Smart wearable tech for fitness buffs

If organizing the proper workout has always puzzled you, a trend is developing in the wearable marketplace to help pump you up (cue Arnold Schwarzenegger voice). A new wave of high-tech gym clothing uses a series of electromyographic (EMG) sensors embedded within fabric to analyze nearly every aspect of your body while training.

The Athos system operates with a synergy of three items: the clothing, the Core, and the accompanying mobile app. The clothing features biosignal monitoring seamlessly built into performance apparel which communicates its findings back to the Bluetooth-enabled Core device.

The brains of the system, the Core, houses the ability to analyze your body through EMG sensors. The smart apparel uses this technology to track muscle effort, muscle target zones, and muscle fatigue. It even goes further to monitor heart rate and breathing patterns. This information is then fed to the mobile app where your workout can be further dissected. A user can set various targets for themselves or even correct bad form and learn to prevent injury. The app also tracks workouts and can log gains and improvements.

According to The Verge‘s Ben Popper, EMG operates upon the knowledge that, “When you move, the contraction of muscle fibers emits an electric signal which can be recorded and measured.” While most EMG units used by doctors can run up to $5,000, an Athos shirt can be had for just $99, though the Core unit costs an additional $199.

Six-time NBA All Star Jermaine O’Neal has even invested in the Redwood City, California-based smart fitness apparel startup. “When I saw Athos for the first time, my immediate thought was how much more longevity it can give athletes by allowing us to train smarter and prevent injury through a better understanding and fine tuning of our bodies,” the Golden State Warrior center explained.

Also on the high-tech wearable workout market is the Leo, marketed to endurance athletes. “We can actually use these signals to measure your lactic acid levels and alert users before they get a cramp if they are pushing the pace too hard,” Leo also utilizes EMG and can do things that were only previously possible within the confines of a doctor’s office,” Leo Founder Leonard MacEachern told The Verge.

In reality, both wearable products among a number of others are ushering in a new wave of devices that can monitor, improve, and analyze workouts for a quarter of the price of a personal trainer. As the potential for smart wearable gadgets continues to draw new entrants into the market, it is the sports and healthcare functionality that will continue to dominate shipments, ABI Research forecasts suggest.

To learn more about Athos, head on over to their home page here.

Sproutling’s smart baby monitor is a wearable for infants

It’s safe to say that being the parent of a newborn can be an exhausting task to undertake. Parents will search high and low for any product that can help them earn a few more minutes of relaxation during the day.

Stress no more as the Sproutling baby monitor, now available for pre-order, looks to help keep parents constantly updated on their baby’s status and ease some of their worries along the way. “We’re really trying to eliminate that helicopter parenting. If you have a baby, a lot of your free time is actually when they’re asleep,” Co-Founder Chris Bruce tells VentureBeat.

Because the band and base are monitoring a variety of elements, the tracker aims to give parents a fairly complete view of how the baby is doing. To alleviate the constant hovering, the Sproutling combines a wearable band, a room sensor and a mobile app to provide a constant stream of insights around a baby’s sleeping habits and status.

A small band is worn around the child’s ankle that can monitor heart rate, skin temperature, motion and position. The monitor — which is encompassed in medical grade silicone and shaped in a way that prevents it from being a choking hazard — straps onto the baby’s ankle and communicates with a nearby base and the mobile app. In unison, they track heartbeat, body temperature, the noise level in the room, the baby’s motion and other factors that indicate how well a baby is sleeping. Over time, the device will learn the baby’s patterns and behaviors.

The benefit of the app’s simplicity is that it doesn’t overwhelm parents with the abundant information it’s gathering — it only tells them if there’s really a problem, Co-Founder Mathew Spolin explained to TIME. “For a new parent, they’re not going to know if 130 beats per minute is better than 90, and without the context to really interpret vitals data, it’s just going to create more anxiety and more fear.”

The team also built in some forward-thinking functions of the Sproutling, as it comes in three sizes so that it can grow with your baby. It also miraculously charges wirelessly so that the child doesn’t come in close contact with any wires. Even better, the charger itself doubles as an environment sensor. The stylish unit can measure room temperature, humidity and light levels.

