Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

We’ve all been lectured on the benefits of proper posture when working on a computer, particularly when you spend a vast majority of your waking hours hunched over a keyboard. But it’s not always easy to maintain a good posture, and even if you remember to sit up, over time your body will naturally return to its previous slumped state. Unless of course you have one of these Visomate sensors which sits atop your monitor and keeps an eye on your posture for you. It connects to your PC via USB, but really only uses it to power a sensor which monitors how close your head is to the screen. As your poor posture causes you to lean towards or away from the screen over time, the Visomate will automatically sound an alarm or light up an LED indicator letting you know you’re on the fast track to a chiropractor’s office. It’s available from the Rare Mono Shop for $37.

[ USB Position Sensor Alarm ] VIA [ Newlaunches ]

By Brian Liszewski

Much like an excess amount of alcohol in the blood can impair one’s ability to drive (among other things) a deficit in glucose or blood sugar can also have a dangerous effect when you get behind the wheel. In fact, the effects of type 1 diabetes can lead to dizziness, seizures and even a loss of consciousness, which makes operating a vehicle even more dangerous.

So to reduce the risk of accidents caused by diabetes, a company called Medtronic has created a dashbboard mounted device that works in conjunction with a glucose monitor to track the driver’s blood sugar levels. The monitor uses a wireless sensor that samples the driver’s blood glucose level every few minutes, and if it drops below an acceptable level, the dashboard unit notifies the driver with an audible warning. Unfortunately at that point it’s up to the driver to do the responsible thing and pull over until they get their glucose level back into the acceptable range, since the device in its current form is not able to disable the vehicle. However, I imagine it could eventually be used much like a built-in breathalyser to prevent the vehicle from starting in the first place if the driver’s blood sugar is at a dangerous level

[ Medtronic Diabetes ] VIA [ bookofjoe ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m about 90% sure I suffered a heatstroke while watching the Red Bull Air Races that were held in Detroit back in June, and it was mostly because of my own stupidity. In hindsight, standing on the shore of a river in direct sunlight for 7 hours while holding a particularly heavy camera and lens was a stupid idea, but thankfully a Japanese company called Chinon has developed a watch to help combat heatstroke. (And possibly a lack of common sense.) The Heat Watcher watch can be set to one of 3 different levels depending on how intense you expect your physical activity to be will be while in the sun, and you can also specify your own physical condition from one of 2 pre-set levels. This information is then combined with temperature readings of your body and measurements of the humidity in the air (using a built-in hygrometer) to determine when the watch should notify you that it’s time to have a drink or take a break in order to avoid heatstroke.

[ Chinon Heat Watcher ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m far from being a germophobe, but when wandering through the grocery store I can’t help but wonder what micro-organisms might be living on the handle of my shopping cart. Well according to the PureCart Systems website, the average shopping cart handle actually has upwards of a million germs on it, which could lead to sickness, death or just a really icky feeling. And that’s why their PureCart System actually seems like a pretty good idea.

Instead of providing shoppers with disinfectant wipes that are really only ever used to clean the handle and maybe the child seat, the PureCart System uses an FDA and EPS approved quick-drying sanitizing solution to quickly clean the entire cart. Sanitizing a cart is as easy as pushing it through the cleaning station where the solution is automatically sprayed on, and for non-wheeled items like a basket or a child seat a wand is also provided to make purifying them just as easy. The system supposedly only costs the store about 1 to 2 cents per cart once installed, and would no doubt help them lure that lucrative obsessive-compulsive crowd.

[ PureCart Systems ] VIA [ Retail Design Diva ]

By Andrew Liszewski

You’d think that more companies would take a hint from Apple when it comes to slick product design. And don’t get me wrong, design isn’t everything, but it can definitely make your product stand out, particularly if you’re in a crowded market. Take water bottles for example. While I’m perfectly happy with my stainless steel SIGG bottle, I’m ready to trade it in for one of these cool looking KOR ONE ‘hydration vessels’. (Which in and of itself sounds cooler than ‘water bottle’.) Besides being re-usable, the KOR ONE doesn’t use any polycarbonates (like other re-usable plastic bottles) which according to their website contains bisphenol-a or ‘BPA’ which is a known hormone disruptor. That’s pretty much the reason I switched to a stainless steel water bottle in the first place. The KOR ONE also features a hinged cap that can be opened and closed with one hand without the risk of it falling off or going MIA.

