Wide Angle: Wearable Computers

Networked sensors mounted on or implanted in a living being collect data from the body, the surrounding environment or both and then send it wirelessly to other devices for processing. This Wide Angle looks at how these sensors, electronic textiles and small electronic devices are being harnessed to improve health and safety and enhance our entertainment experiences.

• News: Smart Fiber Takes Photos, Could Crunch Numbers Later
  By implanting light-sensitive, semiconducting materials into a single synthetic fiber, and then weaving that fiber into nearly one square foot of fabric, MIT scientists have created a flexible camera that has taken a picture of a smiley face.

• News: New Exoskeleton Gives Soldiers Super Strength
  Stronger, faster and harder is the promise of a new exoskeleton developed by Lockheed Martin for U.S. soldiers. Dubbed the Human Universal Load Carrier, or HULC, the device helps a soldier carry up to 200 pounds at a top speed of 10 mph.

• Video: Emergency Rooms Go Wireless
  The Mi-Tag, a wearable vital sign monitor, could bring emergency rooms into the wireless age. Jorge Ribas reports.

• Video: Football Helmets Detect Concussions
  A new padding design in football helmets doesn't just protect players' heads better, it can prevent serious injury. Kasey-Dee Gardner gets the scoop.

• My Take: Hack-Proofing Body Sensor Networks
  Much progress is needed to make body area sensor networks safe, secure and dependable. Professor Sandeep K. S. Gupta and graduate research assistant Krishna K. Venkatasubramanaian tells us what's critical.

• Top 10: Ways to Wear Bio-Sensor Networks
  Several pilot studies and projects across the globe incorporate body sensors and computer networks in ways that should improve our lives. We'll look at just a small sample of some of the most promising applications.

• Podcast: Sensor Gloves Help Light the Way for the Elderly
  It turns out that light and lighting can play a huge role in the health of older people. It can affect sleep quality, changes of mood and cognitive performance. And so the European Union has given more than two and half million dollars to researchers, who are studying how a bio-sensor glove can help older folks' circadian rhythms stay intact.

• Feature: Jacket Lets You Feel the Movies
  Researchers from Philips Electronics released a plan for a jacket they have lined with vibration motors to study the effects of touch on a movie viewer's emotional response to what the characters are experiencing. IEEE Spectrum reports.

• Puzzle: Stretchable Electronics
  Circuits bonded to rubber and silicon that can stretch will help usher in wearable electronics that bend and flex with a body's movement.

• Blog: Solving the Asthma Mystery
  Biomedical engineers are equipping asthmatics with GPS-enabled inhalers. The data gathered will help build an AsthMap that can display the location, time, age, and gender of the person who experienced an asthma attack.

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