BACtrack is a San Francisco that makes breathalyzers for police and anyone else who wants to keep track of their intoxication level, but thanks to a recent grant from the National Institutes of Health it has come up with a new wearable monitoring device.

Like a Fitbit for booze, the Skyn device detects alcohol in a more discreet way than stuffing a tube into one’s mouth and blowing. It allows users to track their own consumption both in semi-real time (a bit of a delay for the alcohol to get processed and manifest in sweat) and, more importantly: over time in general (versus a one-time blow), to analyze drinking behavior and intoxication as a function of duration as well as intensity.

Among other things, Skyn can warn you if you’re drinking too much to drive, or let a family member or friend know (via alerts) if you’ve broken a personal sobriety pledge. BACtrack’s transdermal alcohol sensing prototype device is made to be subtle and cool, something people will want to wear – they considered anklets and other placements, but wrists gave the best real-time monitoring and seemed most convenient to users.

The prototypes was submitted to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a division of the NIH that ran a Wearable Alcohol Biosensor Challenge in search of a non-invasive monitoring wearable. Other entries included a color-changing tattoo and various wrist-mounted devices. The gadget is now waiting on FDA approval before starting pre-orders.

The post Cold Sweat: Wristband Wearable Measures Blood Alcohol first appeared on Gajitz.

An ingenious application of 3D printing, this digital-looking sundial shows the time just like an electronic clock would, but using just sunlight and shadow – entirely analog with no batteries required.

A system of tiny holes in the gnomon let in small amounts of light in just the right way so that the readout changes over time but always looks just like the face of a digital alarm clock.

Of course, showing every minute would be physically unfeasible, so it shifts only once per twenty minutes. Also, it is limited by daylight, so it can only function between the hours of 10 AM and 4 PM. All things considered, it’s still an amazing work of clever 3D printery.

The post Digital Sundial: 3D-Printed Timepiece Needs No Batteries first appeared on Gajitz.

It takes both a machine and an observer to make this magical lighting trick work, since the effective ‘frame rate’ of the human eye effectively puts together a series of independent flashes to reconstruct the image in play.

Skip to around 1 minute and 30 seconds into the above video to get a sense of not only how this works but of other potential applications – a clock is just one kind of display, but anything is possible. You can write static (well, moving) messages, or scroll text or images or patterns, or even send remote commands if the device is wireless.

This particular model USB powered fan LED will spin really fast providing a good chill for those hot days of summer, and on the face of the fan a clock appears on the spinning blades.  The blades are soft for safe use, and keeps the time even after removing it from the USB because of internal rechargable batteries. Doesn’t require any installation and the flexible neck lets you point it anywhere – great to stick into the side of a computer as it is quite portable and can be charged by USB.

The post Spinning Fan Clock Displays Time on Speedy LED Blades first appeared on Gajitz.

Shadowplay starts out looking like a piece of illuminated art. Its gently glowing circular form sits serenely on the wall until it receives some human attention. When touched, parts of the LED ring turn off, creating strategic shadows.

When you approach the clock and touch the middle of its face, it projects two shadows mimicking clock hands. The shadows point out the current time while a small LED blips around the edge to show the seconds.

The Shadowplay clock is a concept from design studio breadedEscalope. They built it using an Arduino microcomputer that senses your touch, tells the time, and decides which LEDs need to be turned off. The studio hasn’t release information on whether they plan to produce and market the clock, but here’s hoping we can eventually hang this beauty on our walls.

The post Timely Touch: Hidden Clock is Illuminated With a Push first appeared on Gajitz.

Apple has filed for a patent on a deceptively simple looking design, a possible harbinger of a near-future Apple Ring that would respond to voice, gestures, touch and would interface with other devices wirelessly.

The device could be used to collect biometric data, giving users feedback about their health or exercise program and obviating the need to use smartphone, wristwatch or other larger wearables currently serving that function. It could even be used to track hand movements, transcribing note-writing actions into digital documents.

From the patent: “A user controls an external electronic device with a finger-ring-mounted touchscreen that includes a computer processor, wireless transceiver, and rechargeable power source. The ring is worn on a first finger receives an input from a second finger, selects one of a plurality of touch events associated with the input, and wirelessly transmits a command associated with the touch event to the external electronic device.”

While many concepts and lower-tech prototypes exist, this device clearly aims to become the defacto miniature in the wearables department, able to do more than most real or proposed devices of similar size and function. If realized, this would clearly be the one true ring to rule them all.

The post iRing Wearable: Apple Patents Tiny Touchscreen Smart Ring first appeared on Gajitz.