Safety

Researchers from the Dartmouth’s Smartphone Sensing Group have one core mission: make smartphones smarter by levering their embedded sensors to create new sensing applications. As part of their pursuit of techno-cognition, the team sensed that smartphones could make driving safer and conceived CarSafe, the first dual-camera app for smartphones.  Read More

A lot of people won’t ride a bicycle on city streets because they’re scared that a vehicle will run into them. This fear certainly isn’t helped by the many drivers who unknowingly get dangerously close to cyclists while driving alongside them. Xfire’s Bike Lane Safety Light is designed to address that problem by using lasers to project a virtual bike lane on the road around the bike.  Read More

The smoke alarm is a standard part of home safety equipment. But what if you step out and aren't there to hear it going off? The Fire Avert steps in where the smoke alarm leaves off, helping to prevent kitchen fires.  Read More

Australian houseboat builder Matt Duncan was stunned when he saw footage of the Japanese tsunami on television. He was so taken aback, in fact, that he decided to do something to help people survive future tsunamis. The result is his Tsunami Survival Pod (TSP), and you can buy one of your own for AUS$8,500, or about US$8,900.  Read More

Despite some recent design improvements in field, it's still pretty hard to pedal around with a helmet-mounted rear-view mirror and look stylish. There are, however, alternatives for the fashion conscious cyclist. The CyFy WristView integrates a rear-view mirror into a bracelet, giving you a low profile, adjustable means of checking for traffic behind you.  Read More

The Torch T1 bicycle helmet utilizes an integrated LED lighting system to increase a cyclist's night-time visibility. After earning over 50 percent more than its Kickstarter goal just a few months ago, the T1 is now available for pre-order.  Read More

The average household contains at least a few spray bottles filled with liquids that ... well, that children shouldn’t be playing with. While most bottles now incorporate nozzles that can be “turned off,” many people don’t bother doing so, plus kids can just turn those nozzles back on themselves. The situation has led to the design of a new type of child-resistant spray bottle, that has two triggers.  Read More

In old bicycle racing photos, many of the racers can be seen wearing what are sometimes now referred to as “leather hair nets.” Actually known as pistard helmets, they were made of padded leather and offered little protection, but they did conform nicely to the shape of the rider’s head. Carrera’s new foldable helmet is a modern (and safer) take on that same idea.  Read More

Researchers in the U.K. have developed a “magic carpet,” but not of the mythical flying variety. The new device consists of a carpet underlay embedded with plastic optical fibers and electronic sensors that can detect and map a person's walking patterns. With all of us progressing inexorably towards the age when the consequences of a fall can become much more serious than an embarrassing inconvenience, the researchers say the smart carpet is aimed at cutting the roughly 50 percent of hospital admissions in the over 65 age group in the U.K. that are the result of falls.  Read More