HP’s latest VR headset, the Reverb is intended for the commercial market, but it could find a place in the consumer space as well. According to report, Reverb, featuring an astonishingly sharp resolution of 2,160 by 2,160 pixels per eye, is ready to take on HTC Vive Pro and Samsung Odyssey, reports End Gadget.

“As the commercial VR segment is expected to grow to $34 billion by 2022, customers are seeking lifelike VR viewing to help open doors to new business opportunities in product design, training, and engineering,” said Spike Huang, vice president and global lead of VR of HP Inc, in press release. “The time for commercial VR is now and adding HP Reverb to our broader virtual reality portfolio is an important step in addressing this growing market.”

Read more HP’s New Gaming Headset Cools You Down

The new headset was revealed on March 19 during the company’s global partner conference, HP Reinvent. It delivers the most powerful Windows Mixed Reality experience yet. A horde of upgrades puts it face to face with not only enterprise devices but consumer-focused headsets as well.

The head mounted display (HMD) comes with a built-in inside-out 6-degree-of-freedom (6DoF) positional tracking, eliminating the need for any external sensors. It also has its own spatial audio headset. There are two front-facing cameras for augmented reality applications. The device also comes with Bluetooth connected motion controllers that’s simple to setup.

The ultra-light (1.1 pounds), ultra-immersive HP Reverb VR Headset features redesigned optics to increase the visual “sweet spot.” HP Reverb also features smart assistant compatible dual microphones for a greater immersive experience and collaboration in multi-user VR environments.

“With more than 2,500 VR experiences available and counting, Windows Mixed Reality continues to serve as the home for cutting-edge innovations that are fundamentally changing the way we work and play,” said Alex Kipman, Technical Fellow, Microsoft. “The HP Reverb headset is an amazing example of the type of innovation we are seeing take place as we push forward and bring the next era of computing – the era of mixed reality – to the masses.”

Read more Acer Introduces OJO 500 Detachable Windows Mixed Reality Headset

The consumer version of the Reverb will cost $599, when it lands in late April. There’s also a $649 professional version coming.

The long-awaited second-generation Airpods are finally here, and Apple promises faster connect with more talk time and hands-free Siri in the new wireless earbuds.

The “Hey Siri” functionality allows users to control volume and swap songs through voice commands. There’s no longer a need to tap on the AirPods to activate Siri in this version.

Read more Apple Watch Could Have Sleep Tracking by 2020, Say Rumors

“AirPods delivered a magical wireless experience and have become one of the most beloved products we’ve ever made. They connect easily with all of your devices, and provide crystal clear sound and intuitive, innovative control of your music and audio,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The world’s best wireless headphones just got even better with the new AirPods. They are powered by the new Apple-designed H1 chip which brings an extra hour of talk time, faster connections, hands-free ‘Hey Siri’ and the convenience of a new wireless battery case.”

The updated Airpods are powered by Apple’s new chip, the H1. The Airpods will have better battery life and include the option of a new wireless charging case, Apple said in a statement.

The new chip features custom audio architecture to create a revolutionary audio experience and improved synchronization. H1 allows AirPods to deliver up to 50 percent more talk time compared to first generation AirPods. The two times faster connect times makes it more seamless to switch between devices while listening to music on iPhone, Apple Watch or iPad.

The new AirPods come with either the standard charging case or the new Wireless Charging Case.

Read more Nanusens Technology Can Increase Battery Life of Earbuds by up to 20 Percent

Price and Availability

The new AirPods with a standard charging case are priced at $159, while those with wireless charging case run you $199.

The second generation Airpods will be available in Apple Stores next week, between March 25 and March 30.

If you ever wished you had a personal place; a stunning, realistic world where you could totally immerse yourself, then LUCI is your answer. LUCI lets you enter an amazing world based on any movie you select. With LUCI, you become an action hero, adventurer or a traveler in the Lord of the Rings Middle Earth. The Hong Kong-based company just launched a revolutionary new lightweight wearable headset called LUCI immers, which delivers an incredible visual experience for movies, games and more on Indiegogo.

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These portable Micro-OLED glasses are truly lightweight entertainment headset with a high-resolution display that provides a super-giant screen effect for video and multimedia when connected to a smartphone, tablet or laptop. The smartglasses feature 3840×1080 HD display delivers a screen size of 1023” at a 20 m viewing distance, similar to sitting in a theater, says a press release.

Native 3D effects and 3DoF (three degrees of freedom) motion, eliminates ghosting and screen door effects, giving movies, games and streaming content an impressively immersive experience.

LUCI immers is ergonomically designed with a curved shaped and nanotech cotton cushions. They are very lightweight at 180g and are comfortable to wear for longer viewing sessions.

“Our goal was to make the most lightweight and comfortable wearable on the market that would allow users to enjoy their multimedia with an incredible visual experience. LUCI immers combines high tech materials for comfort and a high definition display for a big-screen experience that users can take with them anywhere,” says Kirin Li, CEO of LUCI.