The unique device can even go as far to predict when a toddler will wake up from a nap. As trivial as that sounds, any new parent will tell you that free time is worth its weight in gold!

There’s little doubt that the Sproutling will help a frenzied parent catch their forty winks. Sproutling is currently accepting pre-orders for this connected device. For more details, head over to their home page.

Myo makes Minority Report a reality

Developed by Thalmic Labs, the Myo armband is bringing Minority Report-like technology a step closer to reality. For those who haven’t seen the flick, it’s also quite reminiscent of Iron Man Tony Stark’s gesture-controlled holo-computer. Regardless, the one-size-fits-all wearable is well on its way to revolutionizing the way we interact with our digital world.

Using electromyographic (EMG) sensors to recognize electrical signals pulsating through your forearm muscles, Myo can detect detailed data about your arm’s muscle activity. This enables the wearable device to identify whether the wearer’s gestures, whether they’re clenching, flicking, waving their wrist. “We’re building the future of human-computer interaction and we’re excited about how new computer interfaces will shape our lives,” a company rep recently told The Huffington Post.

The next-gen wearable features onboard, rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries, as well as an ARM processor, proprietary muscle activity sensors and a 9-axis inertial measurement unit. Based on an ARM Cortex-M4 processor, Myo connects via Bluetooth-enabled devices to provide gesture recognition in an endless possibility of uses, ranging from healthcare to wireless computing and gaming. As our friends at ARM point out, Myo can control music playback by swiping your hand to change a song, spreading your fingers can stop a song, while volume can be increased and decreased by the rotating a fist to the left and right. Not to mention, “the gadget enables presentations to become easier as slideshows can be controlled by flicking through slides while engagement is gained as presenters are able to zoom in and annotate to draw the audience’s attention to key points.”

Gamers, rejoice! In addition to a number of other applications, wearers will soon be able to immerse themselves within video games as movements such as running, crouching, jumping are all mimicked on the screen. The armband is supposed to work with Windows, Mac, iOS or Android devices. Myo is currently available for pre-order for $149 and is expected to begin shipping this September (after the Myo Developer Kits have been issued).

A number of developers have already had a chance to experiment with the Myo in order to find new ways to make use of it. “It’s been kind of overwhelming the number of different ideas we’ve heard and the things people have already built,” Aaron Grant, one of the co-founders, told CBC News.

Smart hoodie lets wearers send discrete messages

From watches to glasses, you may have thought you’ve seen it all when it came to wearable technology. In an attempt to demonstrate that wearables don’t necessarily need to be confined to the wrist or face, two students at New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) explored innovative ways fabric could be used with electronics. Using an Atmel based Arduino and an Arduino GSM shield, the pair designed what they call the “Smart Hoodie,” a hooded sweatshirt that can respond to various gestures — touching the hood, touching a sleeve and rolling up a sleeve, each of which send a different text message to a pre-programmed contact.

“The future of communication is in our hands… or arms not just our fingers,” the Makers suggest. As demonstrated in the video below, though the Smart Hoodie may currently be used for texting friends and family, there are several other obvious uses, such as texting in the event of an emergency.

“The concept of putting the technology behind a cell phone into something truly wearable and everyday is what this project stands to represent.”

As chips continue to get smaller and cheaper, we can expect to see more and more of our clothing (like hoodies) become smarter in the years to come. “There are already tons of products available that have technology embedded into them. Fashion offers people a chance to communicate their personality with the outside world. Mobile phones customization is an example of fashion blending into technology. So why can’t technology interactions blend with fashion? Tech and fashion needs to come together in a way that the user will want to wear technology and not have to,” the Makers recently told PSFK.

Interested in having a Smart Hoodie of your own? Sign up here.

Exploring the Internet of Things and wearable tech market

Earlier this year, my wife and I drove to Southern California in search of information on the wearable computing market. After stops in Irvine, San Diego, and some play time in La Jolla we returned in time for the CASPA Symposium: “The Wearable Future: Moving Beyond the Hype; the Search for the Holy Grail and Practical Use Cases.” CASPA is the Chinese American Semiconductor Professionals Association and their Spring Symposium was at the Intel HQ Auditorium in Santa Clara with a standing room only crowd.

