Wearable Electronics

We've covered a number of amazing exoskeletons here on Gizmag, ranging from the solutions for paraplegics – see REX Bionics' and Berkley Bionics' exoskeletons – to the downright wacky Kid Walker mecha for children. Last year we saw Activelink's Power Loader, an exoskeleton that takes its name from the suit of the same name in James Cameron's Aliens. The company, a subsidiary of Panasonic, has now come out with a lightweight version, appropriately named the Power Loader Light. Read More

A coming together of sports lens developer Zeal Optics and display innovator Recon Instruments has managed to successfully squeeze both GPS technology and head-mounted display into a set of ski goggles named Transcend. A tiny computer gathers information from a number of onboard sensors and provides location, speed, altitude and temperature information to the wearer via a micro-LCD display inside the goggles. The image from the display is then virtually projected so that it appears out in front of the user. Read More

Looxcie (pronounced "look-see," get it?) is a small, lightweight, always-on, Bluetooth-enabled camcorder that links up with a smartphone app to offer users easy upload to social networking video sites. Slip it over the ear and switch on to begin documenting your life. When it's not recording everything in front of you, it can be used to take calls with a talk-time said to be around ten hours. Read More

The folks over at Tokyo Flash are at it again with yet another crazy LED watch design that inspires both awe and confusion. This latest optical illusion watch design makes use of the famous (or infamous?) magic eye phenomenon to display the time. Of course to most onlookers the zig-zag pattern will make no sense, but if the owner can train himself to see the time displayed behind the pattern he will be sure to both astound and annoy friends and family. Read More

Working as a commercial fisherman is consistently ranked as one of the world’s most dangerous jobs. There are numerous ways in which they can end up in the water, with their shipmates (if they even have any) not noticing until it’s too late. That, or their boat can simply sink. In any case, fishermen need all the help they can get when it comes to safety, so a 14-group research consortium is developing “intelligent clothing” for them to wear at sea. Read More

The little black dress is an essential part of any girl’s wardrobe. And if this design from CuteCircuit is any indication it could soon also be essential for staying in touch too. The M-dress is a little black number that has a mobile phone built into it. The wearer answers the dress by lifting their arm to their head as if they were holding one of those passé mobile phone handsets and disconnects once they lower their hand. Read More

Readers who follow developments in the growing field of bio-signal telemetry (perhaps we can call it "life data monitoring") will likely be familiar with the Fitbit, an activity monitor that collects and measures data about your daily movements. Hitachi's Life Microscope goes a few steps further, collecting even more data that can be used to analyze your life trends. Read More

TokyoFlash, the maker of creative LED watches such as the "Broke" stained glass watch, the Retsu and the Round Trip Pocket Watch, is at it again. Always on the lookout for wacky new ways to display the time with LEDs, the company has just released the "Traffic" watch. Read More

The phenomenon of social networking allows fragmented friends and families to keep in touch and empowers users to share their lives with the world. Four female students from MIT think that such a medium could also help to alleviate something else that many members of the global community share and suffer from - stress. The SOS: stress outsourced system consists of wearable units containing wireless signaling technology. Should a wearer feel the burden of stress, sending out an SOS to fellow users around the globe generates a haptic massage from the relief signals sent in response. Read More