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Sep 20, 2010

XWave: Control your iPhone with your brain

The XWave is a new technology that uses a single electrode placed on the wearer’s forehead to measure electroencephalography (EEG) data, and converts these analog signals into digital so they can be used to control an external device. The XWave comes bundled with a software that includes a number of brain-training exercises. These include levitating a ball on the iDevice’s screen, changing a color based on the relaxation level of your brain and training your brain to maximize its attention span.

 

In the company’s own words:

XWave, powered by NeuroSky eSense patented technologies, senses the faintest electrical impulses transmitted through your skull to the surface of your forehead and converts these analogue signals into digital. With XWave, you will be able to detect attention and meditation levels, as well as train your mind to control things. Objects in a game can be controlled, lights in your living room can change colour depending on your mood; the possibilities are limited to only the power of your imagination.





The interesting feature is that the company is even serving up their APIs so developers can design and develop apps using the XWave device. The company reports that some apps already in development include games in which objects are controlled by the wearer’s mind and another that allows the wearer to control the lights in their home or select music based on their mood. You can order an XWave for $US100; it ships on November 1.


Aug 16, 2010

My Relax 3d

There is nothing more regenerating than a long sea vacation. But what we do as we are back to the office and find an overwhelming pile of email? A good recovery strategy from post-vacation stress is essential, and advanced technologies may help.

For example, My Relax 3D is a mobile application that helps you relax while watching at stunning 3D landscapes of an exotic island. When you enter the application, you can choose between highly realistic 3d environments, depicting various island scenarios (i.e. a tropical forest, a sunset)

During the experience, a voiceover provides instructions to relieve from stress and develop positive emotions.

The application is highly configurable: it can be experienced with or without 3D glasses (but I strongly recommend this option to enhance your feeling of "presence"). It is also possible to choose between different pleasant music themes.

Of course, it's not like a first class holiday in a luxury resort... but it's definitely the best you can do with five bucks!

MY RELAX 3D
MY RELAX 3D
MY RELAX 3D

 

Feb 04, 2010

MedlinePlus Now Available for Mobile Phones

From the press release:

The National Library of Medicine's Mobile Medline Plus builds on the NLM's MedlinePlus Internet service, which provides authoritative consumer health information to over 10 million visitors per month. These visitors access MedlinePlus (http://medlineplus.gov) from throughout the United States as well many other countries, and use desktop computers, laptops and even mobile devices to get there.

Mobile MedlinePlus is available in English and Spanish (http://m.medlineplus.gov/spanish) and includes a subset of content from the full Web site. It includes summaries for over 800 diseases, wellness topics, the latest health news, an illustrated medical encyclopedia, and information on prescription and over-the-counter medications.

Mobile MedlinePlus can also help you when you're trying to choose an over-the-counter cold medicine at the drug store.

And if you're traveling abroad, you can use Mobile MedlinePlus to learn about safe drinking water.

15:07 Posted in Research tools | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: medline, mobile

Dec 02, 2009

Top 10 Consumer Mobile Applications for 2012

 

Gartner has identified the top 10 consumer mobile applications for 2012. The list is based on the impact on consumers and industry players, considering revenue, loyalty, business model, consumer value and estimated market penetration.

The top ten in 2012 will include:

No. 1: Money Transfer
This service allows people to send money to others using Short Message Service (SMS). Its lower costs, faster speed and convenience compared with traditional transfer services have strong appeal to users in developing markets, and most services signed up several million users within their first year. However, challenges do exist in both regulatory and operational risks. Because of the fast growth of mobile money transfer, regulators in many markets are piling in to investigate the impact on consumer costs, security, fraud and money laundering. On the operational side, market conditions vary, as do the local resources of service providers, so providers need different market strategies when entering a new territory.

No. 2: Location-Based Services
Location-based services (LBS) form part of context-aware services, a service that Gartner expects will be one of the most disruptive in the next few years. Gartner predicts that the LBS user base will grow globally from 96 million in 2009 to more than 526 million in 2012. LBS is ranked No. 2 in Gartner’s top 10 because of its perceived high user value and its influence on user loyalty. Its high user value is the result of its ability to meet a range of needs, ranging from productivity and goal fulfillment to social networking and entertainment.

No. 3: Mobile Search
The ultimate purpose of mobile search is to drive sales and marketing opportunities on the mobile phone. To achieve this, the industry first needs to improve the user experience of mobile search so that people will come back again. Mobile search is ranked No. 3 because of its high impact on technology innovation and industry revenue. Consumers will stay loyal to some search services, but instead of sticking to one or two search providers on the Internet, Gartner expects loyalty on the mobile phone to be shared between a few search providers that have unique technologies for mobile search.

No. 4: Mobile Browsing
Mobile browsing is a widely available technology present on more than 60 percent of handsets shipped in 2009, a percentage Gartner expects to rise to approximately 80 percent in 2013. Gartner has ranked mobile browsing No. 4 because of its broad appeal to all businesses. Mobile Web systems have the potential to offer a good return on investment. They involve much lower development costs than native code, reuse many existing skills and tools, and can be agile — both delivered and updated quickly. Therefore, the mobile Web will be a key part of most corporate business-to-consumer (B2C) mobile strategies.