The big attraction for me was the keynote speaker Dr. Reza Kazerounian, SVP & GM, Microcontroller Business Unit of Atmel. I originally ran across his name during my research for “A Brief History of STmicroelectronics” (the piece I did last week) as he was CEO of ST Americas from 2000 to 2009. It was truly an honor to hear Dr. Reza Kazerounian speak.

“The Internet of Things (IoT) is opening up fresh horizons for a new generation of intelligent systems that leverage contextual computing and sensing platforms, creating new markets. One of these platforms is the wearable category of devices, where the combination of sensors using low-power sensor fusion platforms, and short-range wireless connectivity, are giving rise to a variety of exciting end markets. From self-quantification to a variety of location-based applications, to remote health monitoring, wearables are becoming the harbinger for a whole host of services. With the right set of biometric sensors combined with local fast data analytics, wearables have the potential to revolutionize the health care industry. These devices can provide real-time data and contextual information along with all the health care requirements, improving the quality of care, and lowering the overall cost of care. This discussion will review the underlying technologies needed to make the “always-on health care revolution” happen, and explore how the future of medicine is being shaped by wearable devices.”

Contextual computing is the key term here and, yes, I had to look it up. The application I’m most interested in, besides fitness, is security. I want my smartphone to know it is me holding it by my movements, voice, and usage. I remember back when my credit card kept getting security flagged when I started traveling internationally. Once Visa profiled my usage it never happened again. As the smartphone takes over our financial lives, security will be even more critical, absolutely.

There are three key components to wearable market silicon: Low power, low cost, and low area. Billions of these devices will be deployed over the next 10 years so the market will by far exceed smartphones. The wearable market will be very fragmented which opens up opportunities for entrepreneurs around the world. In fact, Dr. Kazerounian predicted that 15% of those devices will come from companies that are less than 3 years old to which I agree wholeheartedly.

One of the big challenges is low power connectivity. For now these devices will be talking to our smartphones and that means ultra-low power connectivity. Coincidentally, Atmel recently announced a new SmartConnect family that combines Atmel’s ultra-low power MCUs with its wireless solutions and complementary software into a single package:

“Ultra-low power wireless connectivity is critical for embedded applications in the era of the Internet of Things,” said Reza Kazerounian, Sr. Vice President and General Manager, Microcontroller Business Unit, Atmel Corporation. “Atmel’s SmartConnect technology is about simplifying the use of embedded wireless connectivity technologies and enabling users to accelerate their time-to-market. This simplicity allows all players to participate in the IoT market, fueling the innovation needed to accelerate adoption.”

Celebrating their 30th year, Atmel is an IoT market leader with an interesting history that you can read about it here. 

This post has been republished with permission from SemiWiki.com, where Daniel Nenni is a featured blogger. It first appeared there on Marcn 9, 2014.

Snaptrax: Wearable tech with serious style

For some of us, the terms “wearable tech” conjures up images of Steve Mann’s backpack-mounted computer or those terribly embarrassing pocket protectors of the ’80s, even if those weren’t quite considered “technology.” From watches to rings, innovators are doing everything they can to stand out in today’s wearable marketplace. As previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, the industry stands for a greater chance of mass consumer adoption if it can somehow find a way to increase its chicness. A recent report noted that in order for wearable devices to swiftly move beyond just smart glasses and watches, it will need to embrace products in a wider variety of sectors, including style and glamor.

It appears an Australian Maker by the name of Will Miller has done just that. In an attempt to bring fashion forward, the mastermind has unveiled a sleek snapback cap. Snaptrax — which recently launched on Kickstarter — offers wearers hands-free and headphone-free voice command to connect, control and interact with their smartphones. Embedded with a Bluetooth module in its brim, as well as microphone and speakers in the corners of the cap, it appears no different than a traditional baseball cap. Subsequently, this allows for the user to inconspicuously make and receive calls, respond to texts and emails, not to mention control music.

