In the tech world, a lot happens in a week. So much news goes on that it's almost impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of it. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of the top tech stories from this week.
The post Weekly Rewind: New Amazon Echoes, smart jackets, a browser faster than Chrome appeared first on Digital Trends.
Timex's Fairfield Contactless looks like an ordinary watch from the outside, but thanks to Barclaycard's bPay technology, it supports tap-and-pay transactions at hundreds of thousands of retailers.
The post Timex’s Fairfield Contactless is an analog watch with tap-and-pay capability appeared first on Digital Trends.
When E.M. Forster wrote the words “only connect” in his Victorian novel Howards End, he was linking poetry and prose. But the phrase was given new meaning at IFAI Expo’s Advanced Textiles Conference Smart Fabrics Track on Tuesday by presenters who encouraged better connectivity between the textile and electronics industries.
One company working to bridge the gap is Io Clothes. Speaking at the day’s keynote luncheon, managing director Ben Cooper said, “The two industries do not speak the same language.” The company seeks to serve as a platform or networking group in order to foster a global community for e-textile development.
“What we are doing now is merging two industries. We need to have a conversation,” said Eva Osborne of Significant Difference in her introduction to 101 E-Textiles. The panel discussion covered some of the expectations, product development strategies, economics, lack of standards, and legal pitfalls that challenge the commercialization of e-textiles; and how to move beyond the successes in the military and medical fields.
The paradigm shift will come when we connect textiles and technology. “Our job is to communicate,” added Osborne.
by Debra Cobb
Smartwatches have come a long way since their humble beginnings, and now is the time to buy one if you haven't already. We've rounded up some of the best smartwatch deals available right now.
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A group of trainblazers in the world of e-textiles offered ideas and fielded questions in a casual setting on IFAI’s EXPO show floor yesterday. Many of the audience were experts themselves, so the discussion was, one might say, among colleagues in this segment.
Standards for smart textiles was on the minds of many. One audience member asked if there were published standards and protocols for heating jackets and similar products. Yolita Wildman Nugent, director of Textile Program Management at FLEX, said there are component level standards, and it’s possible to pull standards from other industries that are relevant, rather than starting over. “If we go in that direction where everything’s custom, it’ll be chaos,” she said.
Gerry Elman, president of Elman Technology Law, offered a legal perspective, cautioning that it’s hard to insulation from liability without a standard. “The key is to minimize it,” he said, by creating “a portfolio of information” to show a customer and have on file to prove diligence in doing one’s best to think it through.
Discussion soon turned to environmental issues, which are not specifically related to e-textiles, but could be even more complex in garments made with e-textiles.
Nugent pointed out the difficulties in operating sustainably, even for a company as committed to it as Patagonia. Microfleece has been an enormous success in the active garment industry, but it’s been shown to be unsafe for the environment because it breaks apart and gets into the water sources. “You have to look at the life cycle of the product and what happens to the components as waste,” Nugent said.
Connie Huffa, president of Fabdesigns, said companies should also consider the waste in making a product. “Ask how it fits a life cycle,” she said. “Can the clothes go from one activity to another?”
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, wearable technologies are the worlds current number one fitness trend (Thompson, 2015, 2016). By providing patients with an instant biofeedback, wearables not only have the possibility to prevent injury and overuse, but also to optimize training (Düking, Holmberg, & Sperlich, 2017) which becomes of special interest in rehabilitation where exercising optimally is paramount for your health. We gathered what applications are there for increasing a patient’s rehabilitation process. The companies introduced below will exhibit at the upcoming WT | Wearable Technologies Show 2017 MEDICA on November 13-16, 2017 in Düsseldorf.
More than 50 million people are estimated in Europe, North America and Japan to suffer from a weak hand due to illness, injury, stroke or old age. The Swedish company Bioservo Technologies aims to give them a helping hand with their SEM Glove™. Thanks to state-of-the-art robotic SEM™ technology they have endless possibilities to support people with a weakened grip to get new strength and endurance in their hands and to prevent strain injuries.
Empowering physiotherapy, Luna EMG by EGZOTech is a multi-functional upper and lower limb rehabilitation robot for neurological and orthopedic patients. It can perform force or EMG driven active movement exercises with severely atrophied patients for example after a stroke, with muscular dystrophy or MS. Luna uses isolating extensions to train single joints or functional and dynamic ones to exercise whole limbs in real life patterns, extensions can be swapped within 10 seconds to quickly move the patient through training sessions and enable a faster recovery time.
