Hasta La Gadget!

 TomTom only introduced its lineup of GPS fitness watches about six months ago, but it’s already iterating on the design with a big new feature addition. The new TomTom Cardio watches, which include a multi-sport and a running-specific version, offer built-in heart rate monitoring, via an optical sensor located on the underside of the watch’s face. The sensor is actually built by Mio,… Read More

Checking on your baby’s vitals can be a tedious job, especially if your little bundle of joy is outside of arm’s reach, or even worse, not even in the same room. Sure – you could install a baby monitor to see what your baby is up to, but wouldn’t you like to know your baby’s heart rate, oxygen levels and overall body temperature? Now you can be the overly protective parent you’ve always wanted to be thanks to the Owlet. (more…)

The Owlet Baby Bootie Helps Monitor Your Baby’s Vitals From Your Smartphone original content from Ubergizmo.

Nintendo may have left its Vitality Sensor by the wayside, but researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital are using heart rate monitoring in a video game to teach children with anger issues how to temper their emotions. Dubbed RAGE (Regulate and Gain Emotional) Control, the game tasks players with blasting hostile spaceships while keeping their heart rate from exceeding a predefined limit. If a gamer’s pulse rises above the ceiling, they’ll lose the ability to shoot until they can ease their pulse back down. A group of 18 kids who received standard treatments and played the game for five, 15-minute-long sessions had better control of their heart rate and lower anger levels than a group that only used traditional treatments. Currently, a controlled clinical trial of RAGE Control is underway and there are plans to take the concept a step further with toys and games suited for younger children. Look out below for the full press release or tap the second source link for the team’s paper in the Journal of Adolescent Psychiatry.

[Image credit: Thirteen of Clubs, Flickr]

Continue reading Researchers create video game that monitors heart rate to keep children’s anger in check

Filed under: Alt

Researchers create video game that monitors heart rate to keep children’s anger in check originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Oct 2012 10:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET  |  Boston Children’s Hospital, Bentham Science Publishers  | Email this | Comments

It’s easy to imagine the lonely Swiss shepherd casually texting his pals during a long day in the field, but reading an SMS from his flock? More possible then you might think. A recent trial in Switzerland outfitted 10 sheep with heart monitoring collars and submitted them to a simulated wolf attack, causing their heart rate to jump from 60 / 80 BPM to 225. The team behind the experiment hope to pair the significant change in heart rate with a future device that releases a predator deterrent while simultaneously sending a text message to the local shepherd. Complete prototypes are being prepped for a 2013 trial in Switzerland and France, where wolf attacks are on the rise. The devices hopes to offer owners of smaller flocks an affordable alternative to keeping a sheepdog.

[Image credit: Shutterstock]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Prototype heart monitor collar could let sheep text their shepherd, tattle on creeping wolves originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Aug 2012 03:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge, PhysOrg  |   | Email this | Comments