Related Alaska Airlines Adds Virtual Reality to In-Flight Entertainment to Make Long Flights More Bearable

You can wear LUCI over eyeglasses as well. The smartglass can be connected to mobile devices, smartphones, tablets and Playstations via USB-C or HDMI cable.

This portable headset delivers an unparalleled big-screen experience anytime and anywhere.

LUCI immers is available on Indiegogo for $649. Early bird gives you additional discount.

Shenzhen, China-based Remo Tech Makes AI-Powered Cameras that track Humans as well as their pets. The company just announced pre-order for the cameras, dubbed OBSBOT Tail, via Indiegogo.

Read more FITT360: A Wearable Camcorder that Records 360-degree video from your point of view

The cameras are designed to capture active moments in life without the help of a cameraman. They are compact, but sports a powerful HiSilicon Hi3559A processor that tracks, automatically zooms and captures action in up to 4k/60 fps, even when in dim lighting, says a press release.

To track your cat or the dog, simply activate the new filming mode called “Pet Pal.” Next, you’ll have to select your pets through the accompanying obsbot studio app, and it will record and keep them in the center of the picture. Pet owners can finally free their hands and enjoy the moment with pets, whether when they are playing with their cat at home or playing fetch with their dog outside.

“Launching OBSBOT Tail on Indiegogo will bring our proprietary AI camera technology to new communities that share our vision of pushing the boundaries of accessible creative filmmaking,” said Bo Liu, CEO and Founder of Remo Technology, “And in conjunction with the announcement of Pet Pal, we’re introducing even more ways so that our backers can use OBSBOT Tail to film those once-in-a-lifetime moments with their entire family, including their cats and dogs.”

First debuted at CES 2019, the OBSBOT Tail has received distinctions including Variety’s “The Innovation that Stole the Show,” The Verge’s “Best Creator Tool,” and “Best/Coolest of CES” by USA TODAY, CNET, and SlashGear.

The camera is now available for pre-order on Indiegogo with an “early bird” price of $489 USD.

Read more UHWK: Wearable Sports Camera System Made by Athletes, for Athletes

Remo was founded in 2016. “Remo Technology is a camera company dedicated to pushing the boundaries of the camera industry with new ideas and technologies, including AI,” according to the company.

The latest IDC forecast paints a positive picture of the wearables market in 2019. The worldwide market for wearable devices, now inclusive of wireless headphones with smart assistants, is forecast to grow 15.3% over the previous year to 198.5 million units by the end of 2019, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker.

“Two major drivers for the wearables market are healthcare and enterprise adoption,” said Ramon T. Llamas, research director for IDC’s Wearables team. “Wearables stand to play an important role in digital health, constantly collecting important patient data while also giving patients the ability to self-monitor. “

Read more Healthcare Wearables Market to Reach $60 Billion by 2023, Says Juniper Research

Continued proliferation of smartwatches, smart earbuds, and wrist-worn devices as well as further adoption in the healthcare will be propelling the growth. Looking ahead, the market is expected to reach 279 million units by the end of 2023 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.9%, according to IDC.

“The rise of smart assistants on wearables, both wrist-worn and ear-worn, is a trend worth watching,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC’s Mobile Device Trackers. “Though still in its infancy, the integration of these assistants with wearables opens up new use cases, from allowing these devices to tie into the smart home to making the devices more proactive at urging users to live healthier or more productive lives.”

Here Are the Highlighted Categories

Smartwatches

In 2018, smartwatches accounted for 44.2% of the wearables market, and it is anticipated to grow, reaching 47.1% in 2023. Apple will lead the way with its smartwatches and Apple’s own WatchOS will account for 27.5% of all watches in 2023. Hybrid smartwatches and kids’ watches will also continue to grow, according to IDC.

Smart Earbuds

Smart earbuds, also known as hearables will be the second largest category of wearables in 2023 with 31% share. The inclusion of biometric sensors and the adoption of smart assistants will help drive this category forward throughout the forecast.

Read more Children are Becoming Major Driving Force Behind the Wearable Market Growth in China

Smart Wristbands

Smart wristbands will experience flat growth with a CAGR of 0.7%. Meanwhile, growth in terms of dollar value is expected to decline with a -4.1% CAGR during the same period as average selling prices drop from $51 in 2019 to $42 in 2023. The market is already dominated by Chinese brands such as Huawei and Xiaomi, and IDC expects this to continue.

Smart Clothes

The smart clothes category will be led by smart shoes and similar devices. To date these types of products have mainly been popular in China but that is slowly changing as brands such as Nike and Under Armour make headway in other markets, the IDC forecast says.

