Wearable Electronics

Can’t afford a big screen TV or projector but still want to experience that cinema feeling when watching a movie? The Vuzix Wrap 920 video eyewear is a sunglass-style display that delivers a virtual 67-inch screen as seen from 10ft away, displays 2D and 3D video and is claimed to be the most advanced wearable display available.  Read More

The days of the silence being broken during a live theater performance by some ridiculous ringtone buried inside an inaccessible handbag or jacket pocket may be as long-gone as the “brick phone” thanks to this smart-shirt for theater ushers. Designed by Richard Etter, the special shirt called AwareFashion detects mobile communications devices in its vicinity that haven’t been switched off.  Read More

For powder hounds looking for a convenient way to keep track of the best runs down the mountain winter sports accessories manufacturer Zanier has announced the X-Plore.XGX – the first glove with full GPS functionality. Aside from making sure skiers won’t lose that gnarly stash of powder or get lost, the GPS enabled gloves also record altitude, speed, distance, duration and other route data for upload to the web once back at the ski lodge.  Read More

If engineers at the University of California have their way, "Power Dressing" could be back in vogue. However, instead of 80’s-style shoulder pads the engineers have been creating energy-scavenging nanofibers. These nano-sized generators could one day be woven into clothing and textiles to harness the energy created through normal body movements to power mobile electronic devices.  Read More

When it comes to timepieces I’m firmly in the camp that thinks the digital watch is the pinnacle of time telling technology. It imparts its information at a glance with no need to waste time adding or subtracting minutes in multiples of five, or estimating if the big hand is two or three minutes between markers – if there are markers at all. I will concede, however, that for many people watches are as much a fashion statement as a means to tell time and as such designers are always looking to redefine the humble watch in different and interesting ways. The latest eye-catching timepiece to catch our eye is the Geocentric concept watch that uses a motion similar to planets rotating around a sun to tell time.  Read More

It’s a big world out there and for many different people in society that means a big risk of getting lost. Following the release of its nu.m8 GPS location device for children, Lok8u has announced its adult counterpart, the multi.m8. The device, worn as a wristwatch, aims to make a range of people from lone workers to the elderly easily locatable through the combined use of GPS and cellular identification technology.  Read More

When did running get so complicated? Remember the good old days when going for a run was as easy as changing shoes and heading out the front door? Now, there’s a plethora of running gear and gadgets - ranging from heart rate monitors to state-of-the-art running shoes. It seems that not many runners leave home without their MP3 players either, but would they be prepared to work hard for their music? The Dancepants kinetic music player is a new design concept that would see runners harnessing their kinetic energy to power their music player. Yep, you’ve got to keep moving to keep grooving.  Read More

There seems to be a rush on inventive underwear this week with our second - and even more impractical - example coming from Triumph International Japan, who twice a year unveil a concept bra that highlights a popular trend or draws attention to social issues. Earlier this year saw the Konkatsu Bra designed to help Japanese women on the hunt for a man. The latest bra is designed to appeal to the growing numbers of female golfers in Japan looking for a unique way to practice their putting.  Read More

The days of a Universal Translator like the one that made chatting between alien species a non-issue in Star Trek might be some way off yet. But a new device from NEC is definitely a step in the right direction for those of us on planet Earth looking for a way to communicate with other language speakers that doesn’t involve a human translator or a well-thumbed phrase book. The prototype device called a “Tele Scouter” is a glasses type display that translates the foreign language being spoken by a partner and projects the translation onto a tiny retinal display.  Read More