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International Space Station astronauts use wearable technology to monitor vital signs

10/03/202310/02/2023 Julie Campbell

The ISS team wears a shirt and a dedicated tablet app to track their wellness and wellbeing. The team of astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) is using wearable technology in the form of the Bio-Monitor, an all-in-one tech using a special shirt and dedicated tablet app. The gadget makes it possible to monitor astronaut health while enabling new science. By continuously monitoring astronaut physiological data with the wearable technology, researchers can learn a substantial amount of new information. This is beneficial because conventional medical science and monitoring on…

We’re not cleaning our wearable devices, and we really should

09/25/202309/21/2023 Julie Campbell

Wearable devices - Person adjusting Smartwatch

Scientists have shown that these gadgets are dirtier than smartphones, which are dirtier than toilet seats. Many of us were horrified when we first heard the results of research showing that smartphones are typically about ten times dirtier than a toilet seat, but now newer research is showing that wearable devices are even worse. According to a recently published paper, these gadgets are swimming with disease, putting us at risk. According to a paper published in the Nature journal, mobile gadgets ranging from smartphones to smartwatches contain so much potential…

Augmented reality allows a dead pianist to give a final performance

07/28/202307/27/2023 Julie Campbell

The experience was meant to be an immersive way for Ryuichi Sakamoto to play for an audience again. Ryuichi Sakamoto, a Japanese composer, died in March at 71 years old but was still able to give a final concert recently through the use of augmented reality technology. This tech made it possible for the composer’s digital avatar to perform a piano concert for 50 minutes. The audience was able to experience the concert in augmented reality using the Magic Leap 2 AR headset. Interestingly, Sakamoto isn’t the only artist to…

20 Stray dogs in Mumbai assigned QR codes to boost safety

07/20/202307/18/2023 Julie Campbell

The barcodes have been nicknamed “Aadhar cards” after the country’s proof of identity system. Twenty stray dogs that spend their time outside the Mumbai airport have been given QR codes on tags worn around their necks as a part of a new program to boost their safety. The new program is also meant to help keep track of stray dogs living in and around the city. The QR codes have been nicknamed Aadhar cards after the proof of identity and address system for humans in the state, run through the…

Canadian children’s mental health hotline turns to artificial intelligence

07/10/202307/08/2023 Julie Campbell

Artificial intelligence - Help Phone for Kids

To keep up with the surge in demand for support, Kids Help Phone is using AI technology. Kids Help Phone, a mental health hotline for children and teens in Canada, has announced that it is using artificial intelligence to help respond to the “enormous need” as a rapidly growing number of people turn to the service for support. Since the pandemic, the number of people using the service has skyrocketed in the country. In 2019 Kids Help Phone received about 1.9 million calls, texts, live chats, or website visits. Since…