Maximum, minimum and average force, jump power, weight distribution and motion are critical parameters in many sports. The FORCIOT Measurement System can be integrated into different sports wearables, for example sports shoes, insoles or gloves. It enables athletes, coaches and physiotherapists to measure performance data in every exercise, anywhere. The system provides objective data for finding a perfect balance of rest and exercise for long-term improvement and for optimizing maximum race performance.
Movement is essential in our lives but can be affected by trauma, aging or disease. How about knowing who is safe or at risk? How about accurately quantifying your moves? Gait Up provides innovative wearable sensors and software for motion analysis in sports and clinics. With their Physilog® applications they are turning motion sensor signals into meaningful data related to performance or disability.
To help people stand up again and walk independently, FREE Bionics has developed FREE Walk, an exoskeleton for people with limited mobility, muscle weekness or paraplegia. With this walking assistive exoskeleton technology that mimics the most natural human gait, users can easily keep balance and transfer their center of mass forward. It has a user-oriented design and adjustments for every new user can be done within five minutes.
A life in motion: Mollii is a neurorehabilitation concept providing individually adapted rehabilitation in the form of a garment with electrotherapy programmed according to each person´s needs. The assistive device can be used in home environment by people with spasticity or other forms of motor disability. It can help to reduce undesired reflexes and stiffness, thus enabling an improved range of motion and functional ability.
Shimmer provides advanced development of wearable sensing systems. Their wearable sensor platform and equipment allows for simple and effective biophysical and kinematic data capture in real-time for a wide range of application areas. Designed to be robust, flexible and configurable, the technology provides high quality scientifically reliable data to support researchers and academics in their data collection.
Another company providing fitness and rehabilitation solutions for sports and wider medical applications is TMG-BMC. They are creating and developing in the field of tensiomyography, an evidence-based method which enables precise measuring of individual muscles’ contraction characteristics – the ability of the muscle to contract or relax. This information is crucial for the identification of injury risk, supports return to play decisions for athletes and shows change in performance over time.
TracPatch by Consensus Orthopedics is here to help enable patients and healthcare providers to strive for exceptional post-surgical outcomes and continuously monitors wound temperature after implant or surgery. Healthcare providers can now engage patients every day during their episode of care. Patients feel empowered to reach their rehabilitation goals. TracPatch connects healthcare providers to what matters most: improving patient lives.
References:
Düking, P., Holmberg, H. C., & Sperlich, B. (2017). Instant Biofeedback Provided by Wearable Sensor Technology Can Help to Optimize Exercise and Prevent Injury and Overuse. Front Physiol, 8, 167. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2017.00167
Thompson, W. (2015). Worldwide survey of fitness trends for 2016: 10th Anniversary Edition. ACSM Health Fitness J, 19, 9-18. doi: 10.1249/FIT.0000000000000164
Thompson, W. (2016). Worldwide Survey Of Fitness Trends For 2017. ACSM Health Fitness J, 20(6), 8-17. doi: 10.1249/FIT.0000000000000252
Apple's smartwatch is a jack-of-all-trades. The best Apple Watch apps allow you to carry out a variety of tasks, whether you're looking to control Powerpoint slides or track your spending. Here are our favorites.
The post The 44 best Apple Watch apps to download appeared first on Digital Trends.
We review the Embr Wave, a personal heating and cooling wearable designed by a team of MIT engineers that’s now on Kickstarter. Our thoughts? It’s a little bit addictive.
The post Warm up or cool down with the press of button on the wrist-worn Embr appeared first on Digital Trends.
The Altra Torin IQ is a new smart shoe which pairs with a smartphone to analyzes cadence, impact rate, landing zone, and other data to provide feedback on how to improve your running form in real time.
The post Altra Torin IQ hands-on appeared first on Digital Trends.
The images show a possible Xbox smartwatch prototype while it was in development in 2013. Originally set for release in 2015, the smartwatch would have worked with Microsoft Surface tablets to charge with a magnetic connector.
The post Images surface of a possible Xbox smartwatch prototype from Microsoft appeared first on Digital Trends.
Verizon has a smartwatch called the Wear24, and it runs Android Wear 2.0. How does it stack up against competition like the Apple Watch, and Huawei Watch 2? Here's our full review.
The post Verizon Wear24 review appeared first on Digital Trends.