Dopamine is a chemical that is believed to play a role in various diseases such as Parkinson’s, depression and some cancers. When Parkinson’ disease develops, the cells in the substantia nigra part of the brain begin to die. These cells produce dopamine and the loss of dopamine in the brain leads to issues with movement. Scientists at the University of South Florida (UCF) have developed the first rapid detector for dopamine, using nanotechnology.

Read more BioRobotics for Parkinson’s Disease Laboratory Focuses on Prevention, Monitoring and Management of Parkinson’s Disease

While too much dopamine could be associated with some cancers, low levels of dopamine could be associated with Parkinson’s disease and depression.  

Currently, the method to detect dopamine require specialized laboratory equipment, meticulous sample preparation, and takes long.

The new method developed at UCF requires only a few drops of blood, and results are available in minutes instead of hours because no separate lab is necessary to process the sample, reports UCF.

“A neurotransmitter like dopamine is an important chemical to monitor for our overall well-being so we can help screen out neural disorders like Parkinson’s disease, various brain cancers, and monitor mental health,” says Debashis Chanda, an associate professor in UCF’s NanoScience Technology Center and the study’s principle investigator. “We need to monitor dopamine so that we can adjust our medical doses to help address those problems.”

Plasma is separated from the blood within the chip. The sensor surface, coated with cerium oxide nanoparticles, selectively capture dopamine at microscopic levels from the plasma. This process subsequently changes how light is reflected from the sensor and creates an optical readout indicating the level of dopamine.

Read more Researchers Develop MRI Implant to Detect Light and Electric Fields Inside Brain

Sudipta Seal, an engineering professor and chair of UCF’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, says the use of cerium oxide nanoparticles was an important part of the sensor’s success.

“Getting the sensor to be sensitive to dopamine had been quite the challenge for researchers for a while, but using altered cerium oxide nanostructures on the sensing platform was key in making the sensor work,” Seal says.

The new technology was described in a recent study in the journal Nano Letters.

Doctors in the emergency rooms do not have much time to determine which patients need blood transfusion. At the same time, they have no method to assess platelet health. Platelets are an important part of the blood and they play a big role in helping blood clot after an injury. Now researchers at the University of Washington have developed a microfluidic device that can directly assess how well the platelets are doing.

Read more HemaShock: Emergency Auto-Transfusion Tourniquet Can Save Lives from Heart Attacks and Bleeding

“Our system requires a tiny amount of blood to look at how healthy platelets are in real time,” said co-corresponding author Nathan Sniadecki, an associate professor in the UW Department of Mechanical Engineering. “We found that platelet function is a far better measure of platelet health and whether a trauma patient will need a blood transfusion than current methods.”

When there’s any sort of damage to blood vessels, platelets become the first responders.

“They act as a sort of instant patch,” Sniadecki said. “They become activated and stick to the damage, and then they rapidly change their shape to stretch and reach out for more of the wound surface or other platelets. Then they begin to come back together to compact and add strength to a clot.”

However, in patients with trauma injury, platelets often lose their ability to do the job properly, and they also become less able to apply forces to stop bleeding, reports UW News.

When ER doctors receive a trauma patient, they use various methods to estimate their risk of bleeding but these methods do not tell them about platelet strength, according to Nathan White, an associate professor of emergency medicine at the UW School of Medicine.

The new microfluidic device, designed by UW researchers measures platelet forces in real time. First, they inject a blood sample into the device. As the blood flows through it, the cells hit an obstacle course: tiny blocks and posts jutting up from the base of the device. This activates the platelets. They feel a massive force when they flow over the blocks, and then the surface of both the blocks and the posts are coated with a platelet-activating molecule.

The researchers tested the new device on 93 trauma patients and 10 healthy participants at Harborview Medical Center. After sampling their blood, the researchers found a significant difference between the healthy participants’ blood and that of the trauma patients. Trauma patients’ platelets had decreased forces compared to healthy participants’ platelets.

Read more How Wearables and IoT Can Help First Responders During an Emergency

The team hopes their new device will be useful for measuring platelet strength in other areas of medicine, such as measuring how blood-thinning medications like aspirin or Plavix affect different patients or helping neurosurgeons monitor patients for bleeding complications during surgery.

The results of the study were published in Nature Communications.

In People with Parkinson’s disease, falls are a common event but pose serious health risks. Falls are frequently caused by gait impairments, postural instability and freezing-of-gait, a brief absence of forward momentum of the feet despite the intention to walk.

Read more Michael J. Fox Foundation’s Collaboration with Verily Aims to Deepen Understanding of Parkinson’s

The Michael J. Fox Foundation and the Shake It Up Australia Foundation for Parkinson’s Research has given grants to a team of researchers from Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) to test eHealth and smart garment technologies to prevent falls in people with Parkinson’s disease, reports Neura.

The neuro-rehabilitation program, known as StandingTall-PD, uses visual, audio and sensory cues to help rewire the parts of the brain that control walking in people with Parkinson’s. The program aims to prevent freezing-of-gait and falls, and enhance participants’ independence.

