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]

A San Diego driver was cruising down the street recently wearing her Google Glass Explorer headset and was pulled over by the police. The woman, Cecilia Abadie, was primarily pulled over for going 80 in a 65mph zone, but the California Highway Patrol officer also issued her a citation for wearing the Google Glass device.

The citation she was issued is typically given to drivers who could be distracted by a video or TV screen inside the vehicle. Google Glass is supposed to be a wearable device that makes it easy to stay connected to your smartphone for navigation and other needs while keeping your eyes on the world around you. So in theory, you’re less distracted using Google Glass than looking at the screen on your car’s nav unit.

Abadie says that while her Google Glasses were on her face, she wasn’t using them at the time she was pulled over. Abadie says that she will seek legal counsel to consider fighting that portion of the ticket.

This definitely brings to light the behaviors and laws which might need to adapt as wearable technology becomes more pervasive.

[via Fox News]