Physicians have touted the benefits of a good night’s sleep for centuries, if not longer, but it hasn’t been until recent years that a provider can see clear data on whether or not their patients have been hitting the sack.
To investigate whether wearable sleep trackers could play a role in patient-provider conversations, researchers from Indiana University’s Regenstrief Institute have launched a new study funded by Merck and the National Sleep Foundation that will equip insomnia patients and their primary care physicians with data from Fitbit devices.
“This study will provide insight into the utility of consumer sleep monitoring devices for the incorporation of sleep as a vital sign in the primary care setting,” Michael Paskow, director of scientific affairs and research at the National Sleep Foundation, said in a statement. “Delivering relevant sleep information to providers in a streamlined fashion is paramount to encouraging communication about sleep and helping people get a better night’s sleep sooner.”
Samsung is developing the long-awaited successor to its Gear S3 smartwatch and could launch it sometime this year, according to a report from SamMobile, a blog focused on all things Samsung. Citing insider sources, SamMobile co-founder Martin Reinders revealed the scoop during a Facebook Live chat last week.
SamMobile’s info on the rumored device is sparse, but Reinder said it is codenamed Galileo, bears the model number SM-R800, and will have better sleep tracking and S Health features than the Gear S3, while retaining the circular shape. SamMobile has a positive track record; it was the first to leak news of the Gear S3 in January 2016.
… Exercising with Suunto 3 Fitness is easy. Based on your personal profile, the watch creates a 7-day training plan with optimal duration and intensity for each exercise to improve fitness. The planned exercises are easy to activate and follow, and once started, the watch guides you to stay at the right intensity and notifies when you have reached the target. If you prefer to exercise without guidance, you can also do that.
After a couple of exercises, the watch evaluates your fitness level. The exercise recommendations are based on your current fitness level and recorded training history. Suunto 3 Fitness automatically adapts the training plan to your actual activities, so if you miss an exercise, or get excited and do a little more than planned, you don’t need to stress about updating the plan manually.
Wearable fitness devices require precision and low power operation in space-constrained designs. An optical pulse oximeter and heart-rate sensor can measure accurately without draining battery life.
First came trackers. They started the counter on the wearable tech revolution. Then came smartwatches, catapulting the basic functionality of trackers to a whole new level. Especially with the recent introduction and almost immediate popularity of LTE watches, wearables have managed to insinuate themselves, almost inextricably, into our daily lives.
But even with smartwatches, as multitasking as they are, there is a delivery gap from the wrist to the wearer’s cognizance. Your watch can play a podcast but if you have to hold your wrist to your ear to hear it, you might as well be holding a phone to your ear, somewhat undercutting the raison d’etre for the watch. Bluetooth® earphones emerged as the obvious answer to filling this gap. And as these earphones/earbuds grew smarter thanks to the incorporation of AI assistants, they evolved into a new category of wearables: hearables.
Hearables also received a boost from the fact that smartwatches are screen-centric. While screens are usually a good thing, they can, unfortunately, also hijack our attention.
… Knowing your LT can help customize your workouts as its a useful measure for deciding proper intensity for training and racing. The actual value varies between individuals and can be increased with regular exercise. This is because exercise leads to adaptations in skeletal muscle which prevent lactate levels from rising. Your body also becomes more efficient at using oxygen for energy.
The good news is, it is now easier than ever to work out your LT thanks to wearable technology. There are a number of devices that will do the work for you by tapping into Firstbeat analytics to provide you with the necessary calculations. This includes the Garmin Forerunner 935, Fenix 5, Forerunner 630 and Quatix 5.
… “If I’m new to a city, my first question is where should I run?” says Zach Cole, a 28-year-old product designer for the rideshare app Lyft who launched Hopdash late last month.
After a year in which he spent a lot of time traveling for work, Cole, who grew up minutes from the Boston Marathon course, found that one of the best ways to discover a new city was to jump into workouts with local running teams.
“A lot of the local running clubs tend to carry with them a little bit of the character of the city itself,” Cole says. “You get to go and see the city through the perspective of being a runner.” This insight sparked the question of how he could make the often insular world of local running culture more accessible.
… We were a long-distance couple, separated by a bland two-hour bus ride, but Strava was an idyllic eradicator of distance. On it, I followed the contours of his day, mapped around his workouts. When he slowed down for me, so we could run together, he appeared on Strava as my “one other,” in the app’s unintentionally sweet language for exercise partners. Over three years, our running maps came to describe a geography intelligible only to each other, a digital landscape of Strava routes that he’d named for me.
If that sounds like the modern denigration of romance incarnate, I don’t disagree. But back then I was too in love, and too busy exercising, to see that.
