Hasta La Gadget!

Some firsts represent truly monumental achievements. Others, like the world’s first production-ready Bluetooth Low Energy heart-rate chest belt, are just a mouthful. This little black belt claims to be the very first of its kind, and promises to “spur the development of a whole new range of… health and fitness apps,” by harnessing the power of Bluetooth Low Energy to pump heart rate stats to your mobile phone. Of course, that deluge of new fitness apps will have to wait until a Bluetooth 4.0-compatible phone hits the market. In the meantime, we wouldn’t expect the black chest strap to pioneer any new fashion trends.

Heart-rate monitoring belt marks Bluetooth 4.0 milestone, stops to rest for Bluetooth 4.0 phones originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 19:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Signs of summer have started to creep up on us in Japan and with last years temperatures breaking record highs, the sweaty season isn’t always so welcome. In a bid to combat the heat this year, residents in Tokyo are being encouraged to plant their own Green Curtain with local councils starting to give out free kits and seeds.

Since the nuclear incident in March many households are worried about the electricity blackouts that may be imposed over summer. Therefore, as we have blogged before, many groups and companies are stepping up efforts to conserve energy to avoid cuts in electricity in the months ahead. One area of Tokyo decided to give out full green curtain kits to 1000 residents, consisting of 2 goya seeds (a japanese bitter gourd), a 90cmx 180cm net and a guidebook. Other local governments have teamed up with NPO’s to give workshops educating the public on how simple it is to grow their own green curtain and also how effective the plants are at tackling increasing temperatures. The movement seems to be catching on and many schools and public buildings have taken on the project.

Any visitor to Tokyo will note how little greenery there is in the city and despite an initiative developed in 2005 called the Tokyo Green Building Program there is a huge amount of wasted space atop buildings. The urban heat island effect contributes greatly to Tokyo’s oppressive heat and humidity each summer, according to a study by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government when the temperature of concrete rose to 55ºc the temperature on green areas was as low as 30ºc. More buildings adopting a green curtain or green roof similar to the Fukuoka Across Building, pictured below, would also have a great impact on the scenery around town, turning Tokyo into a greener concrete jungle, as well as providing relaxing areas for busy office workers to relax in between meetings.

With Germany recently announcing it is to cease operation of all nuclear power plants by 2022, not only Japan but the world is starting to look for alternative ways to save energy and explore renewable sources. Handled correctly Japan stands to be able to take a leading role now in how it deals with its energy demands, and the role sustainable business and technology can drive the economy.

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Spreading the Energy Saving Message
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Chevy had the whole “Heartbeat of America” thing cornered in the 80s, but now its Ford’s turn to get in on the action. The car maker’s European research team unveiled a prototype car seat capable of monitoring a driver’s heart courtesy of six embedded electrodes, which can take measurements without coming in direct contact with skin. The technology, the latest in a recent string of health-related in-vehicle concepts from the company, can detect whether the driver is having a heart attack and transmit that information to the vehicle’s safety system. According to the researchers, the system is already highly accurate in its prototype state, making correct readings for 98 percent of drive time with 95 percent of the drivers tested. For more information on the system, check the video and press release after the break.

Continue reading Ford car seat prototype keeps its sensors on your heart, so you can keep your eyes on the road

Ford car seat prototype keeps its sensors on your heart, so you can keep your eyes on the road originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 23:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Monitoring sleep patterns usually involves a hydra of sensors that keep track of brain activity, muscle movements and heart rates, but a startup called Nyx Devices has developed a new night shirt that can evaluate the quality of a user’s slumber by analyzing only breathing patterns. The form-fitting Somnus Sleep Shirt is embedded with two sensors that keep track of a person’s overnight breathing and transmit this information to a small data recorder, which slides into the lower corner of the nightie. When a user wakes up, he or she can upload their stats to Nyx’s website, where they can generate more detailed analytics and log their caffeine and alcohol intake to find out how all those martini lunches affect their snoozing. Co-inventor Matt Bianchi, a sleep neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, thinks the Somnus could help patients suffering from insomnia, who often have difficulty determining how much shuteye they actually get. It’s worth noting, though, that this exclusively respiratory approach is still considered experimental and Nyx still has to conduct a few at-home tests before bringing the shirt to market next year, hopefully for less than $100. Until then, we’ll just keep tossing and turning in our Spider Man jammies. Stroll past the break for an appropriately soporific video.

Continue reading Somnus Sleep Shirt watches while you sleep, won’t be creepy about it (video)

Somnus Sleep Shirt watches while you sleep, won’t be creepy about it (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 May 2011 11:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ll be honest with you, we don’t know a lot about marketing healthcare devices to everyday people, so perhaps posting a goofy YouTube video with some re-written classic rock songs is standard practice in the industry. Whatever the case, the University of British Columbia’s Electrical & Computer Engineering in Medicine team managed to bring its Phone Oximeter to our attention, and all said, this could be a handy little device for monitoring vitals outside a hospital setting. The meter hooks up to a smartphone — an iPhone for trials, but we’re told it works with Android, Windows, and others — displaying the wearer’s blood oxygen level and heart and respiratory rates, and transmitting the readings to the hospital. The department has already done some field testing with the system, trying it out at the Vancouver General Hospital and bringing it to Uganda, where low cost medical devices and Journey spoofs are in high demand. Video probably only meant for its creators’ friends and family after the break.

[Thanks, Walter]

Continue reading Phone Oximeter saves lives, puts Journey’s lawyers on red alert (video)

Phone Oximeter saves lives, puts Journey’s lawyers on red alert (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 May 2011 13:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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