Sensoria, who has won the Innovation World Cup® Special Prize in Smart Clothing in 2014/15, invested in the program to develop textile sensor infused Smart Socks with haptic feedback and core microelectronics for the study.

Dr Matthew Brodie and study leader Kim Delbaere, an Associate Professor, both from Neura, are working with Sensoria Health to make StandingTall-PD the leading eHealth solution for maximizing mobility and preventing falls in people with Parkinson’s disease.

“Existing dopamine therapies offer benefit in treating motor dysfunction in Parkinson’s but may not alleviate gait and balance challenges,” says Jamie L. Hamilton, PhD, MJFF Associate Director. “This project has the potential to become an affordable option to address gait and balance issues and improve overall quality-of-life for people with Parkinson’s.”

Each participant will receive a NeuRA training mat with color-coded stepping targets, a pair of Sensoria Smart Socks, an iPad and a phone. The participants will be encouraged daily to step on colored stepping targets that match a series of colors displayed on their iPad. They will also listen to rhythmic auditory cues like music and a metronome beat that are synchronized with the vibrating Smart Socks.

Read more Sensoria Partners with MJFF for Clinical Trial to Investigate Benefits of Smart Socks for Parkinson’s Disease Patients

The combination of visual, audio and sensory elements helps to form new connections in less affected parts of the brain, leading to improved walking ability.

“At Sensoria Health, we are honored to partner with NeuRA and The Michael J. Fox Foundation and Shake It Up Australia Foundation and look forward to working together to improve the quality of life for people with Parkinson’s disease,” says Davide Vigano, CEO of Sensoria Health Inc.

Type 1 diabetes patients have to go through painful procedure of injecting themselves with insulin because their beta cells in pancreas no longer produces insulin. But for the 200,000 youths living with Type 1 diabetes in the United States, these insulin shots, along with insulin pens and pumps fail to perfectly manage blood sugar, which may lead to long-term complications.

Related New Smart Pill Releases Insulin in the Stomach, Could Replace Injections for People with Type 1 Diabetes

“The absence of this natural ability — minute-to-minute regulation of glucose levels — can result in long-term complications, such as blindness, amputation and kidney failure,” says Klearchos Papas, PhD, a professor in the Departments of Surgery and Medical Imaging at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson.

Dr. Papas and his colleagues at the University of Arizona, in collaboration with researchers at Novo Nordisk and University of Alberta, are in the process of developing a new device that can generate insulin from within the body, reports University of Arizona College of Medicine.

In a process known as islet transplantation, islets from donors are placed in the pancreas of patients with type 1 diabetes. But the patient must take lifelong immunosuppressive drugs in order for their body to accept the transplanted cells, and therefore this procedure isn’t recommended in children.

In this new method donor islets are placed inside of the implantable, tea bag-like device, which has a special exterior that shields the islets from any attacks from the immune system.

“It’s like a tea bag,” Dr. Papas says. “The tea leaves stay inside but tea, or insulin, comes out. And the tea bag keeps out the immune cells that would normally attack the islets.”

Related Fitbit and Solera Health Expand Collaboration to Reduce Type 2 Diabetes Risk

Dr. Papas also has developed a technology to feed oxygen to the islet cells in the tea bag for optimal health and insulin production.

Working closely with Tech Launch Arizona, the UA commercialization arm, Dr. Papas wants to protect the intellectual property and strategize pathways to turn his innovation into reality. As part of the two-year study, Novo Nordisk has donated human stem cell-derived islets to test in the tea bags. If successful, stem cell-derived islets would make it easier to help treat the millions of people with diabetes.

For the manufacturing industry, technology such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) can bring huge opportunities for cutting cost and delays in product development and manufacturing. Virtual Prototyping pioneer ESI and Digital-Field software solutions provider Diota have joined forces to showcase their immersive technologies at the 21^st Laval Virtual in Laval, France on March 20-24.

Read more DAQRI Announces AWS Industrial Software Competency Achievement

The two companies will address challenges related to factory assembly and in-service maintenance through an end-to-end solution that efficiently leverages digital data to achieve improved productivity, quality and traceability while decreasing operational risk, said a press release.

Virtual Reality now helps engineers identify design risks very early in the product or process lifecycles. ESI IC.IDO is the leading VR solution for industrial applications and is being used by Boeing, Bombardier, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford and Safran amongst other leading OEMs. At Laval Virtual, ESI will showcase several use cases with specific focus on human-centric assembly process validation ─ a critical aspect of Industry 4.0 where ergonomics and workflows need to be completely rethought for operators to deliver optimum efficiency whilst interacting with layers of new technologies.

Augmented Reality also hugely benefits the manufacturing industry. Diota’s solutions help factory operators to better understand and carry out complex operations through step by step digital work instructions and contextualized contents visualized in their workspace.