The KOR ONE will be available from the company’s website in August for $29.95, and if you think that’s expensive just run the numbers on how many bottles of water you buy in a year and I think you’ll find it quite reasonable.

[ KOR ONE Hydration Vessel ] VIA [ Uncrate ]

By Andrew Liszewski

In an effort to help doctors better diagnose patients who are at the beginning stages of congestive heart failure, AstraZeneca created the Heart FXPod which is a 53-foot-long tractor trailer outfitted with 5 virtual reality stations. Each simulator uses a special chair, a set of foot pedals and a pneumatic vest that allows doctors to physically experience the early symptoms of heart failure including chest tightness, fatigue and shortness of breath.

Inside the completed Heart FXPod, seated physicians watch an interactive video featuring Hank, a CHF patient, as he tries to take a walk in the park. As Hank’s condition worsens, he has a harder time walking, and consequently, the physicians have a harder time pedaling. When Hank tires even more, the physicians start feeling the effects of CHF as their pneumatic vests tighten, constricting their breathing. They even experience Hank’s elevated heart rate by way of an audio system built into the chair that is so effective it feels as if their own hearts are racing. “It’s an interesting physiological experience,” says Raymond. “After going through the simulation, many doctors said, ‘Wow, I had no idea it was this intense this early on.’”

The article is actually a case study for the Mac mini on the Apple website, so you have to wade through a bit of ‘Apple is awesome, Windows is not’ crap, but the bottom line is that after experiencing the simulations a doctor will have a better understanding of what heart failure feels like, and will be better equipped to recognize the symptoms at the earliest stages.

[ AstraZeneca - Helping Doctors Have a Change of Heart ] VIA [ Medgadget ]

By Andrew Liszewski

While this might seem like a ridiculous invention for the average home, when you consider it’s actually designed to be used in hospitals so that doctors and surgeons don’t have to touch their shoes when putting on a pair of surgical booties, it makes a lot more sense. Using the dispenser is as easy as placing your shoe in the slot, pressing down, and then removing your bootie covered foot. (Repeating as necessary.) Like most hospital equipment, the Automatic Shoe Cover Dispenser isn’t cheap, and will set you back a hefty $1,595 while a replacement pack of 200 disposable booties is $25.

[ Automatic Shoe Cover Dispenser ] VIA [ bookofjoe ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Since sitting in an office chair in front of a computer doesn’t seem to be the most natural position for the human body, it’s not surprising that so many people suffer from back pain these days. But instead of popping pain killers all day, or sitting on a large inflatable ball to ease the pain, you might want to see if your doctor will prescribe you a TENS unit from Empi.

TENS stands for Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation, and that’s basically what the device does. It uses a set of electrodes attached to the skin that deliver up to 60 milliamps of current into the nerves where the pain occurs. This jolt serves to disrupt the pain signals coming from those nerves, and instead of hurting, the area ends up feeling tingly or even numb.

The output current can be adjusted, so you really only want to dial in enough juice for the pain to disappear, and it seems to include individual settings for the knees, shoulders, lower back & hips, upper back, and your hands & wrists. Normally I’d raise an eyebrow or 2 at an electronic device that promises relief from pain, but according to Joel Durham Jr. who writes for ExtremeTech, the TENS was quite effective at relieving his own back pain. And while this doesn’t seem like the kind of device you should use without the approval of your doctor, they do appear to be available for sale online to the general public, but expect to pay upwards of $800 if you’re interested.

[ Empi Select TENS Pain Management System ] VIA [ ExtremeTech ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’re looking for a better way to relax after a long day at work, the DanBall from Ekbo claims to be the latest technological breakthrough when it comes to relaxation therapy. Just stick 3 of your fingers into the holes on the DanBall and it will automatically apply an intense shiatsu massage to the pressure points on your fingertips for a full minute. At the same time your fingernails will be treated with infrared rays, which supposedly promotes growth, and a soothing melody/LED light show will help calm the rest of your body. The built-in lithium ion battery is also good for about 50 1-minute massages before needing to be recharged which takes about 3 hours.

Like with most devices that promise relaxation and relief from stress, there’s really no single technique that will work for everyone, so hopefully the Japan Trend Shop has a good return policy if the DanBall doesn’t work for you since it has a price tag of $1,999.

[ DanBall Shiatsu Finger Massager ]