From his experience in the fast paced music industry, Miller had encountered the problem of fumbling and dropping his phone while on the go. The Maker conceived Snaptrax when he was conversing with a friend and observed that many of his peers were currently donning baseball caps. In a moment of genius, he proclaimed, “Imagine if we hid a bluetooth device within the cap lining to allow a user to send messages, answer phone calls, even play your music all controlled with your own voice!”

Who could benefit from such a device? According to its Kickstarter page, Snaptrax appeals to athletes, tradesmen, drivers, parents, and other active individuals. The team is focused on those with on the go lifestyles and is attempting to maintain an ideal hybrid of functionality and style. “Obviously we don’t want the whole lining to be filled with batteries.” Miller tells Gizmag that the group is aiming for “around a 90 minute charge time and a couple of days use at a time.”

The team is currently focusing on the iOS platform, but an Android application is in the plans. In the future, the team is looking to release a software developer’s kit for the wearable control unit so that global contributors can help improve the product as it evolves. The Snaptrax team will also be looking to incorporate new designs including visors and bucket hats. To learn more about the Snaptrax project, feel free to head over to its official Kickstarter page here.

Exoskeleton helps paraplegics walk again

Dr. Amit Goffer, Founder of Argo Medical Technologies, has embarked on a quest to change the way the world thinks of ambulatory aids. The inventor, who himself became a quadriplegic after an ATV accident in 1997, has been tinkering with the ambulatory device’s schematics on various levels for years. The project — which hopes to enable those suffering from spinal cord injuries to walk upright once again — saw its first test runs in Goffer’s garage in 2004 and eventually reached clinical trials by 2006. Just this June, ReWalk became FDA approved.

The ReWalk is the first exoskeleton to be approved by the government regulatory organization for personal use. While the device does carry a hefty $70,00 price tag, the benefits that it can provide the wearer are priceless. Though, Argo CEO Larry Jasinski hopes to convince insurance companies to cover the costs of the ReWalk in the future, as the positive gains of the device are innumerable.

As Wired’s Issie Lapowsky points out, most of today’s basic wheelchair design is the same as it was when it was drawn on ancient Chinese vases centuries ago. By strapping braces to a user’s legs and using computers and motion sensors to control movements, ReWalk aspires to revolutionize the outdated market.

Gene Laureano, an Army veteran, has been paralyzed since 2001 and often works with Argo Medical Technologies to demonstrate the benefits of the ReWalk. Having regained his mobility thanks to the ReWalk, he happily posits the question to Wired, “Does it get any better?” The motorized device uses two crutches and an electronically aided leg system to help paraplegics prove those wrong who told them they would never walk again.

Dr. Ann Spungen, an initial skeptic of the ReWalk, has also endorsed the widespread adoption of the device. Dr. Spungen is the Associate Director of the National Center of Excellence for the Medical Consequences of Spinal Cord Injury at the James J. Peters Center. There are 6 ReWalk units at the Center responsible for getting 14 paraplegic patients back on their feet. She has noticed sweeping improvements from her patients that use the ReWalk, whether they gain muscle or simply have an improved self-image.

ReWalk is designed for a top speed of about 1.3 miles per hour, fast enough to make it safely across an intersection before the light changes. Moving forward, Dr. Spungen thinks the 3 mile per hour speed of the ReWalk should be heightened, as a conventional wheelchair is still much faster.

In all, the fact that an exoskeleton has been approved for personal use may shift the path medical technology takes in the future. Since Dr. Goffer and Argo have proven the benefits of this kind of design, the possibilities for medical aid are seemingly endless. Dr. Goffer, a quadriplegic himself, cannot reap the benefits of his own invention… just yet. “My time will come, I’m patient enough for that,” he says.

 

Smart shoes bring Google Maps to your feet

India-based startup Ducere Technologies Pvt. hopes to combine wearable technology and wayfinding with its newly-unveiled Lechal smart shoes. Paired with an app and Google Maps, the embedded footwear interacts with its wearers through haptic feedback. Rather than have to listen to a spoken guide, the user can now “feel” the directions through the Bluetooth-connected shoes’ vibrations.