The combined AR/VR utilization can help companies with validation and distribution of manufacturing and maintenance procedures.

ESI and Diota will demonstrate how their joint solutions can help factory operators access optimized and up-to-date product design information and work instructions whenever they need it, on-the-job or during training.

Read more How Wearable Technology Could Revolutionize Manufacturing Industry

Based in France, ESI Group is a leading innovator in Virtual Prototyping software and services. ESI solutions help manufacturers replace physical prototypes by virtual prototypes, allowing them to virtually manufacture, assemble, test and pre-certify their future products. With 1200 employees, ESI operates in more than 40 countries worldwide.

In case of injuries, doctors sometimes put orthopedic implants and native bone grafts in place where natural bone is. Now, bioengineers at Rice University have developed a technique which grows live bone to repair injuries to the bones of the skull and face by attaching a 3D-printed bioreactor – basically, a mold – to a rib. Once implanted, it can support stem cells and the formation of blood vasculature. Keeping in mind the varied needs of different patients, the mold can be custom-made to the patient’s own needs. When the bone grows for few months, the bioreactor can be explanted and the bone is transplanted to another part of the body.

Read more OSSIO Developing Absorbable Fixation Devices that Promotes Bone Growth and Removes Need for Surgery

The study was led by researchers at Rice, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and Baylor College of Medicine. The results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The technique is being developed to replace current reconstruction techniques that use bone graft tissues harvested from different areas in a patient, such as the lower leg, hip and shoulder, reports Rice University.

“A major innovation of this work is leveraging a 3D-printed bioreactor to form bone grown in another part of the body while we prime the defect to accept the newly generated tissue,” said lead researcher Antonios Mikos, the Louis Calder Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Rice and a member of the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine.

The researchers already tried their innovation in sheep and the bones transferred successfully to treat a large injury in the mandible of the animals. The therapy successfully worked in five of the six animals studied and points the way for similar attempts in humans.

Read more Harvard Researchers Designing Soft Robots for Patients with Spinal Cord Injury

“Earlier studies established a technique for creating bone grafts with or without their own blood supply from real bone implanted into the chest cavity,” said co-author Mark Wong, a professor, chair and program director of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery with the School of Dentistry at UTHealth. “This study demonstrated that we could create viable bone grafts from artificial bone substitute materials.”

Xiaomi Mi Band 3 is a very popular fitness tracker due to its ease of use and low price. Now, Xiaomi is planning to introduce its next Mi Band – the Mi Band 4 – later this year.

Read more Xiaomi Mi Band 3 Sales Reaches 1 Million Units

During its quarterly earning call, the company announced the latest upgrade to its Mi Band series of fitness trackers. Huami’s Chief Financial Officer David Cui didn’t give any specific date for the Mi Band 4 release, but he did affirm that a successor to the Mi Band 3 will be coming this year itself, reports xda developers.

“For Mi Band 4, it’s going to be in this year. It will be in 2019. But I’m not sure, [if] it’s going to be in March and April. But it is going to be in this year. Each generation we learn something, we always do better. And [for] Mi Band 3 — you can take a look at 2018’s volume, right. So it’s really much better as compared to previous version. So we expect Mi Band 4 will have similar trend. So once we launch Mi Band 4, we expect that product will sell well,” Mr. Cui said.

The quarter earning call also revealed that the Xiaomi Mi Band line and Amazfit products (both made by Huami) are doing exceptionally well. According to the call, Huami grew revenues by 78% in 2018, which was primarily achieved by sales of Amazfit’s smartwatches and the Mi Band 3.

Read more The Amazfit Verge by Xiaomi is Especially Designed for Fitness Geeks

“Right now, Mi Band 3 is still hot sale — is still [selling] really, really well. The margin is not shrinking, the shipments are not shrinking. So we will work with Xiaomi to pick the right time to launch Mi Band 4 in the year,” Mr. Cui said.

When we feel agitated, fearful, or calm, our state of mind can significantly affect our ability to make decisions, judgments, and actions. For example, when walking across a beam, your odds of making across the beam without falling off is dramatically better if the beam is only six inches off the ground. But at 60 feet off the ground you are terror stricken and you’re not sure whether you can make it to the other end.

Read more CTRL Labs’ Wearable Armband Lets You Control Your Computer with Your Mind

For the first time, researcher at Columbia Engineering have shown that by using online neurofeedback it is possible to modify a person’s arousal state to improve performance in a demanding sensory motor task, such as flying a plane or driving in suboptimal conditions. The researchers monitored the arousal states of the participants by using a brain computer interface (BCI) through EEG in real time, when they were engaged in a virtual reality aerial navigation task, reports Columbia Engineering.

