MASHABLE - Sep 12 - The company announced its newest smart device in partnership with Stephen Hawking. The device monitors vitals of the person sitting in the chair, including blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature, and collects information on the user's surroundings, allowing them to rate accessibility of different locations.
by Kari Paul and Stan Schroeder
See full article at Mashable
HARVARD GAZETTE - Sep 11 - The Wyss Institute will receive up to $2.9 million for its work on Warrior Web, a program aimed to prevent and reduce musculoskeletal injuries for military personnel. Full funding is contingent on meeting a series of technical milestones.
by Kristen Kusek
See full article at The Harvard Gazette
MOBIHEALTHNEWS - Sep 4 - ABI adds that because of the growing interest in remote patient monitoring wearables, there's a bigger opportunity for platforms that collect data from several devices and apps.
TECH CRUNCH - Aug 28 - Ybrain has raised $3.5M in funding to develop wearables for Alzheimer's patients. The Series A funding was led by Stonebridge Capital and brings the company's total funding to $4.2M. Ybrain is currently conducting clinical trials at Samsung Medical Center in Korea. The company's device consists of a headband with two sensors that emit a 2mA signal that stimulates the brain to counteract Alzheimer's symptoms.
FORBES – Aug 16 – Connected hearing aids, such as the Starkey Halo i110, address a very large market for the hearing impaired. According to the NIDCD, 26M Americans between 20 and 69 have high frequency hearing loss, and hearing loss of more than 25dB exceeds 700M people worldwide. For 24M Americans with untreated hearing loss, it has contributed to $122B in lost income due to under-performance on the job. This represents a huge opportunity for wearables manufacturers to address a sizeable market with a product that could be viewed as less taboo and more trendy.
TECHIE NEWS - Aug 12 - Smart glasses being developed by the University of Oxford and the Royal National Institute of Blind People could be available to consumers by 2016. The glasses use a special 3D camera to project images of nearby objects on the glass so the wearer can perceive them more clearly. A small computer running the software generates the images. The wearable is quite large, but a smaller version is to be developed with the help of £500K in funding from Google Impact. The smart glasses will likely retail for £300.
by Preethi Keren
See full article at Tech Reviews
WIRELESS WEEK – Aug 5 – Philips and Accenture announced a new proof on concept software that connects a wearable display to Emotiv Insight Brainware. The system could help patients with Lou Gehrig's disease or ALS. The wearable display and Emotive Insight Brainware connect to a tablet, allowing users to issue brain commands to control Philips products, including Lifeline Medical Alert Service, a smart TV, and the Hue lighting system. Eye and voice commands are also available.
THE STAR – July 18 – LifeTip is a wearable tracker which monitors the heart for arrhythmia and contacts emergency medical services even when the wearer is unconscious. LifeTip is not FDA approved for use as a medical device, though competing products HealthPatch and AliveCor are. The device also measures body temperature and is a fitness and lifestyle tracker as well. It even claims to include emotion reading. LifeTip's Indiegogo campaign has a $65K goal, of which it has raised $8K. Pre-orders are $109, with shipping expected in January 2015.
CNET NEWS – July 15 – Google has signed an agreement with Novartis' Alcon eye care unit to license the smart contact lens technology for medical use in people with diabetes and other conditions. The glucose monitoring lens embeds a sensor and wireless chip between two layers of soft contact lens material, transmitting data to an app. The smart lens technology could also help people with presbyopia by restoring the eye's autofocus capability through a contact or intraocular lens.
SHINY SHINY TV – July 15 – Microsoft is reportedly working on an unspecified wearable in the UK, with the aim of helping those with vision problems. There have been no official details from Microsoft, though industry insiders believe the device will scan objects to identify them and provide location information.
