New Exoskeleton Could Increase Work Productivity 20 Times

Lockheed Martin as developed anew exoskeleton designed to help individuals who perform demanding physical labor work not only faster but easier. Typically when people are working on ships, buildings or roads they are required to handle heavy equipment and perform physically tolling tasks. This new exoskeleton is designed with manual labor in mind by helping to support various machinery and tools taking a lot of the pressure off of the user.

 Currently most physical laborers have to take brief breaks between their work to not exhaust their body to quickly and this exoskeleton is supposed to help decrease the frequency of these breaks by taking stress off of the human body itself. The exoskeleton is able to support tools up to 36 pounds making it so that the load is transferred from the worker's hands and arms to the device which transports that weight to the ground through its design. The overall goal is to lighten the amount that workers have to carry while making them more productive and allow them to focus on quality more effectively.
     In the past there have been other exoskeletons such as TALOS (Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit) which essentially was a computer driven exoskeleton but it focused more on turning a normal individual into a sort of Iron Man. This on the other hand is purely hardware that has been designed optimally to help all sort of physcial laborers. The Navy has already purchased two exoskeletons and will begin testing them over the next several months.

     That being said this exoskeleton is a wearable technology with no computers or software involved. Simple equip the exoskeleton and attach the machine you want to use. The design takes pressure off your knees, arms, legs and even back to allow your stamina to raise greatly during physically exhausting tasks. It is also designed with everyday movements in mind. Allowing you to squat, bend and even walk stairs while hardly noticing you have it on.

     In a world where efficiency is valued among businesses it is important for the worker to get every benefit necessary to help improve speed and quality this exoskeleton solves both for the physical industries in the world. The question is with a device such as this will we start seeing construction workers and many other jobs take on this new exoskeleton or will it just be meant for our armed forces. Wait and see!

Sources: Wired

Apple Unveils 3 Big Devices

     Today in CUPERTINO, California Apple announced a trifecta of devices, which are certainly grabbing their competitors attention and showing their dominance in the tech world.
     In Flint Center for Performing Arts, Apple announced a new mobile payment platform, advanced touchscreen smartwatch and 2 large-screen iPhones. The audience was very impressed with standing ovations and many outbreaks of applause. The press, VIPs from the technology, fashion, entertainment industries and Apple employees all in attendance showing support.
   

The New iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus

    Photographer: Alex Washburn/Wired
     
     After an always gripping introductory video, Phil Schiller Apple's senior vice president announce two new iPhone models today, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Both getting a beautiful re-style with smooth, brushed aluminum rear curving gently into the front screen almost, resembling small iPads.
     The iPhone 6 includes a 1334x750 pixel resolution on a 4.7-inch display. iPhone6 Plus brings a 1920x1080 display on a 5.5-inch screen. The phones however are exactly the same except for the size.

 On the back side they placed an 8-megapixel shooter with an f/2.2 aperture 8-megapixel camera. Including a new sensor with speedier autofocus. The iPhone 6 comes with digital image stabilization, but the 6 Plus makes use of its gyroscope and the M8 coprocessor to cancel out any extra shakiness providing optical image stabilization.
     The new A8 processor is promised to be 87% more efficient than its predecessor, while offering 25% more power to the CPU and up to 50% faster GPU speeds than the iPhone 5s' A7 chip. With the M8 motion coprocessor working in addition to aiding image stabilization, you can now tell when you're walking, cycling or running and can track if you're traversing up and down stairs with a new barometer that detects changes in air pressure.
     These devices each feature Touch ID home buttons and NFC. The iPhone 6 will go on sale Friday, September 19th. The starting contract at $200 for 16GB, $300 for 64GB, and $400 for 128GB. The 6 Plus starts at $100 more.

The Apple Watch, Apple's Wearable Technology

    Photographer: Alex Washburn/Wired

      The must unknown topic of the day was if Apple was in fact going to unveil the long-rumored wearable tech product. The company did more than just unveil but amazed. The Apple Watch has arrived!
     Cook stated "Apple watch is the most personal device we've ever created," followed by a standing ovation and round of wild applause. Apple's CEO calls it "a new intimate way to connect and communicate direction from your wrist."
     This smartwatch which is accurate within 50 milliseconds is not only technologically impressive but also is quite styling. You have a fair amount of choices in both hardware and faces allowing you to customize and stylize your watch to meet you personal groove.