Would you buy a jean jacket for $350? What if it was a smart jacket? Project Jacquard, as Levi's calls its smart jacket, is more than just outerwear -- it has a few tricks up its sleeve. Or, on its sleeve, actually.
The post Would you pay $350 for Levis’ new smart jacket? appeared first on Digital Trends.
Tempted to buy a smartwatch? If so, then the growing number of great models available means you've got plenty of choice, but which one should you choose? Here is our list of the best smartwatches.
The post The best smartwatches you can buy appeared first on Digital Trends.
Apple has given many people what they always wanted: A smartwatch with cellular capabilities, so it can potentially replace your phone. But in our Apple Watch Series 3 review, we discover that while you can leave your phone behind, you may still be out of touch.
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Google collaborated with Levi's to build a Commuter Trucker jacket that has gesture-sensing technology. It's useful for when you want to play the next song while biking, or check when your next appointment is.
The post Google ATAP and Project Jacquard add gesture control to Levi’s Commuter jacket appeared first on Digital Trends.
The Sixer is an insulated ski jacket from 686 that doubles as a wearable cooler, allowing the user to carry up to 11 cans of their favorite beverage with them on the slopes or wherever they go.
The post Stay warm while keeping your beer cool with the Sixer insulated jacket appeared first on Digital Trends.
In the tech world, a lot happens in a week. So much news goes on that it's almost impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of it. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of the top tech stories from this week.
The post Weekly Rewind: Free Lyft rides, new Nest products, legendary Porsches appeared first on Digital Trends.
The Apple Watch is one of the best smartwatches on the market, and it can change like a chameleon to match your style. Here are the best Apple Watch faces to help you better stylize your new device.
The post Make your watch unique and love it even more with the best Apple Watch faces appeared first on Digital Trends.
The WT | Wearable Technologies Conference ASIA in Bangalore was a great success. With many senior decision makers from big industry players like TATA, software giants like Wipro and multinational cloud analytics providers like IBM, the whole WT value chain was present. We prepared a short recap of our first-ever event in India to keep you posted on what took place at the WT | Wearable Technologies Conference, Bangalore.
Christian Stammel, CEO of WT | Wearable Technologies, kicked off the proceedings with great insights into the WT Ecosystem and the application of wearables in different domains and verticals. This was well-received by the audience who also got a flavor of the ‘Smart Patch’ roadmap that is about to grow well in the near future.
Sridhar Sudarshan (CTO, IBM Watson Partnership) had a great presentation on the applicability of deep learning techniques on the data that is received from wearables. The talk featured IBM Watson and Watson IoT Platform offerings that extend the power of cognitive computing to connected devices — such as wearables, hearables, implantables and injectables. Several industries like healthcare, transportation, safety, factories etc are likely to benefit from this IoT transformation.
This Keynote was followed by healthcare themed presentations : the experiences of WIPRO in developing the AssureHealth and Assurecare platforms was well complemented by two start-ups, RetiSense and Terrablue. Not only could the start-ups look at plugging into platforms of IBM & WIPRO but they could also share the critical skills of ‘Design Thinking’ and ‘Stakeholder buy-ins’ that they had to overcome.
Soon after lunch (the spicy Indian variety ;-)), it was the turn of Ganesh S – Innovation Manager at TATA, one of India’s biggest companies – to talk about their innovative approach in introducing a factory safety wearable. This talk expounded the design thinking principles of ‘Empathy-Define-Ideate-Prototype-Test’ with a discussion on the deployment using LORA in the TATA steel factory. This was probably the first time that TATA presented the new wearable product in touchable form to the world through the WT platform after presenting the concept at the WT | Wearable Technologies Conference in San Francisco in July.
Following these product presentations, the key ecosystem players came together to talk about their offerings. Uday Dodla from Qualcomm presented the new Snapdragon Wear 2100 Platform and the NB-IoT designs that can help designers to quickly go from idea to product. Anandan (TÜV SÜD India) gave insights into how good design principles (GDP) need to be followed to enable easy certification of wearable products.
Jeff Katz (GEENY) illustrated the importance of having an open IoT platform for the WT ecosystem. Start-ups and corporates were quite curious about the applicability of GEENY’s platform especially since it was an offshoot of one of the popular mobile networks from Spain, Telefónica.
The evening was rounded up well with one of the most important topics: Cybersecurity. Shashank (Sumeru Solutions), an “ethical hacker”, walked the informed audience as to what can go wrong with even a simple Bluetooth connectivity. Various techniques to guard against any attack through a wearable was discussed along with a lingering warning that no gadget can be 100% “fool-proof” – there can only be several barriers to overcome vulnerabilities that can creep into wearables.
