A slim white gadget worn around the neck, the portable Ili translator is clean, simple and easy to use: a microphone records sounds and a speaker delivers the message in a target language.

Amazingly, it relies on a built-in database so it does not need a wireless, Bluetooth or other connection to work. Perhaps this will mean there is no more  need for phrase books (physical or digital) for weary travelers who are game to wear one extra small accessory.

How well it works remains to be seen, but its creators claim it can operate between English, Chinese, Japanese, French, Thai and Korean, its database growing with future updates. If it saves someone taking their phone of their pocket, it might also provide a smoother user experience than other translator apps. Next step: a babel fish ear wearable that need not even be seen or touched (at least if the Hitchhiker’s Guide has its way). Meanwhile, even if the translations are imperfect, it could still work well for a traveler in a hurry to catch a train (or find a restroom) in some foreign land.

The post Travel Wearable: Click-to-Talk Mobile Translator Necklace first appeared on Gajitz.

A touching substitute for physical contact in the digital age, this ring is designed for remote relationships, letting you feel your lover’s pulse wirelessly (and them to feel yours).

The Touch ring links to your wireless device and taps into the internet to share your pulse with a paired device on a partner’s finger. The ring glows and the jewelry is made of stainless steel or solid rose gold and a crystal sapphire surface that prevents scratching. All in all, as wearables go, it looks quite elegant, and can feature an inscription, too.

While it may not replace FaceTime, Skype or personal contact over the long haul, it does provide a hand-holding reminder of your loved one when you are forced to spend time apart. “After long waiting, for those who wonder how HB Ring in Rose Gold and Jet Black looks on hand. The red lighting stripe shows the real-time heartbeat of your loved one directly on your ring. Pre-orders of limited series coming soon…” It may never be a perfect replacement to IRL snuggles, but it sure is a neat new way to keep in touch.

The post In Touch: Ring Shares Long-Distance Hearbeats Remotely first appeared on Gajitz.

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.

Superflex is not the first activity-bolstering exoskeleton, but this new design uses muscular-style actuation, is slim, comfortable and form-fitting. It does not limit normal joint motion and lends strength on demand with power selectively deploying to the limbs and back portion when needed rather than continuously.

The exosuit is being developed for multiple user groups, from elderly persons in need of support to heavy-load workers and soldiers carrying heavy packs. The wearable device uses motion sensors, accelerometers and gyroscopes to compute speed and angles of limbs and adjust around actions.

Part of the Warrior Web Program from DARPA, the design is intended to reduce stress and maintain physical endurance in harsh conditions, including combat zones. The smart suit even ‘learns’ from its user over time, adaptive in its understanding and responses to actions both live and anticipated and able to make adjustments around common motions.

Thanks to its energy-conserving design, the suit only uses energy when absolutely needed, allowing it a longer battery life as well. All in all, it is something Batman could sorely use, or perhaps already has tucked away in that magical bat belt of his.

The post Real Heros: Superflex Exo-Suit Gives Superhuman Strength first appeared on Gajitz.

With the flip of a hood, this sweatshirt converts from a modest wearable to a mobile virtual reality platform, allowing users to game anywhere and anytime all with a simple adjustment to the clothes already on their backs.

The wearable device uses an inbuilt computer, battery and sensors transforming the wearer into a user on demand, a cable-free approach to VR design.

The headset covers the eyes but the hood also helps block out external sights, lights and sounds as desired. Sleeve and shoulder sensors and mechanics add a layer of immersive experience, triggering VR-based feedback responses.

“Shadow is a suite of VR wearables for gamers who desire the most immersive VR experience and interact with others mainly in the virtual space,” said Artefact. “Immersion extends beyond sight – it incorporates the sense of sight, hearing, and touch.”

“VR has the potential to change how we consume content,” Artefact said. “After years of false starts, the technology is finally sophisticated enough to deliver on its promise to help us forget where we are and allow us to experience things we never thought possible.”

The post Shadow Hoodie: Sweater Flips to Form Mobile VR Headset first appeared on Gajitz.