprayed on the back of the , like suntan spray. Integrated in the mesh is a tiny electrical network that senses as the skin stretches and bends and, using AI, the researchers can interpret myriad daily tasks from hand motions and gestures. The researchers say it could have applications and implications in fields as far-ranging as gaming, sports, telemedicine, and robotics.

So far, several promising methods, such as measuring muscle electrical activities using wrist bands or wearable gloves, have been actively explored to enable various hand tasks and gesturing. However, these devices are bulky as multiple sensory components are needed to pinpoint movements at every single joint. Moreover, a large amount of data needs to be collected for each user and task in order to train the algorithm. These challenges make it difficult to adopt such devices as daily-use electronics.

How nanomaterial influences gut microbiome, immune system: Research

“This shows that we must factor the gut microbiome into our understanding of how nanomaterials affect the immune system,” said the paper’s corresponding author Bengt Fadeel, professor at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet. “Our results are important for identifying the potential adverse effects of nanomaterial and mitigating or preventing such effects in new materials.”

ALSO READ: Researchers reveal tomatoes’ health benefits to gut microbes

Graphene is an extremely thin material, a million times thinner than a human hair. It comprises a single layer of carbon atoms and is stronger than steel yet flexible, transparent, and electrically conductive. This makes it extremely useful in a multitude of applications, including in “smart” textiles equipped with wearable electronics and as a component of composite materials, to enhance the strength and conductivity of existing materials.

Wearable skin patch could help clinicians diagnose tumors, organ malfunction and more

Electronic wearable patches have been devised to monitor various health conditions by noninvasively detecting biomolecules on the skin surface.

A new Nature Communications study discusses the development of novel skin patches capable of deep detection of biomolecules, which correlate better and more rapidly with physiological states. For example, the photoacoustic patch described by the researchers, who are engineers at the University of California San Diego, can produce a three-dimensional (3D) map of deep tissue hemoglobin.

Are brain implants the future of computing?

Imagine brain implants that let you control devices by thought alone—or let computers read your mind. It’s early days, but research into this technology is well under way.

Film supported by @mishcondereya.

00:00 — Are brain implants the future of computing?
00:58 — Headsets are changing how brains interact with the virtual world.
02:24 — What is a brain computer interface?
03:24 — What’s holding this technology back?
04:00 — How wearable BCIs can read your mind.
06:27 — How BCIs physically alter the brain.
07:17 — Invasive brain implants.
09:14 — The first human cyborg.
09:51 — What’s next?

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What does a brain-computer interface feel like? https://econ.st/3z07haD

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Robotic heart to replace human transplants on the horizon

Year 2020 face_with_colon_three

Scientists are working to end the need for human heart transplants by 2028. A team of researchers in the UK, Cambridge, and the Netherlands are developing a robot heart that can pump blood through the circulatory network but is soft and pliable. The first working model should be ready for implantation into animals within the next 3 years, and into humans within the next 8 years. The device is so promising that it is among just 4 projects that have made it to the shortlist for a £30-million prize, called the Big Beat Challenge for a therapy that can change the game in the treatment of heart disease.

The other projects include a genetic therapy for heart defects, a vaccine against heart disease, and wearable technology for early preclinical detection of heart attacks and strokes.

The need

There are about 7 million patients with heart and circulatory issues in the UK of which over 150,000 die every year. About 200 heart transplants occur each year in the UK alone, yet about 20 patients die in the same period while waiting for one. This is especially true if the patient waiting for one is a baby who was born with a defective heart, since babies need to have hearts transplanted from other babies – who must have died. And even with a successful transplant, strong immunosuppressive drugs must be started and often continued lifelong so that immune rejection does not occur. This is, however, accompanied by a higher risk of infectious and other complications.