BUSINESS WEEK – July 10 – Wearable accelerometers were used to monitor the movements of a patient in a coma to continuously monitor movements and assist doctors in the patient's treatment. Doctors were previously monitoring the patient for about 5 minutes a day, using that assessment as the basis for the treatment plan. Doctors need to know when their patients are ready to participate in therapy or a neurological assessment, which traditionally required an fMRI scan every few hours. The scans cost several thousand dollars each, while the accelerometers are about $1.
WASHINGTON POST – July 2 – Soundhawk's new smart listening system augments the wearer's hearing, allowing them to pick out sounds and focus on them, as well as filtering noise. The device works with smartphones as well, to improve communication in noisy environments. Technology like Google Glass can augment sight. Oakley is experimenting with providing super sight to athletes. Scientists are working on enabling objects to smell, and have transferred scent information across the Atlantic. This could lead to wearables capable of improving smell and taste. An IBM survey in 2012 predicted that computers would be able to emulate all 5 human senses by 2017.
IB TIMES – June 18 – Researchers at Oxford University have developed prototype smart glasses designed to allow the visually impaired to see facial expressions and recognize objects. The glasses include a small video camera, processing unit, and software to render images through the eyepieces. Once testing is complete, the glasses should be made available for purchase.
JAGRAN POST - June 12 - Currently in development by Tactile Navigation Tools, the Eyeronman vest uses LIDAR , ultrasound and infrared emitters and sensors to detect objects in a 360-degree radius, and warn the wearer with vibrations. Inputs from the sensors are converted into vibrations in a t-shirt made from electro-active polymers. The location of the vibrations indicate the location of the obstacle. The system has potential applications for soldiers, police and firefighters who have limited night vision or smoke obstruction.
TECH CRUNCH – May 12 – The FDA has approved the DEKA-arm, which is a robotic prosthetic arm that translates electrical impulses from the brain into natural movement. The arm is capable of fine and delicate movement, and is a step towards the future of bio-enhancements through technology.
DAILY MAIL – May 8 – The DermoScreen app works with a ~$500 dermoscope attachment to detect skin cancer with an accuracy of 85%, much higher than family doctors at 50-70%, but less than a dermatologist at 90%. The app is being developed by George Zouridakis, professor of engineering technology at Houston University.
MEDCITYNEWS - Apr 7 - Strokes can leave patients with diminished motor skills and the road to recovery can be slow. A wristband developed by Playtabase uses gesture control to carry out everyday tasks with a flick of the wrist.
WEARABLE WORLD NEWS - Apr 3 - ReWalk is a robotic suit that is being used to help paralyzed users walk again. Ekso Bionics has developed a suit called the Ekso that serves a similar purpose to the ReWalk. For the Ekso, motors and sensors in the device drive the legs, and the user walks with crutches to help control the movement. Argo Medical Technologies, the maker of the ReWalk device, was started in 2001. Since then, it’s grown from an R&D startup in Israel to an international company. A few months ago, Argo announced a partnership with Yaskawa Electric Corp. as part of the continued global expansion of ReWalk. The FDA hasn’t approved the suit yet for personal use in the home, only in rehabilitation facilities.
by Andy Meek
See full article at Wearable World News
MEDCITYNEWS - Mar 28 - EnChroma claims its smart “Cx Explorer” glasses wearers experience up to a 30% improvement in their ability to identify colors and a 70% improvement in color discrimination. Evena’s Eyes-On-Glasses device uses multi-spectral 3D imaging to show veins beneath the skin. Two digital cameras transmit the images wirelessly through Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or 3G connectivity.
HARVARD NEWS - Mar 13 - During a talk at Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Rosalind Picard, known for her work with “computing that relates to, arises from, or deliberately influences emotion,” described how the wrist sensors could help to shed light on studies of sleep, epilepsy, and even depression. Picard’s work and research was spurred by her interest in working with autism patients. When tracking a young boy with autism, she realized one of his enormous spikes in skin conductance occurred just prior to a seizure.
by Colleen Walsh
See full article at Harvard News