The system generated a neurofeedback signal that helped participants to decrease their arousal in particularly difficult flight situations, which in turn improved participants’ performance. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The 20 participants in the study were wearing VR headsets and were given a task to navigate a simulated airplane through rectangular boundaries. This task created cognitive stresses when the boxes were made narrower every 30 seconds. This escalated arousal and quickly resulted in failure like, missing or crashing into the boundary. But when the researchers used neurofeedback, the participants performed better, and were able to fly longer while performing the difficult tasks that required high levels of visual and motor coordination. The researchers found a 20% improvement in performance among the participants.

Read more MIT Researchers Develop MRI Implant that Can Monitor Electronic Signals Inside the Brain

“Our work shows that we can use feedback generated from our own brain activity to shift our arousal state in ways that significantly improve our performance in difficult tasks—so we can hit that home run or land on a carrier deck without crashing,” says study leader Paul Sajda, professor of biomedical engineering (BME), electrical engineering, and radiology.

Qualcomm’s new wireless VR headset, called ‘Boundless XR’, will be one of the first to work as a standalone mobile headset and also connect to PCs wirelessly. The company showcase the new VR headsets at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2019 in San Francisco, according to the latest rumors.

Read more Qualcomm Announces Support for Next Generation Immersive Compute for XR Viewers for 5G Smartphones

The new headset uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 processor combined with a wireless 802.11ad chip that will allow high-bandwidth 60GHz connections to a PC or console that’s ready to communicate with it.

As of now, portable VR headsets don’t let users connect their headset to a PC, but Qualcomm plans to change all that.

The basis for this new VR reference design is to eliminate VR headsets’ dependence on cables and make the desktop VR headsets less bulky.

You will, however, need an 802.11ad-compliant Wi-Fi router to use headsets made with this design. The games should be able to support the new headset without any changes, according to CNET.

The headset is also designed to process VR technology while connected to a PC.

The six degrees of freedom enables you to enjoy complete, all-round movement and accessibility in VR content without needing additional tethering.

Latency is kept at a low 16ms, according to Qualcomm. So, in theory, it could help free up some processing power in your PC, although it isn’t clear how much.

Read more Teslasuit Full Body Haptic VR Suit Goes Beyond Gaming to Take Virtual Reality to a New Level

This isn’t the first time Qualcomm has worked on a VR reference design. Others adopting Qualcomm’s design are HTC, Lenovo, and Facebook. The headsets with the new reference design will be called Pico Neo2 VR headset, and they will be made by a Chinese company called Pico VR.

FundamentalVR, pioneers of immersive training technology for the medical community, has integrated groundbreaking HaptX Gloves on its Fundamental Surgery platform.

Read more Doctors Use HoloLens to Investigate Heart Scars in High Resolution Before Surgery

Named as one of the best inventions of 2018 by Time magazine, the Fundamental Surgery platform gives us a glimpse of the near future where surgeons can use their entire hand and fingers as part of a virtual simulation educational experience.

It combines virtual reality (VR) with state-of-the-art haptics to create a scalable ‘flight simulator’ experience for trainee and qualified surgeons, allowing them to experience and navigate the same visuals, sounds and feelings they would during a real surgical procedure, reports Fundamental Surgery.

Fundamental surgery is designed to be compatible with any laptop, VR headset or haptic device. At the heart of the platform is the unique Surgical Haptic Intelligence Engine (SHIE), which is calibrated to mimic real life sensations of numerous medical tools and tissues with great accuracy. Thus, the HaptX Gloves make each finger and the entire hand into a virtual reality, haptic controller.

“When it comes to surgical training simulations, a sense of touch is a game changer, but has traditionally only been possible with immobile equipment costing hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Richard Vincent, CEO, FundamentalVR. “The Fundamental Surgery platform delivers highly sophisticated tactile feedback at a fraction of the cost through a software approach that can work with a range of haptic devices. Our platform currently works with haptic arms, but is designed to evolve as hardware innovations allow new products such as HaptX Gloves to come to market. We are proud to work with industry leaders such as HaptX and are excited to demonstrate how HaptX Gloves integrated into our Surgical Haptics Intelligence Engine takes the sensation of surgery to an exciting new and natural level.”

Read more Cardiologists Use Augmented Reality to Plan and Perform Complex Procedures

Today, numerous medical institutions including Mayo Clinic and UCLA in the US, UCLH in the UK and Sana in Germany deploy Fundamental Surgery with initial training packages focused on the orthopedic surgery. The procedures it currently supports include Spinal Pedicle Screw, Total Hip Arthroplasty (Posterior), Total Hip Arthroplasty (Anterior) and Total Knee Arthroplasty.

Metal implants can cause unwanted removal surgeries, associated complications and an unnatural healing environment for patients. OSSIOfiber, developed by an orthopedic fixation company called OSSIO, is a proprietary material technology that leaves no permanent implant, and removes the need for subsequent hardware removal surgery. The technology fosters natural bone growth and is reabsorbed over time.

