Thermal conductivity + elasticity = “thubber”

February 24, 2017  |  Out There

Carmel Majidi and Jonathan Malen of Carnegie Mellon University have developed a thermally conductive rubber material that they’ve nicknamed “thubber.” According to information provided by the Carnegie Mellon University College of Engineering, the new material is an electrically insulati…
Read More
Smart phone app helps design a custom dress

February 10, 2017  |  Out There

The H&M-backed Swedish fashion house Ivyrevel has teamed up with Google and MediaMonks to create a personalized garment based on data gathered by a smartphone app. Ivyrevel calls the technology “Coded Couture.” The company says it works on the philosophy that fashion and technology go hand-i…
Read More
Interactive jacket designed for connecting

January 6, 2017  |  Out There

Design entrepreneur Henk-Jan Room has created an interactive jacket that’s meant to promote more meaningful human connections. The jacket connects to a smart phone and to social media via an app. The wearer can select preferences with the app, and based on these choices, the jacket communicates th…
Read More
‘Luma’ pendant is a fuzzy fiber-optic light ball

December 19, 2016  |  Out There

For artists Kevin Siwoff and Lisa Park, light is a material that can be pulled apart, strand by strand. In their latest collaboration, the two have created the “Luma” pendant—a sculpture that emits a calming and dreamlike light through thousands of fiber optic hairs. Siwoff and Park’s work…
Read More
Customizable wearable technology introduced

November 18, 2016  |  Out There

Xenoma Inc. wants to make wearable technology more available to the general consumer. The company’s “e-skin” is a platform-based solution for wearable electronics apparel where the number, type and location of sensors can be fully customizable. A spin-off company from the University of Tokyo, …
Read More
K-PAK boat goes where you carry it

November 4, 2016  |  Out There

If the idea of storing and hauling a boat has prevented you from enjoying time on the water, a company in North Carolina offers a practical solution: a folding boat. The K-PAK from Folding Boat Co. is a portable, strong and lightweight foldable boat that can easily fit in the trunk of a car to &hell…
Read More
Wearable alcohol sensor developed

October 21, 2016  |  Out There

Engineers at the University of Calif.-San Diego have developed a flexible, wearable sensor that can accurately measure a person’s blood alcohol level from sweat and transmit the data wirelessly to a laptop, smartphone or other mobile device. The device, worn on the skin, could be used by doctors a…
Read More
Backpacks adjust in size and shape

October 7, 2016  |  Out There

A new collection of bags by Dutch product designer Casper Notenboom was inspired by the way some Chinese residents package and transport their belongings, often carrying them on their back or on a bicycle. The designer used this observation, while serving an internship in China, to create a practica…
Read More
Texas team’s “smart glass” controls heat and light

September 23, 2016  |  Out There

University of Texas-Austin (UTA) researchers have developed a flexible “smart” window material that could revolutionize architecture and vehicle design. The researchers say that the material makes it possible to control heat and light to improve efficiency, and it has the potential for opening u…
Read More
New memory device developed for future wearables

September 9, 2016  |  Out There

Last spring, the artificial intelligence (AI) program AlphaGo beat Korean Go champion LEE Se-Dol at the Asian board game. “The game was quite tight, but AlphaGo used 1200 CPUs and 56,000 watts per hour, while Lee used only 20 watts. If a hardware that mimics the human brain structure is developed,…
Read More