It turns out a knitting machine can work a bit like a 3-D printer.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Textiles Lab have created an algorithm that translates 3-D shapes in computer models into instructions for automated V-bed machines, a common piece of industrial knitting equipment.
The algorithm, created by CMU Robotics Institute faculty member Jim McCann and Ph.D. students Lea Albaugh and Vidya Narayanan, produces stitch-by-stitch instructions for the V-beds.
… How large is the market for flexible, hybrid and printed electronics systems, which can appear in anything from sensors and wearables to displays and lighting and more? This is uncertain. What is clear is that these systems are appearing in many commercial applications.
General Electric (GE) uses Optomec’s Aerosol Jet technology to print passive strain sensors made of a ceramic material directly onto the turbine blades, saving the company millions of dollars in unnecessary replacements and service. L’Oreal’s My UV Patch, a stretchable skin sensor that monitors UV absorption that L’Oreal developed in conjunction with La Roche-Posay, L’Oreal’s skin care brand, and MC10 Inc., has sold more than one million patches since the heart-shaped patch was introduced in January 2016.
For its Med-ic Syringe Pack, Information Mediary Corp. uses NFC to connect a temperature monitored smart package with printed electronic traces, which records real-time information for each syringe, providing data on whether a patient is actually using the medication. The company reports more than a million units sold to date.
Faster Skier blog, Jon "Fast Big Dog" Schafer from
With an incredibly elaborate hoax from the Chinese now in full swing, winter athletes from all over the world continue to struggle with our planet’s changing climate. Snow sports have been particularly hard hit, as rising temperatures and increasingly erratic weather patterns have resulted in less predictable snowfall, mid-winter rain storms, rapidly abating trail conditions, and thusly greatly shortened training and racing seasons. This fallout from these changing climactic conditions is far-reaching and appears to only be worsening.
One industry sector that has been forced to drastically change its business model is that of nordic clothing. While long-sleeve tops and full-length race suits have been de rigueur for literally decades, warming temperatures have forced all of the nordic clothing companies to rethink and adjust their business models and product lines in what is proving to be a very hostile environment.
Your skull blocks common hazards like cabinet doors, but it’s no match for a hard fall on pavement. To blunt the forces that cause concussions, these helmets incorporate a mechanism called MIPS, which allows a skid lid’s outer shell to rotate on impact and absorb dangerous forces. Each noggin guard below also addresses the unique perils of different sports.
… This bracelet is representing one of the first wearable products with flexible organic electronics from the European pilot line.
Fraunhofer FEP was responsible for the anode deposition on barrier web, which has been produced by the project partner Holst Centre as well as for the OLED-deposition by using evaporation processes. The OLED-deposition at Fraunhofer FEP can be done in Roll-to-Roll (R2R) and Sheet-to-Sheet (S2S) processes.
A major byproduct in the papermaking industry is lignosulfonate, a sulfonated carbon waste material, which is typically combusted on site, releasing CO2 into the atmosphere after sulfur has been captured for reuse.
Now researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a method to use this cheap and abundant paper biomass to build a rechargeable lithium-sulfur battery. Such a battery could be used to power big data centers as well as provide a cheaper energy-storage option for microgrids and the traditional electric grid.
“Our research demonstrates the potential of using industrial paper-mill byproducts to design sustainable, low-cost electrode materials for lithium-sulfur batteries,” said Trevor Simmons, a Rensselaer research scientist who developed the technology with his colleagues at the Center for Future Energy Systems (CFES). He has patented the process with former graduate student Rahul Mukherjee.
Like a yoga novice, electronic components don’t stretch easily. But that’s changing thanks to a variation of origami that involves cutting folded pieces of paper.
In a study published April 2 in the journal Advanced Materials, a University at Buffalo-led research team describes how kirigami has inspired its efforts to build malleable electronic circuits.
Their innovation — creating tiny sheets of strong yet bendable electronic materials made of select polymers and nanowires — could lead to improvements in smart clothing, electronic skin and other applications that require pliable circuitry.
To remain relevant, skiing and snowboarding need to appeal to a broader audience. Here’s what the industry is doing to ensure the longevity of the sport—but is any of it working?
… Rahal remembers telling Smith early on that if they did things right, this could be a $10 million business. Last year, Kellogg bought RXBAR—which now sells 120 million bars per year—for $600 million.
Rahal and Smith stayed on to lead what is now a standalone unit in the larger company, a critical component of the deal, he says. “We were looking for the right muscle, and to protect our people and our culture. So those are kind of two objectives or goals that we were looking for in a partner. Kellogg fit that perfectly and now we have resources to continue to achieve our business objectives.”
Armed with Kellogg’s expertise in areas like international distribution, contract negotiation, and performance management, RXBAR will continue its ambitious quest to transform the way food is made and delivered.