Here we have a patent filed by Sony for a sensor-laden hairpiece/wig. There are three prototypes; the Presentation Wig which has a laser pointer and allows you to change PowerPoint slides by simply pushing the sideburns – this would brighten up presentations no end ;-), the Navigation Wig which uses a GPS and vibration to direct the user, and the Sensing Wig which contains sensors to take physiological readings such as temperature and blood pressure. The patent states that, ‘The proposed device could even be used as a kind of combined technically intelligent item and fashion item’. But when commenting... Continue Reading
Search Results for sensor patches
‘Blue Blazes’ indeed: wearables meet the lingerie counter
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/blue-blazes.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]A sure sign that 1) wearables are truly on the ‘good side’ of the Gartner Hype Curve and that 2) Microsoft’s priorities are a little skewed is this item from Discovery News that Microsoft developed and tested a brassiere that measures wearer stress. It’s equipped with sensor pads measuring heart rate, respiration via an EKG sensor, skin conductance with an electrodermal activity sensor, and movement with an accelerometer and gyroscope, all sent to a smartphone app then to the researchers. The purpose: to alert to stress-related overeating. It also tweets when removed (ahem). Unfortunately the batteries powering... Continue Reading
Misfit Shine goes ‘Droid, at last
Monday’s big news in the wearable sensor world was that the 10p/US quarter-sized Misfit Shine is out in an Android version, as promised back in their distant Indiegogo days before the Khosla and Founders Fund VCs discovered it. Delayed at the end of May, and reset for mid-July [TTA 30 May] then for early 2014, the Shine is now a bright spot at places like Best Buy and Target at prices from $99 to $120, though it only works on Android 4.3 or later devices and TechCrunch is reporting that early reviewers have found it crash-prone. VentureBeat raves that the... Continue Reading
Legrand purchases Tynetec, enters telecare market
...as hardware is concerned) the "really large multi-national consumer electronics manufacturers" are or can be involved today - just not the ones that might have been expected 5 or 10 years ago. Hardware and comms platforms have become ubiquitous, and to a large degree most of the infrastructure already exists, from a different set of multi-nationals. What is needed is (a) software that runs on multi-purpose platforms to deliver telehealth/care through devices people already own (from the likes of Apple, Samsung, Netgear, etc), and (b) specialist measurement and sensor hardware with standardised interfaces. This specialist sensor element can either become... Continue Reading
Sensors>>data>>what next?
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/17L_2.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Three of our FBQs concern data–who’s looking at it, who’s taking action with it and how it’s integrated into records. MedCityNews examines two sensor-based monitors in considering how to extract meaning from the data. In the hospital, bed pressure sensor plate EarlySense already has a pressure sensor algorithm that reminds a nurse or aid to turn the patient, but their main emphasis is highlighting vital signs trending in heart and respiratory rate, which can be predictive of a deteriorating condition based on a set range. For the mid-range of the healthy fit who want to be fitter,... Continue Reading
Fast takes for Friday
...Partners International Medical Services. Kinematix’s two products focus on sensor-based monitoring for foot health assessment and to prevent pressure sores and falls. Release. Boston Business Journal….ScenSor senses you to 10 centimeters. A 6 x 6 mm chip developed by Dublin, Ireland’s DecaWave locates people or objects indoors to four inches and with a battery can last for years. It can replace less-accurate RFID or WiFi chips currently used, and has logical applicability to secure electronic devices, but may break through in small size and minimal power needed to connect other types of objects via M2M. Cnet, VentureBeat….And finally, in The... Continue Reading
Counting the hits in a helmet with nano-enabled foam
Cushioning blows to the head, whether in football, soccer (football ex USA), hockey, cycling and in combat, is something that present helmets don’t do terribly well, if worn at all–thus the prevalence of concussions not being diagnosed properly, or the cumulative sub-concussive blows that may result in CTE. A Brigham Young University (Utah) team has developed a helmet with what they dub ‘ExoNanoFoam’ in contact with the player’s head. The foam is piezoelectric–when there is pressure on the foam, it produces an electrical voltage. The voltage is read by a sensor in the helmet, sent to a tablet or other... Continue Reading
10 sensor-based telehealth companies
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/biostamp.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Our First 10 For Friday is what is termed a ‘sensor technology renaissance’ in telehealth, mostly tied to that sensor-equipped device called a smartphone. The ten companies profiled in Bionic.ly, including an ingestible, are: Sano Intelligence–wearable patch sensor transmitting blood chemistry data such as glucose and potassium Zephyr Technology–performance shirts in partnership with UnderArmour [TTA 25 Mar] Cardiio–developed by the MIT Media Lab, it uses changes in skin tone read by an iPhone to measure resting heart rate [TTA 21 Mar] MC10 (picture left/above)–the Biostamp elastic sensor and sensors used by combat soldiers to measure hydration, temperature,... Continue Reading
Telecare-assisted AL resident monitoring: study
Research on telecare in the US has been rare of late. Thus this qualitative analysis of focus groups with twelve housing managers from twelve different Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society (GSS) assisted living communities in the LivingWell@Home (LW@H) program should be looked at carefully for both benefits of and issues with sensor-based monitoring of residents’ significant activities of daily living (ADLs). On the ten most prevalent themes, the most positive were: Benefits: marketing in bridging home to AL and enhanced quality of care; validation of information helping with resident medical status and overall safety; proactive detection of health events Sleep... Continue Reading
Turn up, tune in but don’t drop out with health monitoring earphones
...source than any other personal monitor”. The data is obtained through a sensor module in the right-hand-side earbud, that uses infrared light and an accelerometer to analyze blood flow and physical activity. Which reminds me of Apple’s patent application for a wireless earbud sensor (using infrared radiation to monitor blood oxygen level, body temperature, heat flux and heart rate) reported by TTA’s Editor-in-Chief, Donna Cusano in 2009! It looks like this area will be one to watch, particularly as the approach shows how health and wellness monitoring can be incorporated into existing technologies without requiring change to our existing lifestyles.... Continue Reading
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