Read more Innovative Brain Implant Reads and Stimulates Brain to Improve Parkinson’s Treatment

OSSIO recently announced a $22 million Series A venture investment round led by Los Angeles-based OCV Partners. This brings the company’s total venture funding to $35 million. This technology received FDA 510(k) clearance in January 2019. The company said it will use the money to speed up strategic growth initiatives, including talent acquisition, commercialization, new product development and operational expansion.

In January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave OSSIO 510(k) market clearance for its OSSIOfiber. The OSSIOfiber is a first-of-its kind implant system that uses a proprietary bio-integrative material to provide stability and maintain the alignment of bone fractures, osteotomies, arthrodesis and bone grafts.

The platform offers physicians and their patients a new category in fixation implants and provides an unprecedented combination of mechanical strength and natural bone healing in a non-permanent implant.

While OSSIOfiber will have broad application across the spectrum of orthopedic fixation, its first commercial use is focused in the foot and ankle segment for the treatment of forefoot conditions where hardware removal surgeries are prevalent.

Read more Keep Your Body and Implants Safe from Hackers with this Wireless Body Network

“Following receipt of FDA clearance in January, we are moving forward with the commercial launch of OSSIOfiber™in the United States. This financing provides us with the necessary capital to accelerate our core strategic growth initiatives to ensure we have the inventory and support to meet the anticipated demand for the OSSIOfiber™ technology,” said Brian Verrier, CEO, OSSIO. “We are honored that OCV, Ortho Vision and Secocha Ventures, together with the rest of our strong group of investors stand behind our breakthrough fixation technology and our overall vision to transform the orthopedic experience for patients, physicians and payors.”

It is very hard to master the skills of a baseball swing, as there are numerous mechanical aspects involved. For players, it could take months, years or even decades to master this skill. Players and coaches need to understand the art of proper swing mechanics and practice it over and over to become an accomplished hitter. East Carolina University is using wearable sensors to understand this skill and help players become better hitters.

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Using motion-capture and eye-tracking technology, ECU wants to help players and coaches know what hitters see, how and why they react to it, and, ultimately, turn them into better players. Specifically, they are focusing on what a hitter’s eyes see as a pitch is hurling toward them at upward of 100 miles per hour and how the brain processes that visual information and then instructs the body to swing. It’s the science of hitting.

The study is led by ECU kinesiology faculty members Nick Murray and Patrick Rider. The researchers, along with a group of students tested hitters last fall at Next Level Training Center in Greenville. Test batters from high school to semi-pro levels were fitted with dozens of sensors as well as special goggles to track their eye movements as they watched and then swung at pitches, said a press release.

“Baseball batting is a cognitively demanding interceptive timing task that requires precision and power,” said Murray, an associate professor and director of the Visual Motor Lab in the College of Health and Human Performance.

Although previous research showed that expert hitters can sport a moving object very well, not many researches connected that ability with head position and movement control.

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“And the fact we’re studying eye-tracking during a realistic at-bat – that is, using a pitcher instead of a machine – makes this study unique,” Murray added.

Next Level owner Trent Britt said:

“We don’t really get an opportunity to see things from a scientific perspective and what the body is doing. This is one more set of data points. This is the way sports and baseball are headed. Hitting and anything involving movement is very much an evolving science. It gives us a chance to question are we seeing what we think we’re seeing and help kids get better.”

BACtrack, a leading alcohol testing platform provider, launched its next generation alcohol monitoring platform BACtrack View. The remote platform allows a person to monitor someone’s blood alcohol content (BAC) directly from an iOS device. Using the front-facing camera of an iPhone, subjects provide photo-verified BAC results by blowing into a BACtrack. Monitors and accountability partners can set BAC test schedules, review results, and take immediate action in the case of a positive result.

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Alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of death in the U.S. and an estimated 88,000 die from alcohol-related causes annually.

BACtrack View is discreet, easy to use, and consists of the BACtrack View 2 app for iOS and a BACtrack Mobile, BACtrack C8 or BACtrack C6 device, all of which are small enough to fit in a pocket or purse.

The BACtrack Mobile offers highly accurate fuel cell sensor technology that detects even trace amounts of alcohol. A recent study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania reported BACtrack Mobile’s accuracy closely matched results from a device used by law enforcement agencies, says a press release.

“Just as we’ve expanded the market for breathalyzers by making them accurate, low-cost, and widely available, we aim to do same for alcohol monitoring with BACtrack View,” said Keith Nothacker, President and Founder of BACtrack.

“By developing a powerful smartphone-based platform, we believe that millions of people who struggle with Alcohol Use Disorder can benefit,” added Nothacker.

How the Platform Works

To begin using BACtrack View, both the Monitor and the Tester need to install the BACtrack View 2 app on their smartphones.