The WT Conference was preceded by an IEEE Tutorial on IoT/WT using IBM WATSON, the previous day (7th September). WT | Wearable Technologies supported and curated the content and provided support for excellent speakers. This event saw some bubbling college grads and start-ups learning about the basics of the WT/IoT Technology from experts in these domains.
A big thank you goes to all contributors of #WTINDIA17!
It's official: Apple's stylish new smartwatch is the Apple Watch Series 3. Here's everything you need to know about it, including the hardware, materials, price, release date, and more.
The post Apple Watch 3: News, new features, and release appeared first on Digital Trends.
Amazon is reportedly developing Alexa-enabled AR glasses and a smart security camera called the Echo Protect, according to a report. Both products could be released as soon as this year.
The post Amazon reportedly working on Alexa-powered smart glasses and security systems appeared first on Digital Trends.
It's official: Apple's stylish new smartwatch is the Apple Watch Series 3. Here's everything you need to know about it, including the hardware, materials, price, release date, and more.
The post Apple Watch 3: News, new features, and release appeared first on Digital Trends.
The Movado Connect is a gorgeous Android Wear smartwatch with sleek watch faces, but it starts at $600, and it doesn’t have GPS, a heart-rate monitor, or a cellular model.
The post Movado Connect review appeared first on Digital Trends.
Apple has launched an update to its Apple Watch operating system, WatchOS 4.0. The update brings an intelligent Siri watch face, along with better activity tracking and updates to the Music app, among other things.
The post Here are all the new things you can do with Apple’s WatchOS 4.0 appeared first on Digital Trends.
Withings, the maker of popular fitness gadgets, is now under the Nokia brand name. Its great smartwatches haven’t changed, and you can score the newly named Nokia Steel activity tracker for just $70 from Amazon, a $60 savings.
The post Take $60 off the sleek, dressy Nokia Steel activity-tracking smartwatch appeared first on Digital Trends.
Newly launched on Kickstarter, the LunaR Hybrid Mechanical Smartwatch claims to set itself apart from similar products (of which there are many) by selecting solar power as an alternative energy source
The post The LunaR solar-powered smartwatch looks like a classic timepiece appeared first on Digital Trends.
Let´s be honest, every one of us likes to play videogames, at least every now in a while. But times where we sat physically inactive in front of a TV and all we did was smashing buttons luckily are a thing of the past. Nowadays, virtual reality games allow us to immerse into the gaming world and control our alter-ego by moving our bodies in the real world. Early scientific research on virtual reality tells us that it provides motivational physical activity (Harris & Reid, 2005) and that it increases enjoyment while decreasing tiredness (Plante, Aldridge, Bogden, & Hanelin, 2003).
We had a look at what´s hot in the wearable gaming sector some time ago:
But let´s see what´s on the horizon and let´s get active while gaming.
The German based ICAROS GmbH is combining a virtual reality head mounted display with a fully new engineered device which gave their company its name: ICAROS (see header picture). Players plank in the ICAROS and by moving and tilting their body (and consequently activating different muscles) they “fly” in the virtual reality. Applications range from racing a motorcycle, diving with a submarine or flying a jetpack-like device – all controlled by your bodies movement.
Put on your head mounted display, grab your lightsaber and may the force be with you! Lenovo and Disney have joined forces and let you immerse in the Star WarsTM Fight against Darth Vader or control the troops of the rebellion out of the control room. The future of the universe is literally in your hands now.
Cyberith Virtualizer literally lets you set foot into the VR environment allowing as much immersion in the game as currently possible. Admittingly an application for the more sophisticated gamer, the Virtualizer physical platform tracks whether you walk or run and if you stand, crouch or sit and brings these movements into different game scenarios.
When it comes to gaming in VR, it is not solely about putting your VR-Glasses on to immerse in the virtual reality – you also want to feel and touch the objects you see. Axon VR is trying to close this gap by providing tactile and thermal feedback to the user. While no gaming experience is available now, this appears to be only a matter of time. Imagine playing a boxing game where you can literally feel the punches of your opponent and hope that you are not boxing against a heavyweight-champion. Imagine skiing in the Alps and Axon VR lets you literally feel the cold snow. During summer. Right in your home.
