Artificial skin creates first ticklish devices
A new interface takes touch technology to the next level by providing an artificial skin-like membrane for augmenting interactive devices such as phones, wearables or computers.
Read moreMobile Computing
Flexible, wearable supercapacitors based on porous nanocarbon nanocomposites
Evening gowns with interwoven LEDs may look extravagant, but the light sources need a constant power supply from devices that are as well wearable, durable, and lightweight. Chinese scientists have manufactured fibrous electrodes for wearable devices that are flexible and excel by their high energy density. A microfluidic technology was key for the preparation of the electrode material was a microfluidic technology, as shown in the journal Angewandte Chemie.
Read moreBio-circuitry mimics synapses and neurons in a step toward sensory computing
Researchers have demonstrated bio-inspired devices that accelerate routes to neuromorphic, or brain-like, computing. Their discovery could support the emergence of computing networks modeled on biology for a sensory approach to machine learning.
Read moreDaily exposure to blue light may accelerate aging, even if it doesn't reach your eyes
Prolonged exposure to blue light, such as that which emanates from your phone, computer and household fixtures, could be affecting your longevity, even if it's not shining in your eyes. New research suggests that the blue wavelengths produced by light-emitting diodes damage cells in the brain as well as retinas, according to a new study in a model organism.
Read moreNew augmented reality system lets smartphone users get hands-on with virtual objects
A new augmented reality system places virtual objects within real-world backgrounds on cell phone screens and lets people interact with those object by hand as if they were really there.
Read more'Electroadhesive' stamp picks up and puts down microscopic structures
New technique could enable assembly of circuit boards and displays with more minute components.
Read moreNew soft actuators could make soft robots less bulky
Engineers have developed a way to build soft robots that are compact, portable and multifunctional. The advance was made possible by creating soft, tubular actuators whose movements are electrically controlled, making them easy to integrate with small electronic components. As a proof of concept, engineers used the new actuators to build an untethered, battery-powered, walking soft robot and a soft gripper.
Read moreThat new yarn? Wearable, washable textile devices are possible with MXene-coated yarns
Researchers have figured out how to add more conductivity into functional fabric devices, by coating yarns with a 2-dimensional carbon-based material called MXene, to make conductive threads. The group has developed a dip-coating method, similar to the dyeing process, that can produce a conductive yarn strong enough for use in industrial knitting machines and durable enough to make it through wash cycles without degrading.
Read moreIntelligent, shape-morphing, self-healing material for soft robotics
Advances in the fields of soft robotics, wearable technologies, and human/machine interfaces require a new class of stretchable materials that can change shape adaptively while relying only on portable electronics for power. Researchers have developed such a material that exhibits a unique combination of high electrical and thermal conductivity with actuation capabilities that are unlike any other soft composite.
Read moreFirst entirely digital clinical trial encourages physical activity
As little as a daily ping on your phone can boost physical activity, researchers report in a new study.
Read more