Hasta La Gadget!

Wearable technology is just about to take off, but we can already take a peek at what’s coming after smartwatches and the like. A team of engineers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern University have made health monitors in the form of stick-on electronic patches.

The development of the patch was led by professors John A. Rogers and Yonggang Huang. Prof. Rogers was already working on electronics that can be applied directly onto human skin like a temporary tattoo, i.e. no patch base needed. But he went ahead with the patch platform because it allows for the use of commercially available – and therefore cheap and abundant – components, as opposed to the tattoo-like electronics that needed custom capacitors, batteries and other parts.

One of the crucial aspect of the engineers’ patch is the origami-like arrangement of the wires connecting the components, which allows for the patch to be bent without damaging the chips.

The engineers believe that stick-on electronics will make it easier to gather patient data. They also think it will lead to more accurate fitness trackers, and even health monitoring devices that can detect clues about the wearer’s condition even before he or she feels sick. Stick a browser to your face and head to the University of Illinois’ News page for more on this amazing invention.

[via Fast Co. Design]

If you like the design cues of old school gaming, but like modern gaming consoles, check this out. You can have the best of both worlds with these retro NES skins. They make your PS4 or Xbox One look like an NES. Or is that SES? Or MES?

This decals install in a few easy steps and it not only makes your system look awesome, but it will also protect it against scratches. It gives your brand new console a sleek and classic appearance any old school gamer would appreciate. The Xbox One version even wraps up your Kinect in NES clothes.

Grab the PS4 and Xbox One versions over at DecalGirl for $29.99(USD), which is a great price to make your shiny new system look so retro and awesome.

And don’t worry, you won’t have to blow on the disc to get your game to work.

[via This Is Why I’m Broke]

Thought good old Commander Hadfield already taught you everything there is to know about space livin’? Shame on you—there’s always more to learn. Like about how your skin molts and floats off your body in giant flakes and calluses, for instance.

Read more…

Like most of you, I’m patiently waiting for the day when I can buy a robot that will take care of all the irritating things around house I want to deal with. I want a robot to wash the dishes, bathe the dog, mow the lawn, and take out the trash. While this breakthrough might not solve that problem for me yet, a group of scientists from Georgia Institute of Technology have invented something dubbed “smart skin” that could give robots a sense of touch.

The researchers working on the smart skin used a bundle of vertical zinc oxide nano wires along with an array of about 8000 transistors. Each of those individual transistors is able to independently produce electronic signals when subjected to mechanical strain. The researchers say that these touch sensitive transistors, which they call taxels, have sensitivity comparable to that of the human finger. They say that the artificial skin can feel activity on its surface and the sensation could be translated into control signals for robot in the future.

Having a sense of touch is important because it will allow a robot to know when something is in its hand and how hard can grip that object. It wouldn’t do to have a robot breaking all your dishes after all.

[via BBC News]

Heading to the doctor to have a blood test performed can be a pain in the neck, well, arm, really. Not only do you have to take time out of your day to get stabbed, but often times, doctors ask that you come in without eating anything, which can leave you a tad woozy if the medical facility takes its time drawing your blood. A new sensor may be just the thing we’ve been waiting for that will allow doctors know what’s up with your blood whenever they need it to be checked.

The blood-testing subdermal sensor was developed by a team of scientists in Switzerland that is able to instantly send a number of health metrics to smart devices via Bluetooth. The half-inch prototype can monitor your cholesterol, blood sugar levels and the impact of medical treatments like chemotherapy. Even more incredible, the device can predict heart attacks several hours before they may take place as it can sense the slightest change in the patient’s bloodstream.

The prototype has been tested on animals with researchers hoping to be able to test it on patients who would require regular monitoring of their blood.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Sony Announces Collaboration With Wyss Institute For Organ-On-Chip Technology, New Artificial Retina Doesn’t Need External Power Source,