Based in Melbourne, Zero Latency offers VR multiplayer games where you fight e.g. zombies or rogue drones. For the ones which do not like to fight, you can also transform into an ancient alien and work with your fellows to reunite with your clan from which you were separated at the start of the game. Teamwork and having fun together with your friends is key in this type of gaming, thereby combining three aspects: Gaming, physical activity and sharing quality time with your friends.
In the real world, our eyes accommodate to focus on one narrow point which becomes elucidated and sharp, whereas every other object becomes blurred. However, in the virtual reality this is currently not the case and every object (regardless if one is focused on it or not) is sharp, leaving the subject with an unnatural feeling behind. Thanks to Avegant´s Light Field technology, this could change in the future. The Light Field technology offers the visualization of objects at multiple focal planes which increases the realism of the virtual/mixed reality by sharpening objects to which the eye accommodates.
Asus as well as other hardware providers employ the freshly released Windows Mixed Reality software. The cool thing about it is that it can track motion without the need for any external video cameras as these are already build-in in the headset. These cameras directly track the motion of your controller, even if these are out of sight of the cameras – big thanks to algorithms which are based on inverse kinematics.
References:
Harris, K., & Reid, D. (2005). The influence of virtual reality play on children’s motivation. Can J Occup Ther, 72(1), 21-29. doi: 10.1177/000841740507200107
Plante, T., Aldridge, A., Bogden, R., & Hanelin, C. (2003). Might virtual reality promote the mood benefits of exercise? Computers in Human Behavior, 19, 495-509.
It's not hard to find a fitness tracking wearable for the wrist, but options run thin when you want a device that's a little more subtle. Motiv's solution is a ring that puts your active minutes front and center.
The post Motiv smart ring tracks ‘active minutes,’ because step counters are so 2015 appeared first on Digital Trends.
Engineers from the University of California at Los Angeles and SRI International have developed a new 5-millimeter-thin device that functions as a solid-state fridge. Here's why that's cool (no pun intended).
The post A fridge that fits in your pocket? Sounds silly, but UCLA is building one appeared first on Digital Trends.
The NBA is giving its fans another reason to invest in their favorite team's schwag. NikeConnect gives fans a new way to connect with the sport by offering exclusive content like highlights, personal messages, and sneaker deals.
The post NikeConnect lets NBA fans unlock exclusive content from their team jersey appeared first on Digital Trends.
Researchers in Europe are currently working to revolutionize mental healthcare by creating a new digital self-help platform, known as the AffecTech project. They will create wearable technology that aims to help people better manage their mental health.
The post AffecTech to provide wearable tech for those with mental health issues appeared first on Digital Trends.
If your new smartwatch has a metal link strap, you most likely need to remove watch links from it, so it fits. Provided you have the right tools, this is easy to do, and doesn't require a trip to the jewellers. Here's our guide.
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The Zenith Defy Lab mechanical watch is supposedly the most accurate in the world, with a daily accuracy of .3 seconds. It uses a revolutionary one-piece oscillator that functions faster than most mechanical watches.
The post The Zenith Defy Lab is the world’s most accurate mechanical watch appeared first on Digital Trends.
Samsung's Gear Sport is a cross between a smartwatch and fitness tracker, but it's not the only wearable the company is introducing. It's releasing alongside the new Gear Fit2 Pro and Gear IconX wireless earbuds.
The post Samsung unveils fitness-minded smartwatch, activity tracker, wireless earbuds appeared first on Digital Trends.
How do you decide between the hyped up Apple Watch Series 3 and its competitors? We put the watch head to head with the Fitbit Ionic and the Garmin Vivoactive 3 in order to find out.
The post Apple Watch Series 3 vs. Fitbit Ionic vs. Garmin Vivoactive 3 appeared first on Digital Trends.
There's a new piece of jewelry that may just save your relationship with the world beyond your phone. Meet Ela, a stylish bracelet that's meant to help you disconnect from your smartphone without disconnecting from the world.
The post Disconnect from your phone with some stylish smart jewelry from Ela appeared first on Digital Trends.
While Armani entered the smartwatch world earlier this year with a hybrid, the company is back with an Android Wear 2.0 watch. The device is the latest in owner Fossil's mission to launch 300 smartwatches this year.
The post Slick new Armani smartwatch adds some needed style to Android Wear appeared first on Digital Trends.
PetMio will turn your ordinary pet into a smart pet, with its fitness tracker, smart food bowl, and specially designed health food plan. The complete system is available as a Kickstarter campaign now, for cats and dogs.