     Apple watch is offered in three editions: Apple Watch, Watch Sport, and Watch Edition. Apple Watch being the most basic, Watch Sport with increased durability and Watch Edition has a more exotic look and made of gold. You can then change the straps with a choice of 6 different bands allowing you to mix and match. The bands include a quilted leather strap with a magnetic clasping band, a stainless steel link bracelet with magnetic clasping band, a mesh chain loop and traditional leather buckle. The bands and watch faces come in two different sizes to suit not only all wrists but all body types.
     Cook stated "With every breakthrough, Apple has also had to have a breakthrough in user interface,". What they made sure we knew however was that they didn't simply take the iPhone interface and shrink it to a watch size, and believe that their new interface will make for a fantastic experience.
     With a menu composed of small bubble shaped app icons you can arrange wherever you like and may even group them together with other related apps. By twisting the crown you zoom in and out on the group of apps and then to open up an app you would simply tap it. They have a new feature called Glances which lets you swipe upwards from the bottom of the screen to cycle through customizable screens. Apple even decided to include Siri in the advice so now we will in fact see people talking with their smart watches, we are all the new James Bond.
      The Apple Watch will launch with a apps such as Maps, customizable watch faces and third-party apps. Third party apps from businesses like W Hotels and American Airlines. It also includes several health and fitness apps which use information gathered by both your iPhone and Apple Watch. The Apple sensors will even give you a view of your daily activities, essentially being both a smartwatch and fitness tracker in one.
     The Apple Watch certainly impressed but lets hope it can deliver. It will start at $350 and go on sale in early 2015.

Apple's Mobile Payment System: ApplePay

                                Photographer: Alex Washburn/Wired
   
     "Payments is a huge business. Every day between credit and debit, we spend $12 billion, and that's just in the United States," cook stated in his introduction to what a huge business payments is and a space that have yet to be digitally cracked.
     Apple has been working with MasterCard, American Express and Visa to design their new ApplePay system which is already working with over 220,000 merchants at launch. These merchants include Whole Foods, Macy's, Target and Walgreens. Using your NFC you simply tap your phone to the pay terminal and the security code is given. You start by adding a snapshot of the your card which then must receive verification from your bank. After that it's simply swipe your phone payments. Apple has stated that Apple will not collect your purchasing data in other words what you purchase is between you and the merchant.
      Another new technology that Apple is trying out and only time will tell whether it is user accepted or not. ApplePay will launch in the U.S. in October with an update to iOS8.

     Apple has yet again proven their ability to not only create new technologies but also shown that they are one of the best at doing it. With these three new products we will certainly see more Apple products on a daily basis and that's saying something.

   

Garmin's New Fitness Tracker

     In an increasingly health-conscious world we are seeing more technology come out on a daily basis to help track our fitness goals, maintain our fitness levels and even track ourselves during daily exercise. These fitness trackers include products like Jawbone Up, Nike Fuelband and Garmin VivoFit which are small wearable gadgets that rack your fitness but have been limited to doing much more besides that. Until now where Garmin has combined the smart watch world with the fitness tracking world in their new product Garmin VivoSmart.

     Garmin has introduced a new general purpose wear smart band combined with the VivoFit to introduce the VivoSmart. This product will of course track your steps, heartrate (with a separate heartrate monitor), calories burned and share the time and date but now does even more. The new features include an activity reminder to remind you to get off your butt and move around from time to time and now pairs with your smartphone giving you vibration alerts for texts, calls, e-mails and even calendar events. Each of these even is paired with a preview of the notifications on the LED screen.

     Unlike their past design for VivoFit which had an always on display LED screen the VivoSmart has a hidden OLED that you wake up with a double finger tap and you can navigate your different customizable display pages by swiping the screen.

     The VivoSmart is water-proof up to 50-meters and is supposed to get up to 7 days of battery life per charge. It also includes a sleep tracker to give you daily reports on you're sleep quality such as tossing and turning vs. lying still. Garmin even has a Garmin Connect app that translates all this data into easy to read graphs and charts to more accurately track yourself overtime.