As Business Insider writes, “Lechal shoes are one of several smart footwear products to emerge into the market recently. Some of these other gadgets, however, are more focused on health and fitness while the Lechals’ navigational capabilities offer a more broad use case.” According to its creators, the shoes were originally designed to assist the visually-impaired navigate in conjunction with a cane; however, as the company began to develop the shoes, it became evident the footwear possessed a number of other uses.

One thing is for certain, you’ll never forget your shoes while heading out — something that can’t be said for wristbands.”Shoes are a natural extension of the human body,” Co-Founder and CEO Krispian Lawrence, told the Wall Street Journal. “You’d never forget to wear shoes, the way you might forget your phone or wallet at home.”

You can either wear the sneakers, which come in red or black, or put the insoles inside an existing pair of shoes.

Send smells to your friends with Senti8

Have you ever been taking a walk on a perfect summer evening and wanted to scent the smell of fresh flowers to your loved one on the other side of the planet? Or, maybe you wanted to share the smell of a 4th of July barbecue with a friend to spark up nostalgia? Well, that dream is now a reality all thanks to Senti8.

The Senti8 team recently won the 2014 NYC NASA Space Apps challenge with their 3D-printed, Arduino-powered smell-sender. The ingenious wearable contraption started out as a hacked e-cigarette vaporizer and has evolved into what you see above.

Taking a trip into space can be an experience of a lifetime for many astronauts, yet giving up the comforts and familiarity of home can be even tougher than dealing with zero gravity  or confined spaces. In comes Senti8. The idea of the project stemmed from a conversation with an astronaut who remarked the thing he missed most about taking up residency in space was his sense of smell. Thanks to the smell-sending bracelet, these astronauts would now be able to bring along their favorite, nostalgic scents to help reminisce the things they miss the most.

By sending a message through an accompanying smartphone application, one Senti8 wearer can send a series of selected smells to another user. The wrist-mounted device utilizes Adafruit’s FLORA (ATmega32U4) to illuminate a series of NeoPixel LEDs that signify each corresponding smell.

Below you can view an interview with Senti8 team member, where she breaks down the specifics of the device.

If you’re heading into space anytime soon or simply interested in learning more, you’ll want to check out the Senti8’s official page here.

 

Ultra-thin flexible batteries may power next-gen wearables

A California-based startup has developed a new ultra-thin flexible battery that is inexpensive to make and could potentially power next-gen wearable technologies. According to MIT Technology Review, Imprint Energy has been testing its ultra-thin zinc-polymer batteries in wrist-worn devices with aspirations of one day selling them to wearable electronics, medical device, smart label and environmental sensor manufacturers.

The batteries were developed from research that company co-founder Christine Ho had undertaken as a graduate student at the University of California-Berkeley, where she collaborated with a researcher in Japan to produce microscopic zinc batteries using a 3D printer. Unlike lithium batteries with their highly reactive components, this flexible battery developed by Ho uses zinc and a polymer electrolyte, making it a stable and wearable-safe with a good capacity for recharging. Additionally, its small size and flexibility will allow for product designs that would have been impossible with bulkier lithium-based batteries. Even in small formats, the batteries can deliver enough current for low-power wireless communications sensors, distinguishing them from other types of thin batteries, writes MIT Technology Review’s Daniel Lovering.

“While zinc is more stable, the water-based electrolytes in conventional zinc batteries cause zinc to form dendrites, branch-like structures that can grow from one electrode to the other, shorting the battery. Ho developed a solid polymer electrolyte that avoids this problem, and also provides greater stability, and greater capacity for recharging.”

According to reports, Imprint Energy has secured $6 million of funding from Phoenix Venture Partners and AME Cloud Ventures, which will assist the team to further develop its proprietary chemistry and finance the battery’s commercial launch. The company has already been in talks about the use of its batteries in clothing and even “weird parts of your body like your eye.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve reported on flexible batteries. Earlier this spring, Rice University researchers created a flexible battery that could potentially power future generations of wearable devices. 

Developed by Rice chemist James Tour and his colleagues, the design comprised flexible material with nanoporous nickel-fluoride electrodes layered around a solid electrolyte.