The post Turn your pet into a smart-pet with PetMio’s fitness tracker, smart bowl, and health food appeared first on Digital Trends.
Apple CEO Tim Cook claimed that the iPhone X will define the next decade of smartphones. He’s probably right, but why can’t any other companies truly step up and outperform the iPhone in a big way?
The post A dozen companies could have built the iPhone X. Why did they wait for Apple? appeared first on Digital Trends.
Many of the “new” technologies that Apple presenters gushed about at Apple’s September 2017 iPhone X announcement seemed familiar, so we tracked down how old they really are.
The post Here are 6 old technologies Apple wants you to think are revolutionary appeared first on Digital Trends.
Apple had plenty on display during its recent press event at Apple Park, including the iPhone X and Apple Watch Series 3. Thankfully, if you missed it, our Apple event roundup has all the details.
The post Miss the keynote? Our Apple event roundup has every announcement of note appeared first on Digital Trends.
At Apple's September 12 announcement, the company unveiled the iPhone 8, iPhone X, and also the latest Apple Watch iteration. Here are our five favorite Apple Watch Series 3 features.
The post The 5 features that make the Apple Watch Series 3 the coolest version yet appeared first on Digital Trends.
Thinking about springing for an Apple Watch but don't know which one is right for your individual needs and situation? We compare all the options to help you figure out which is the right model, finish, and band for you.
The post Here’s every Apple Watch model, finish, and band compared appeared first on Digital Trends.
You may not be in the PGA Tour (yet), but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be working on your swing. If anything, it means that you should be getting all the help you can get. And here with that assistance is the SwingLync.
The post SwingLync is a wearable golf sensor to help you improve your game appeared first on Digital Trends.
Apple has launched an update to its Apple Watch operating system, WatchOS 4.0. The update brings an intelligent Siri watch face, along with better activity tracking and updates to the Music app, among other things.
The post Here are all the new things you can do with Apple’s WatchOS 4.0 appeared first on Digital Trends.
It's official: Apple's stylish new smartwatch is the Apple Watch Series 3. Here's everything you need to know about it, including the hardware, materials, price, release date, and more.
The post Apple Watch 3: News, new features, and release appeared first on Digital Trends.
It's finally here! The big September Apple event and the grand unveiling of the iPhone X. It's cause for celebration, rejoicing, and checking the trade-in price on your beat-up iPhone 7 Plus.
The post What are you most excited about at today’s Apple Event? appeared first on Digital Trends.
It's not just consumer tech companies that are interested in augmented reality technology. Defense giant BAE Systems thinks that it's also the future of control systems for fighter planes.
The post Defense giant BAE says future fighter jets will be piloted in augmented reality appeared first on Digital Trends.
Newly launched on Kickstarter, the LunaR Hybrid Mechanical Smartwatch claims to set itself apart from similar products (of which there are many) by selecting solar power as an alternative energy source
The post The LunaR solar-powered smartwatch looks like a classic timepiece appeared first on Digital Trends.
Going on a business trip often means spending lots of time travelling by plane. Why not using this time more efficiently and starting to network before even arriving at your destination? Lufthansa is making it possible with FlyingLabs, an open innovation platform making the impact of digitalization visible and tangible. Lufthansa FlyingLab enhances leading international conferences with themed pre-conference flights, aimed at people who are attending these events. In the first part of the flight experts deliver lectures giving business relevant insights and in the second part passengers can try out innovative technologies, primarly wearables that you can test in a relaxed atmosphere during the flight.
WT | Wearable Technologies is supporting Lufthansa FlyingLab with the choice of speech topics and wearable test products. The first flight in cooperation with WT | Wearable Technologies in the category of digitalization and technology was from Frankfurt to SAPHIRE NOW in Orlando in May. Every passenger got the chance to check out the Muse Brain Sensing Headband, a headband that makes meditation easier. Meditation has been proven to reduce stress and increase focus, but it can be hard to know if you’re doing it right. Muse provides you with real-time audio feedback on what’s happening in your brain when you meditate, letting you know when your mind wanders and teaching you to regain focus.
And even tomorrow (on September 13) the Lufthansa FlyingLab will take off from San Francisco heading towards me Convention in Frankfurt. On board will be our former WT | Wearable Technologies Innovation World Cup 2015/16 finalist Pins Collective. Remember pins on the jeans jacket in the 80ies? The Pin One by Pins Collective is the digital revival of the wearable art form. You can choose any picture, text or animation (GIFs) in the Pin smartphone app. Via a Bluetooth connection the artworks are trans-mitted onto the Pin. Switching between different artworks requires only a few swipes. On the Lufthansa FlyingLab me Convention all speakers and team members will wear Pins.