     After seeing all of the new additions Garmin has made to their fitness tracker it is clearly not just for fitness anymore but more of a smart-watch with fitness additions. With their new sleek design it is easy to see how wearing one of these would not be any real issue at all like clunkier alternatives. It is the perfect accessory for someone who is active in both fitness and work and wants to simplify life on a daily basis.

     VivoSmart is set to release in mid-September with 5 different colors (black, slate, berry, purple and blue) with a price point of $170 for just the band or $200 for the band paired with heartrate monitor.

Earbuds Designed to Be Worn All Day Like a Necklace

     We all have had that issue of trying to wear our earbuds while performing other everyday tasks and often times it ends in lost earbuds, constant tangling or trying to get them in and out of your pocket or fit them into a bulky carrying case. Steven Lamar's new earbuds are designed to change all of that with his new product Ropes from the new start-up audio company Roam.

These high-end ear buds are created for a more hands-free, comfortable and simpler listening experience compared to the average earbuds. The earbuds simply can be worn around your neck all day and to put them in your ears you simple just grab your necklace and boom you're in business. Ropes has a bluetooth transmitter located on it so that you simply pair to your smart device once and you never again have to shuffle to plug in your headset when you get a sudden phone call or you want to listen to music every thing will simply be around your neck for immediate use.

     Ropes are going to have a pre-order price point of $299 which is high for a pair of ear buds but Lamar states "We've been programmed to accept the audio quality in these earbuds we get with our phones," and that they tend to compete with the Shures of the world more than Apple's chintzy EarPods. There will also be a new app that is included with Ropes so that they can tune the ear buds to sound how they desire. "Whether it be on a phone call, or listening to music, or watching a movie, we all hear things differently," says Lamar and "We heard things differently out of each ear. We're going to give you a tool that communicates directly with the drivers in the earphones to adjust the sounds dynamics however you want."

     Suddenly these don't seem like your everyday earbuds that you can pick up for $20 and not care if you lose them, but I guess that's why you can keep them around your neck! Obviously this is not a product that everyone will appreciate but again it is technology in wearable form and this is meant to be worn as if it were part of your everyday wardrobe. These earbuds are definitely not meant to be worn to look cool, but rather are to be worn because its more practical than digging around in your pocket for your headphones or untangling them out of the carrying case. In a world where our lives are becoming more saturated with digital audio it may become more practical to have a pair of earbuds on your person at all times. Until you realize they need to be charged with a micro USB after six hours of use to keep the wireless working.
     Yet if we look forward wearable technology is becoming more common on a daily basis with new technologies or existing ones being re-formatted to fit into our daily lives products like Ropes are going to be in demand because they won't be just a set of headphones used to stream Pandora and Spotify but rather a needed daily accessory.

Sources: ROAM
               Engadget
               Wired

Recording Athletes in a Whole New Way

     When we think of technology we think of computers, social networks, websites and essentially complications. However, when you combine technology with things like the environment, sports and everyday life you can do so much more than just create a new program or build a computer.
     Catapult Sports is one of the companies combining technology with the everyday of sports. With their newest product OPTIMEYE G5, S5 and X4 models a device used to track the movements, activity and overall workload of soccer players. These products are working to revolutionize the way professional soccer players train and the algorithms in these products are designed to track dives, leaps, sprints and quick recoveries tracking essentially every move of the individual wearing the device.

     To the left is an image of the G5 model and it is meant to work strictly with goal keepers as it is a bit larger than the other models because it has a lot more required of it. This tracks every motion of the goalie and allows for coaches, doctors and even players to review the statistics to see not only how they are performing but also let them see what they may need to practice more.
     As these products are still only in testing in Europe with various soccer teams they are still working out any problems that may arise however, they have already started to make various improvements and discoveries. For example they added a function that not only tracks when you jump or dive but also how high you jumped, what your air time was and even run speeds. This will help individuals compare themselves to one another but also allow teams to compare themselves to one another.
     Products like this are just small steps into what is to come and with this technology we are only going to see the world of sports improve as the training of individuals will improve as well. In my opinion we may even see future FIFA, Madden and NFL games utilize this device to get exact readings on players individual stats such as acceleration and speed. Just another form of wearable technology which we will see utilized in the years to come.

