Smart devices permeate every facet of our lives these days, and the gadgets don’t always make a lot of sense. The Pluggage from French luggage company Delsey, however, not only makes perfect sense but could make traveling so much easier and more secure.

The company is developing the Pluggage line and figuring out which features would be most useful to travelers. So far the internal features include an auto weight checker to avoid overweight baggage fees at check-in; an inside lighting system; an on-board mobile phone charger; and interior speakers.

Other features, accessed through the Pluggage app, include a fingerprint-activated lock; on-board detection to tell you when your bag has made it onto your plane; a lock check so you can make sure your bag was never opened while it was away from you; and weather, flight, and travel info. Delsey is taking votes on its website to let consumers choose which features should be included in the final product.

The prototype bag is normal looking enough to blend in with the other bags without looking irresistible to luggage thieves, but rugged enough to handle long-haul journeys. Another feature that would totally make traveling better: an accelerometer that can tell you when your bags have been harshly hurled around by baggage handlers.

The post Smarter Travel: Hi Tech Baggage Packs Up Safety + Comfort first appeared on Gajitz.

Mood rings, those large domed accessories that change color to somewhat accurately gauge your emotional state, are moving into the technological age. The Moodmetric ring measures your emotional state throughout the day and can provide you with information in real time via a free app, or store it so you can look for emotional trends over days or weeks.

The ring works by measuring skin conductance, one of the metrics used in lie detector tests. Skin conductance reveals how well your skin conducts electricity, which is measured by the amount of sweat-induced moisture on the skin. The idea is that this measurement is closely linked to the wearer’s state of mind.

Moodmetric’s software identifies four different types of emotional reactions to stress; each type affects your life in a different way. The Bear causes others stress by being confrontational or combative. The Dog tries to please everyone and experiences stress when she encounters real or imagined disapproval. The Hedgehog freezes under pressure and defers to others when stressed. The Rabbit feels stressed or anxious pretty much all of the time and avoids conflict whenever possible. By tracking and identifying your typical reaction to stress, the Moodmetric ring can help you make adjustments to your daily emotional state.

The smart ring’s measurement data was tested by an outside source to ensure its accuracy. Of course, no wearable gadget can be a hundred percent accurate in judging your state of mind, but monitoring your stress levels over time can help you learn to lead a calmer, more relaxed life. The ring charges by Micro USB and tethers to your phone via Bluetooth Low Energy. It isn’t available for purchase yet, but the Moodmetric website offers the option to sign up to get an email when the first round of pre-orders opens up.

The post Stress-Measuring Ring Tracks + Records Your Emotions first appeared on Gajitz.

Storing all of your passwords on your computer might be convenient and easy, but it’s definitely not secure. The EyeLock Myris is also a convenient and easy way to store your passwords, but it’s exceptionally secure.

The small USB-powered device is a handheld iris scanner that keeps your passwords safe using biometric data. Every iris is different – your eyes are kind of like fingerprints, only more unique. The iris scanner can store the unique biometric iris data of up to five people, so everyone in your household can ditch the typed passwords.

The Myris takes a split-second image of your eyes whenever you want to sign into your computer or access a password-protected program or website. It scans more than 240 points of your irises in less than a second, providing a government-grade encrypted signature that keeps all of your data secure.

When you program the Myris, you can make your actual passwords as complex as you like to protect them from hackers – but there’s no need to remember them. The device stores them on-board, not on your computer, so they are well and truly secure. And the chances of getting a false positive from someone else holding the Myris up to their own eyes? About one in 1.5 million.

The post Eye Feel Safe: Biometric Iris Scanner Secures All Your Data first appeared on Gajitz.

If you’re a gamer, you know how easily even the most exciting, heart-pounding games can get boring after a while. A group of Stanford University engineers want to make sure you’re always getting the absolute maximum amount of excitement out of every game. Their modified Xbox controller will measure your physiological signals and determine when your game experience needs to be ramped up or backed off a little.

Special plates replace the backs of regular Xbox 360 controllers. These 3D printed back panels are loaded with sensors that measure the player’s heart rate, blood flow, respiration rate and how deeply the player is breathing. An accelerometer measures the amount of shaking that the player is doing to the controller, indicating how engaged he or she is in the game.

The smart controller is only one aspect of the Stanford controller, however. Software built into the game allows the game to change intensity and difficulty level based on the player’s engagement, frustration, or boredom. In addition to matching games to a player’s abilities and preferences, the software could be used to help tone down games for kids or even remind them that it’s time to take a break from the screen when they start to get too wrapped up in the game.

The post Xbox Controller Modifies Game Based on Ability + Boredom first appeared on Gajitz.

Let us begin by saying that there is no way you should ever try anything like this at home. Biohacker Tim Cannon created a device that he calls Circadian;  it is a biometric measuring tool that can send Cannon’s data to an Android mobile device. It is the first non-medical bio-implant to ever be installed in a human body.

The video from Motherboard shows just how large the implant is. Cannon had it inserted by a fellow DIY biohacker rather than a surgeon; right after the procedure, understandably, the implant looks red and irritated. No anesthesia was used during the implantation process, making Tim Cannon seem like a super-tough dude who is dedicated to his cause.

Besides measuring biometric data like Cannon’s body temperature, the Circadian lights up in line with Cannon’s existing forearm tattoo. An Android app keeps track of changes over the days so that Cannon can track his overall health.

The implant is rather large and has pointy corners; we predict that eventually Cannon will develop a thinner and more streamlined device that won’t stick up and poke at the skin quite so much. The project is opening doors for future biometric implants – hopefully those that have a more streamlined and less bulky outline.

The post DIY Subdermal Implant Makes Cyborg Out of Regular Person first appeared on Gajitz.