Another wearable tested on board will be the Sleep Shepherd Blue, a comfortable, adjustable headband containing speakers and EEG sensors. The wearable optimizes your sleep patterns with a biofeedback system using binaural beats and EEG measurements to slow your brain rate from an awake state to a sleeping state. The binaural beats are two tones, played into each ear. Each tone is set to a very precise, but different, frequency. When these tones cross in your brain, your brain deciphers the different and adapts to them. This allows you to intentionally lower your brain rate. The Sleep Shepherd Blue gives you a deeper and more relaxing sleep.
Next events are already in planning – stay tuned which wearables will be chosen next by WT | Wearable Technologies for the Lufthansa FlyingLab!
Apple's gearing up to unveil a new iPhone on September 12. But we're expecting to hear about a new Apple Watch, iOS 11, and Apple TV too. Here's everything you can expect.
The post Here are the announcements we expect to hear at Apple’s September 12 event appeared first on Digital Trends.
Apple's Series 2 smartwatch was released to fanfare, and fans are looking for more. Could the Apple Watch Series 3 be the best yet? Here's everything we know about the Apple Watch 3 so far.
The post Apple Watch 3: News, new features, and rumors appeared first on Digital Trends.
An expose of 802.11ax and Broadcom’s Max Wi-Fi, a faster, more reliable Wi-Fi standard said to deliver four times the bandwidth of the current 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard
The post 802.11ax is Wi-Fi built for tomorrow’s hyper-connected home appeared first on Digital Trends.
The Michael Kors Access Grayson watch is certainly a good looking Android Wear smartwatch that will set you back $350 – but is it worth trading functionality for style?
The post Michael Kors Access Grayson smartwatch review appeared first on Digital Trends.
In the tech world, a lot happens in a week. So much news goes on that it's almost impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of it. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of the top tech stories from this week.
The post Weekly Rewind: Apple’s new campus, Lilium’s flying cars, Lowe’s comic books appeared first on Digital Trends.
The idea of additional robotic limbs sounds like sci-fi, but it doesn't have to be. Cornell researchers have been working on building this technology -- and, just as important, proving why it is useful.
The post Cornell engineers show why a robotic third arm is the ultimate productivity hack appeared first on Digital Trends.
The Michael Kors Access Sofie is a new Android Wear smartwatch for women. It features a pavé setting stone style, has an AMOLED screen, and access to Google Assistant. It trades features for design, though, so we take a closer look to see if its looks were a match for its capabilities.
The post Michael Kors Access Sofie smartwatch review appeared first on Digital Trends.
Huawei has taken the excellent fitness features from the Huawei Watch 2 and squeezed them down into a new fitness band, the Huawei Band 2 Pro. The standout feature is the VO2Max measurement, a great motivational metric.
The post Huawei Band 2 Pro shows the right stats to measure your fitness progress appeared first on Digital Trends.
It’s official — Apple’s next event is happening at 10 a.m. PT on Tuesday, September 12. The keynote will be the first to be held at the Steve Jobs Theater, on the grounds of Apple’s new facility in Cupertino, California. It’s here the company is expected to unveil the iPhone X, 7S, and 7S Plus, as well […]
The post Apple September Event Coverage appeared first on Digital Trends.
Using the magic of 3D printing, Harvard’s Soft Robotics Toolkit, and some other components, a team of designers from London has developed a mask which changes its pattern as you alter your expression.
The post Amazing (and slightly creepy) robotic mask changes in response to your emotions appeared first on Digital Trends.
Michael Kors announced a slew of new smartwatches at Baselworld 2017, chief among them the Access Sofie and Access Grayson. Both smartwatches are now officially available for purchase.
The post Michael Kors’ next-generation smartwatches are now available for purchase appeared first on Digital Trends.
In these days brand experience is a key factor for running a successful marketing strategy. Arvato SCM Solutions offers supply chain management and provides tailor-made, sustainable and innovative solutions that meet the individual needs of their brand partners so they can provide their customers with the best end-to-end shopping experience.
We interviewed Marcel Spieler, VP Global Business Development Hightech & Entertainment, to tell us more about Arvato SCM Solutions, how customers can profit, what makes them unique, which challenges they are facing and how they can add value to the wearables ecosystem.