Sources: Wired

Gadget Designed to Make Sure Doctors Wash Their Hands Enough

     Biovigil has introduced a new gadget to the healthcare field and it is designed to make sure that doctor's hands are always extremely clean before interacting with a patient. Around 75,000 patients died last year from healthcare associated infections (HAI's) and cost hospitals over 30 billion dollars. This gadget is designed to sense the amount of bacteria on the doctor's hands before helping patients. The doctor simply puts their hands up to the device which is wearable and if the hands are clean the light will remain green, if their is bacteria detected on the hands then the light will either turn yellow or red to notify the doctor you must wash your hands before proceeding further with the patient.

   
     If the light goes yellow then the doctor must wash their hands and then re-test for bacteria and upon completion the light will turn green. If the doctor was to ignore the yellow light then after several minutes it will glare red indicating that the doctor ignored the yellow signal and essentially will not only show the doctor that they still need to wash their hands but also indicate to the patient that the doctor is not yet fit to work with them.
     This device not only applies to the healthcare field in the long run because there are many professions that require the user to have clean hands including those who work in the restaurant industry. This device definitely has the capability to expand its uses throughout the world where cleanliness is a must. By utilizing this device many infections and diseases can be prevented from being spread in workplace environments of all kinds.
     Personally i think that this device is a must have now that it exists because it allows not only the doctor to double check themselves but also for the patient or customer to double check them because clearly they do not want to interact with bacteria ridden hands. In the future I see this product moving into any industry that deals with food or health to ensure maximum cleanliness at all times.

     As you can see the Biovigil gadget is extremely small and has a simple easy to understand UI that will benefit many people for years to come. It also has a simple clip on the back which can be used to put in on the pocket of a shirt or strap on your belt. I see this being a pinnacle of health in workplaces at least for users hands and am excited to see where Biovigil takes this product in the future to help all of us feel a bit more comfortable in many situations.

Sources: Biovigil Gadget

US Open Debuts the Polo Tech "smartshirt" with Activity Tracker

     In a world where wearable technology is beginning to take over from google glasses to smart watches we are getting used to seeing computers just about anywhere and everywhere in the world around us. Polo tech has taken it one step further with their new "smartshirt" which is currently being used in the US Open by professionals not only to test the product but also to show that it can be worn in even the most extreme conditions.

     The activity tracker is located directly under the pectorials and contains conductive threads that come in contact with the skin. There is then a "Black Box" or "Tech Box" that snaps into the shirt near the left rib cage, this box receives heart-rate and breathing data from the wearer which is then translated into Calories burnt, steps taken, and amount of activity split into 3 different categories: Inactive, Moderate Activity and Active.

     This tech box will need to be charged once about every 30 hours through a USB charger and also comes with a bluetooth setup to upload information to your smartphone enabling long term tracking for individuals of their activity. According to Ralph Lauren "The Box will be half the size in a few months.... We are a lifestyle brand, major luxury fashion brand.  iwant to be able to gather this (biometric) information in a boardroom or from a baby in a crib. We'll find new needs and we're just at the beginning." 

     As this is the first smart garment in the Polo-brand technology line they have a lot of work to do to make the garment easily wearable for all individuals not just athletes. The garment is washable as long as the tech box is connected and so far they have not seen any issues with the conductive threads with normal wear and tear.

     As Polo definitely seems to be after this new wearable technology we will see large strides over the next few years and I'm sure companies like Nike, Adidas and other brand names will follow suit. This sort of technology will be able to benefit all professional sports players and enable their doctors to track not only their health off the court and field but also while they are competing as well.

     Wearable technology used to be bulky un-attractive and not appealing to users but now that this technology is being transformed into items that we wear everyday it is almost unnoticeable and soon everyone will be wearing technology without blinking an eye. I know that I am definitely excited to see where wearable technology is going in the years to come.

Sources: Ralph Lauren Tech Shirts

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