L'Oreal is not a name that you'd normally associate with CES, but the cosmetics giant is now a regular exhibitor at the show. This year, the company is demonstrating a thumbnail-worn smart device that's less than two millimeters thick. UV Sense is a...
Whenever people talk about the technology of the future, someone will always bring up "tattoo-style" diagnostic technology. MC10, a firm that's emerged out of research by medical wearables pioneer John Rogers, has now been able to make devices like t...
At CES 2013, mc10 and Reebok revealed the Checklight, a product built to help protect athletes who play football, hockey and other impact sports. Today, you can purchase one of your very own in men's, women's or children's sizes for $149.99 from Reebok's website. For your money, you get the sensor strip, a skull cap to keep it snug on your noggin and a micro-USB charger to keep it powered up.
For those who've forgotten, the Checklight's a head impact indicator powered by mc10's flexible electronics technology that gives athletes and medical personnel simple, actionable information about impacts to the wearer's head. It's not a concussion detector, per se, but it does provide information about the location, number and intensity of impacts to your dome -- so it's a valuable tool that can help identify those in danger and keep them out of harm's way. Well worth $150, we'd say.
MC10 might be best known for its wearable electronics aimed at athletes, but the company also makes a medical diagnostic sticker called a biostamp. Its creator (and MC10 co-founder), John Rogers has refined that design so that it's no longer an elastomer sticker -- now he can apply the biostamp's thin, stretchy electronics directly on human skin, and bond it with commercially available spray-on bandage material. By losing the elastomer backing of the original biostamp and applying the circuits directly to the skin, Rogers and his team at the University of Illinois were able to shave the device's thickness to 1/30th of the (already quite thin) biostamp. That super thin profile means it conforms even better to the contours of human hide and makes it shower- and swim-proof during the two weeks it lasts before being naturally exfoliated with your skin.
For those unfamiliar with what the biostamp does, it's a mesh of circuits and sensors that can record electrophysiological data like skin temperature and hydration state of the wearer. The new biostamp won't be in your doctor's tool box any time soon, however, as Rogers and his team are still refining the wireless power and communication technologies it leverages. Of course, once those problems are solved, there's a good chance we'll see MC10 turning it into a commercial product.
We've already got quite a lineup unveiled so far, but the fun doesn't stop now, my friends -- if anything, we'll be ratcheting up the excitement as we get closer and closer to Expand in San Francisco this March 16 and 17th. We'll have full profiles of all 10 of our Insert Coin Semi-Finalists rolling over the next few days, and your audience vote will determine which top five will also get to demo on our stage -- and voting will kick off today at 12:30pm PST / 3:30pm EST! Stay tuned!
But if you still need more reasons to attend Expand, how about 10 of 'em? Followed by four more inspiring speakers you'll get to see -- all for the low, low price of 50 bucks:
Read on for the Engadget editors you most want to meet...
And yet there's a whole other cadre of professionals who will be gracing our event stage, and that is the incredibly hardworking team of Engadget editors. We'll be bringing out the majority of our crew to make the Expand magic happen -- and we ran a ticket giveaway contest last week to see which of them you are most excited to meet. Here is just a short list of some of the editors you're looking forward to colliding with in the proverbial Real World (and please stay tuned to @EngadgetExpand for more chances to win tickets and other goodies!):
And don't forget...
If you're a company that would like to work with us on an exhibition or sponsorship level, please drop us a line at sponsors at engadget dot com (DIYers and small startups, please ask us about our new Indie Corner option!)
If you're interested in speaking at the event, please contact expand at engadget dot com to inquire
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Concussions have always been a concern for those who play contact sports. However, there's been a renewed focus in recent years by the sports community -- the NFL in particular -- to learn more about concussions in the interests of promoting player safety. Pro leagues aren't the only folks tackling the problem, though. Verizon, Intel and Ridell are all building systems to help identify concussed players. Reebok and mc10 have collaborated to create CheckLight, a head impact indicator meant to make it easy to see when an athlete has taken a dangerous blow to the head. The CheckLight itself is composed of two parts: a sensor device built by mc10 and skull-cap made by Reebok.
The sensor itself is a strip of plastic filled with flexible sensors connected to a small microcontroller module with three indicator LEDs and a micro-USB port. One LED serves as a battery level indicator, one flashes yellow after moderate impacts and a third flashes red for severe blows. mc10 wasn't willing to share the exact hardware inside, but we know that it's got a rechargeable battery and has rotational acceleration, multi-directional acceleration, impact location and impact duration. Data from those sensors is then run through the company's proprietary algorithm to determine when to fire the LEDs. We got to chat with Isaiah Kacyvenski -- mc10's Director of Licensing and Business development and ex-NFL player -- about the CheckLight and the role it has to play in keeping athletes safe, so join us after the break for more.
While the whack of two helmets might be an unavoidable part of some high intensity sports, knowing a little more about what's going on during those impacts can mean the difference between a time out, and time in hospital. Reebok-CCM Hockey and electronics form MC10 have just announced that they are developing a wearable cap that will register the strength and severity of head impacts during games. The project is actually aimed at all sports and age-groups, and uses high-performance electronics reshaped into an ultra-thin, breathable, flexible system that technology partner, MC10, expects to also be much more affordable. The cap will allow quick analysis through the use of different colored readouts, illustrating the strength of impact. The product won't be commercially available until next year however, but we're already thinking of potential worthy collaborations.
L'Oreal is not a name that you'd normally associate with CES, but the cosmetics giant is now a regular exhibitor at the show. This year, the company is demonstrating a thumbnail-worn smart device that's less than two millimeters thick. UV Sense is a...
Whenever people talk about the technology of the future, someone will always bring up "tattoo-style" diagnostic technology. MC10, a firm that's emerged out of research by medical wearables pioneer John Rogers, has now been able to make devices like t...
In impact sports, sudden head blows can be devastating, unless their effects are assessed immediately. Reebok Checklight is a head …
Scientists from University of California, Berkeley, have developed a type of e-skin that provides visual feedback when touched or pressed. …