Could you briefly explain what Arvato SCM Solutions is about?
Arvato SCM Solutions provides end-to-end services for leading firms and labels throughout a wide range of international industries and businesses. For decades it has been our mission to offer solutions and services that exceed our client’s expectations while adding sustainable value to their supply chain.
How can this help your clients and their customers?
Arvato’s capabilities in terms of quality, flexibility and cost-efficiency is a key differentiator when it comes to supporting our clients to reach their goals and in turn ensure their customers are satisfied. Experience tells us that flexibility in the Hightech & Entertainment industry is invaluable, we see very short product cycles as a result of the rapid pace of technological progress. At the same time companies are faced with highly competitive markets, at Arvato we can offer an easy and fast implementation if required.
How is Arvato developing and implementing digital services?
At the end it is all about the brand experience. Our job is to make sure that the brands we partner with provide their customers with the best end-to-end shopping experience. Innovation and technology as well as digital services are an enabler. In close collaboration with the e-commerce platform providers Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Oxid, Hybris and Spryker we have developed new features to keep you at the forefront of progress online when it comes to Shop Development. And our digital services do not stop here. Furthermore, we develop together with our clients global e-commerce entry strategies for various markets and countries. Digital is not a thing anymore, it is reality.
Can you tell what makes Arvato SCM Solutions stand out in the market?
The close relationships to our clients. Once on-boarded as a client our journey does not stop there, at Arvato we are focused on driving innovations through collaborations and bringing new and disruptive technologies in the supply chain to our clients. Our integrated solutions and global setup provide our customers with the peace of mind that we have them covered. With regional logistics clusters across more than 60 locations in 20 countries in the US, Europe and Asia we offer global capabilities and local expertise.
Which hurdles do you have to overcome (currently)?
We are very fortunate to be growing in terms of customer base and global warehouse footprint. Our biggest priority is to deliver and execute our implementation projects in a timely manner. Every project is different of course, but as a general rule we have devised a set of best practices to ensure implementations go smoothly and stay on track.
How can Arvato add value to the wearables ecosystem (B2B)?
Arvato is one of the very few players in the outsourcing service industry that can deliver the entire order-to-cash process flow out of one hand. Many companies with fast growth plans are looking exactly for these kind of services to scale their operations and sales globally – with a trusted partner. We support the wearables ecosystem by supplying fronted as well as backend solutions, all around global financial solutions, CRM, and of course logistics. This degree of integration is very rare in the market place.
How do you think the future of wearables will look like?
The future of wearables will be dominated by a few big players that control the entire ecosystem and combine the technology with, for example, smart home solutions. The integration of new functions, next to health & fitness features, is going to be key. New start-ups and players entering the market bring very interesting and new concepts that urge the innovation process of the giants on the market – all in all very promising times for us end-customers.
What is your favourite wearable device and why?
Call me old-fashioned but my favourite is the Apple watch. I have followed the brand for the last 20 years and I am still inspired.
The New York Times reports the Boston Red Sox stole the New York Yankees signs last month and the passed the information along via an Apple Watch. While sign-stealing is a legal practice, using technology to do so is against the rules.
The post Red Sox reportedly used an Apple Watch to steal signs from rival Yankees appeared first on Digital Trends.
With this connected shirt, researchers have turned the human body into a controller for virtual, augmented, and mixed reality experiences. Dubbed e-skin, the device enables camera-free motion capture and tracking.
The post E-skin connected shirt promises to turn your body into a controller appeared first on Digital Trends.
CES may be the largest consumer electronics show in the U.S., but IFA owns bragging rights as the largest CE show outside of the states. The show runs Sep. 1 to Sept. 6, and because of its timing (just in time for buyers to place Christmas orders), IFA frequently plays host to several first-time product unveilings, […]
The post IFA 2017: Complete Coverage appeared first on Digital Trends.
Check out our roundup of the best new crowdfunding projects and product announcements that hit the Web this week. You can't buy this stuff yet, but it sure is fun to gawk!
The post Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Self-healing gear bags and 3D-printed jewelry appeared first on Digital Trends.
Apple's gearing up to unveil a new iPhone on September 12. But we're expecting to hear about a new Apple Watch, iOS 11, and Apple TV too. Here's everything you can expect.
The post Here’s what to expect from Apple’s September 12 event appeared first on Digital Trends.
