Personal Electronics | Evolving Consumer

Hand Signals

When riding a bike we know that drivers can’t read our minds when we need to make a turn. The best option – really the only option – is to use hand signals. The problem is that many times drivers still don’t take notice, and at night it can be hard to see these signals.

The Zackees Turn Signal Gloves, which are being developed by San Francisco cyclist Zach Vorhies, a former software engineer at Google, could help make the signals a little clearer to drivers. The gloves are washable, utilize a super bright LED light, and offer a long battery life. The Zackees are now being developed by a Kickstarter project and could be just the thing to make your intentions known.

Video after the jump

CES Preview: vFit Fits the Bill

Velodyne will unveil its new-for-2014 vFit in-ear workout headphones at next month’s CES Unveiled in Las Vegas, taking place on Sunday, January 5. The company already highlighted the vFit in its blog, noting that the “vFit is my most anticipated Velodyne product release to date.”

We’ll be sure to check out the vFit and much more in a few weeks at CES.

[Via The Velodyne Voice: Work Off Holiday Excess With The vFit]

Smart Shoes Ready to Run

There are smartphones and smart watches, but now developers at the Institute for Photonic Microsystems (IPMS) are looking to create smarter shoes. The “EU Project RUNSAFER” concept utilizes specialized running shoe packed with a micro-controller, a radio frequency (RF) module, accelerometers, GPS sensors and a battery.

The system is designed to capture biomechanical signals from the body and transmits them via Bluetooth to the a runner’s smartphone, which then evaluates the data and offers feedback to the runner on how they can improve performance.

“Pulse-rate watches and chest straps record only vital signs like breathing and heart rat,” said Dr. Andreas Heinig, a scientist at IPMS. “In contrast, our running shoe medically evaluates and moni- tors training while jogging. It informs the runner for example of incorrect foot position, asym- metric loading, or warns of exhaustion or overload. There has never been a comparable device before.”

A prototype of the running shoe has already been developed, as has a mobile smartphone app. The researchers are now working on a smaller version of the microelectronics and sensors, which remains the bigger challenge, particularly since the system must be waterproof, light, and durable.

[Press Release: High-tech athletic shoe for pure running pleasure]

Holiday Gift Guide: Weighing the Options

Staying fit is more than just watching the weight, and the iHealth Wireless Body Analysis Scale can measure, track and share nine different characteristics of a user’s body composition. It is compatible with the iHealth mobile app, and the scale can be used online or off, while supporting up to 20 users.

It allows each user to track weight, body fat, lean mass, muscle mass, bone mass, body water, daily calorie intake, body mass index and even visceral fat rating. The scale allows those looking to get fit to set goals, view trends and even organize records.

iHealth Wireless Body Analysis Scale Official Website

Holiday Gift Guide: Mount this Python

Booq has introduced the Python slimpack just in time for the holidays. Designed to intelligently fit all the essentials for photographers on the go, it is a great gift for that serious shutterbug. The Python slimpack stores two DSLRs and up to four mid-size lenses, as well as one large zoom lens, tripod and a up to a 10-inch tablet or iPad. It offers ergonomically designed shoulder straps that conform to all body types, while removable padded dividers in the main camera compartment allow users to arrange the interior as needed. Video after the jump

Holiday Gift Guide: The Glove For the Touch(Screen)

Nobody likes cold hands, but using a touchscreen in the winter often remains exposing the digits to the cold. That is unless you have gloves that are touchscreen compatible.

Dutch glove brand Mujjo has just launched a double-insulated knitted cycling glove in time for the holidays and it is designed with touchscreen devices in mind. It also includes an extra layer of wool to provide insulation along with a soft touch. It features silicone rip dot patterns on the palms for grip so you don’t have to worry about dropping that expensive gizmo or gadget. A leather strap crosses over a notch on the wrist also helps keep the wind and cold out.

Mujjo Official Website

Misfit Raising

With a name like Misfit you’d think investors would stay away, but Misfit Wearables, the maker of the Shine activity monitor, announced that it has raised a $15.2 million Series B financing led by Horizon Ventures, based in Hong Kong. This will help allow the company to remain focused on making its wearable technology products, and this comes on the heels of a record-breaking crowd-funding campaign on Indiegogo in January 2013.

Misfit Wearables Official Website

Holiday Gift Guide: Military Time

You don’t have to be in the army to appreciate military time and you don’t have to be in the Swiss Army to understand that Victorinox makes great products. The Victorinox Swiss Army Alpanch Watches – named after the Alpine helicopter base used by the Swiss Air Force – don’t come cheap but these offer a self-winding Swiss mechanical movement, luminous hands and hour markers and a nylon strap with a deployant clasp. Most notably these offer a four-blade-rotor inspired by the force’s twin-rotor Cougar AS 532.

Victorinox Swiss Army Alpnach Official Website

Misfit Fits

There are plenty of ways to get fit, and Misfit Wearables will show you how to Shine – that is with its Shine elegant physical activity monitor that you can wear anywhere. This small monitor can track activity (steps, calories, distance) and sleep (light, deep), and it syncs wirelessly and effortlessly with smartphones. It is also powered by a coin cell battery for up to six months, allowing users to forego cables for syncing or charging

The company announced this week the Shine App for Android. Available for devices running Android 4.3 and above with Bluetooth 4.0, the app users to sync their Shine, set their personal activity goals, see visual summaries of how they’re doing each day and week-to-week, among other features.

Misfit Wearables Official Website

Streaming Video

Before there was GoPro there was V.I.O., which had been one of the pioneers in wearable sports cameras. The company is now looking to take the lead with a highly modular camera. The Stream HD comes in a few configurations and it can be plugged into a notebook computer via USB.

It features built-in Wi-Fi with RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol) for full HD 1080p video wireless streaming. The Stream HD also features an open API so those who like to build custom applications can find ways to use the camera that V.I.O. likely never considered.

V.I.O. Stream HD Official Website

On the Plate

While batters in baseball may head up to the plate to swing away, the Swing Catalyst Balance Plate is designed to help with your golf game. It provides instructors a better understanding of the golf swing, ranging from weight-shift patterns and balance to details of foot pressure distribution – none of which can be determined by the best trained eye or even high-speed cameras.

The Balance Plate has further been perfectly synchronized with video images and integrates data from the most popular launch monitors and ball flight-tracking devices, such as TrackMan, FlightScope, Foresight GC2 and Full Swing Golf – allowing instructors to study the correlations between everything that happens during a golf swing and the actual result of the shot.

To improve your game and your swing, perhaps it is time to step up to the plate

Swing Catalyst Official Website

Contour Coming Back?

Contour, the maker of the rugged wearable cameras, suddenly shut down last summer, but now the company could be making a return. The company posted via its Facebook page:

“Happy holidays to all and thank you for continuing to support Contour. It has been a difficult time, as you may have read, but we are getting closer to having the website and customer support up and running. Stay tuned for new announcements. In the meantime, we see lots of demand for storyteller, you can find it here. Thanks to Joe Agustino.”

Happy Holidays indeed for those who love Contour.

[Via BikeRumor: COMPANIES IN LIMBO – CONTOUR COMING BACK?]