A Monitor sets a custom or random alcohol testing schedule for the person they are monitoring; on-demand testing is also available.

Automated smartphone text messages will inform a user when it’s time to take a BAC test. To take a test, a Tester blows into their BACtrack device; the smartphone’s front-facing camera captures a photo that is used to confirm the Tester’s identity.

A Tester’s verified BAC result is available to the Monitor via the app. A Monitor can take immediate action in the case of a positive result and will receive a notification if a test is missed.

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Pricing and Availability

BACtrack View subscription plans range from $79 to $129 per month. The use of a BACtrack Mobile device is included in all monthly plans, and there are no contracts, initiation fees nor cancellation fees.

Hybrid smartwatches are meant for the people who do not want watch dial displaying various information all the time. Hybrid smartwatches look and act like traditional wristwatches except they have few smartwatch functionalities. Here are the latest and popular hybrid smartwatches of this year so far.

Withings Steel HR

Withings Steel HR, also known as Nokia Steel HR, is a hybrid smartwatch that can track your heart. This fashionable watch has a small second dial so you can see your daily step count (your target can be set in the app), and there’s a small screen above it. It also has other features like calls, messages and events. No need to take it off when you’re in the pool; Withings Steel HR is waterproof.

Misfit Phase

With a stunning design and impressive battery life, Misfit Phase offers some really useful functionalities. The smartwatch is thick with a classic design. The impressive battery life will give you six months of run time with a single battery inside. However, it has limited functionalities which lacks heart-rate tracker and GPS, according to Tech Radar.

Garmin Vivomove HR

This is perhaps the best-looking Garmin smartwatch out there. If you’re a fitness buff, this watch is for you. With a decent battery life, Garmin Vivomove HR gives you solid gym tracking feature. It also offers a heart rate monitor and step tracking, along with gym tracking features. You can take Vivomove HR to the pool as it’s waterproof, but it’s not particularly great at tracking your swimming. There are stress-monitoring features in this watch is something you won’t get on any other hybrid watch.

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Fossil Q Commuter

Fossil Q Commuter is one of the best-looking hybrid smartwatches in the market. With a rustic and stylish design this smartwatch will really attract inquiring eyes. However, it lacks many smartwatch functionalities. Fossil Q Commuter tracks your step when paired to your phone. Other features include notifications about calls, email and text messages. There’s a button that lets you turn up or down the volume while you’re listening to music and you can use it to take pictures with your phone. The best thing about this watch is its battery. You don’t need to recharge the battery but you’ll have to replace it when it dies after one year of run time.

Bellabeat Time

Bellabeat Time is a hybrid smartwatch based on a quartz movement. Besides showing the time, it connects wirelessly to the accompanying app to offer insights into your wellness. Unlike many other smartwatches, Bellabeat Time doesn’t monitor heart rate but it does offer activity and sleep tracking, which includes steps, distance, calories, active time, sleep duration, sleep quality and wake-up time.

Time also helps monitor meditation and menstrual cycles to improve overall well-being and prepare wearers to tackle stressful situations. Easily controlled vibration reminders also allow users to schedule updates to address periods of prolonged inactivity, says a press release. Taking all accumulated data into, Time uses smart algorithms to determine how resistant to stress you are.

Smart Tracking Technologies, a Jacksonville, FL-based IoT company, acquired Wearable Pet Technology Company Link AKC. Link AKC, a GPS enabled dog collar, won the CES 2017 “Best of Innovation” award in the Wearable Technologies category.

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Smart Tracking Technologies will now start working on a host of improvements and updates to the Link AKC™ product line, including eventually opening up the Link AKC platform for 3rd party developers through the creation of an SDK. The first update can be expected within 30 days, says a press release.

“We are excited about implementing an aggressive timeline of improvements and new features. The tracking technology industry is ripe with opportunity, and this new partnership will allow us to improve the user experience over the coming months and ultimately create a stronger bond between pet owners and their pets,” Said Donny Lamey, CEO of Smart Tracking Technologies, LLC.

The Link AKC will move its headquarters to Jacksonville, FL, but will maintain a presence in Stamford, CT. Chief Growth Officer Herbie Calves will retain his position and the company’s CFO will be Gabriele Beyer.

The state-of-the-art technology used in GPS-enabled dog collar and smartphone app combines cutting-edge smart home, wearable and mobile technology. The team behind the Link AKC smart collar is made up of passionate dog lovers, tech experts and designers who have combined the best of design and technology to elevate dog wearables to a lifestyle product category.

The Link AKC dog collars keep track of your dog’s activity, location, health, and so much more. The collars come in two styles: Classic and Sport. Link AKC smart collar is available to purchase through the company’s website.

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Smart Tracking Technologies, LLC is a technology company with a focus on IoT in the wearables and tracking industry. Smart Tracking Technologies is composed of a team experienced in designing and managing tracking technology brands and products.