Hasta La Gadget!

Many partygoers want to keep their alcohol in check, but we don’t know many who want to lug around a dedicated breathalyzer, no matter how small it may be. Tokyoflash may have found a happy medium for those drinkers by tucking a breathalyzer into its new Kisai Intoxicated watch. Blow into a sensor and the LCD will change to a color reflecting the alcohol intake: green is sober, yellow is buzzed and red is well over the line. There’s also a mini-game to test reflexes in those less-than-certain moments. Buyers seeking some temperance in their lives will want to act quickly, however — Tokyoflash will only sell the Kisai Intoxicated at a discounted $99 price during its first 48 hours on sale.

Filed under: Wearables

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Source: Tokyoflash

Gunners. They are a unique subset of students found in most any university lecture hall who steer classroom conversations with constant comments and questions directed at the professor. But what if you want a more inclusive environment that lets even timid students ask questions? One where they can communicate with their professor privately, during class, without interrupting. Well, researchers from la Universidad Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M) have built a system that lets professors receive feedback from students and know which ones have questions by using augmented reality technology.

It works by leveraging the smartphones in students’ pockets and giving the professor a set of AR smart glasses. Using an app connected to the system’s server, students can indicate when they do or don’t understand a concept, that the professor should go more slowly, or that they know the answer to the question. Then, an icon indicating which action the student has taken will be displayed over that student’s head on the smart glasses’ displays. Using the system, the professor can also push predefined questions to students’ phones and control presentation slides using hand gestures and a Kinect. Intrigued? Speak Spanish? A demo video of the system in español awaits you after the break.

Filed under: Wearables, Software

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Source: British Journal of Educational Technology

Though you may think drones do all the fighting these days, actual soldiers on the ground are still used to call in airstrikes. Sometimes it’s still necessary to visually confirm targets before the flyboys create a smoking crater. Though the army has toyed with smartphones and other means to connect soldiers, Raytheon has created a new JTACs (Joint Tactical Air Controller system) prototype for ground forces to let them separate friendlies from enemies and relay the information to strike forces. The system consists of a chest-worn computer, heads-up monocle viewer and wrist-worn display, which together let the solider select a target merely by looking at it and pressing a button. They can also tag friendly forces the same way or send update situational data to the rest of the team, whether they’re on the ground or flying a fighter overhead. That assistance from the ground will make it easier for those at the yoke to differentiate between friendlies and targets.

We tried the prototype ourselves in a limited, 2D environment here at the 2013 Paris Air Show and, without any help getting set up, were able to tag targets as red diamonds and friendly forces as amber squares. Everything we did was also displayed on second screen, simulating the ability to send live updates to other soldiers or the base. Impressive as it was, the whole thing is merely a prototype for now, though, that could eventually change. The military AR system is part of a larger platform called AWARE, which Raytheon hopes to eventually deploy. For a detailed explanation about how it works, check out the video after the break.

Filed under: Wearables

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Do you have Glass? I don’t. But here are 20 random things you can ask Glass to search for.

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Reports that medical devices implanted in patients or used for their treatment may have dangerous vulnerabilities are not new, but a new “safety communication” is focusing more attention on the issue. Ars Technica points out that the Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) group that works along with private industry to protect the nation’s infrastructure issued its own alert alongside the FDA’s, focusing on the many embedded devices that are protected only by hard-coded passwords.

The ICS-CERT message recommends restricting physical access to sensitive hardware, improved designs that are more resistant to potential attacks and increased network security. The FDA lists various vulnerabilities it’s become aware of like network connected devices being infected by malware, mobile devices being targeted to access patient data, the previously mentioned hard-coded passwords issue and more. Going forward, the FDA is collecting reports of “adverse events” to determine if security has been compromised, and will issue new guidelines on mobile health technology later this year. We’ve seen examples of potential security solutions for pacemakers in the past, and the more connected healthcare devices become we’re sure patients expect any potential vulnerabilities to be addressed as well.

Filed under: Wearables, Internet

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Source: Ars Technica, FDA, ICS-CERT