No. 5: Mobile Health Monitoring
Mobile health monitoring is the use of IT and mobile telecommunications to monitor patients remotely, and could help governments, care delivery organizations (CDOs) and healthcare payers reduce costs related to chronic diseases and improve the quality of life of their patients. In developing markets, the mobility aspect is key as mobile network coverage is superior to fixed network in the majority of developing countries. Currently, mobile health monitoring is at an early stage of market maturity and implementation, and project rollouts have so far been limited to pilot projects. In the future, the industry will be able to monetize the service by offering mobile healthcare monitoring products, services and solutions to CDOs.

No. 6: Mobile Payment
Mobile payment usually serves three purposes. First, it is a way of making payment when few alternatives are available. Second, it is an extension of online payment for easy access and convenience. Third, it is an additional factor of authentication for enhanced security. Mobile payment made Gartner’s top 10 list because of the number of parties it affects — including mobile carriers, banks, merchants, device vendors, regulators and consumers — and the rising interest from both developing and developed markets. Because of the many choices of technologies and business models, as well as regulatory requirements and local conditions, mobile payment will be a highly fragmented market. There will not be standard practices of deployment, so parties will need to find a working solution on a case-by-case basis.

No. 7: Near Field Communication Services
Near field communication (NFC) allows contactless data transfer between compatible devices by placing them close to each other, within ten centimeters. The technology can be used, for example, for retail purchases, transportation, personal identification and loyalty cards. NFC is ranked No. 7 in Gartner’s top ten because it can increase user loyalty for all service providers, and it will have a big impact on carriers' business models. However, its biggest challenge is reaching business agreement between mobile carriers and service providers, such as banks and transportation companies. Gartner expects to see large-scale deployments starting from late 2010, when NFC phones are likely to ship in volume, with Asia leading deployments followed by Europe and North America.

No. 8: Mobile Advertising
Mobile advertising in all regions is continuing to grow through the economic downturn, driven by interest from advertisers in this new opportunity and by the increased use of smartphones and the wireless Internet. Total spending on mobile advertising in 2008 was $530.2 million, which Gartner expects to will grow to $7.5 billion in 2012. Mobile advertising makes the top 10 list because it will be an important way to monetize content on the mobile Internet, offering free applications and services to end users. The mobile channel will be used as part of larger advertising campaigns in various media, including TV, radio, print and outdoors.

No. 9: Mobile Instant Messaging
Price and usability problems have historically held back adoption of mobile instant messaging (IM), while commercial barriers and uncertain business models have precluded widespread carrier deployment and promotion. Mobile IM is on Gartner’s top 10 list because of latent user demand and market conditions that are conducive to its future adoption. It has a particular appeal to users in developing markets that may rely on mobile phones as their only connectivity device. Mobile IM presents an opportunity for mobile advertising and social networking, which have been built into some of the more advanced mobile IM clients.

No. 10: Mobile Music
Mobile music so far has been disappointing — except for ring tones and ring-back tones, which have turned into a multibillion-dollar service. On the other hand, it is unfair to dismiss the value of mobile music, as consumers want music on their phones and to carry it around. We see efforts by various players in coming up with innovative models, such as device or service bundles, to address pricing and usability issues. iTunes makes people pay for music, which shows that a superior user experience does make a difference.

 

Sep 28, 2009

Bionic Eye - Augmented Reality on the iPhone

Bionic Eye is the first augmented reality application developed for the iPhone 3GS. A brainchild of Dutch start-up Layar, Bionic Eye enables you to visualize Points of Interest (POI) located in your nearby environment in the US.

POI databases include restaurants, WiFi hotspots, subway stations (New York Subway, Washington Metro, Chicago L Rapid Transit), etc. Over 100.000 POI are already included in this application. Elements located at a distance less than 1km (0,621miles) only will be displayed on the screen.

Download link

 

 

Nov 04, 2008

Brain Controlled Cell Phones

Via Textually.org

NeuroSky Inc, a venture company based in San Jose, Calif, prototyped a system that reads brain waves with a sensor and uses them for mobile phone applications.

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Software algorithms try to deduce from your brainwaves what you are thinking and pass on the appropriate commands to the cell phone.

 

Jan 05, 2008

Portable navigation on mobiles set to take off

EE Times Europe (01/03/2008 8:30 AM EST)

 

LONDON — Sales of portable navigation devices are set to increase ten-fold over the next eight years, with the huge take-up coming from the the GPS functionality being embedded into mobile phones, according to Telematics Research Group (TRG).
While Garmin and TomTom are predicted to remain global market leaders for portable navigation devices, mobile phone makers such as Nokia, Motorola, LG and Samsung are expected to show the way in the near future, the Minneapolis based market research group suggests in a report on the sector.
TRG sees the worldwide portable navigation market growing from 50 million units in 2007 to more than 500 million units in 2015.
It suggests the change in market leadership is partly due to wireless connectivity opening up new applications and services by bringing together accurate location-based data with advanced POI data including pricing, inventory and user-generated content such as ratings of local businesses.
TRG estimates 30 million dedicated Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs) were sold last year and about 20 million navigation-enabled mobile phones. It estimates that navigation-enabled mobile phones will start outselling dedicated PNDs next year, with the combined segments reaching annual sales of more than 220 million by the end of 2012.
The market researchers suggest that by 2015, Nokia could be selling 180 million devices with GPS capability, followed by Samsung and Motorola (both 70 million), LG (60 million), and TomTom and Garmin both 25 million.
Corresponding figures for last year are said to be 9 million units sold by TomTom, 8 million by Garmin, 7 million by Mitac, 5 million by Nokia and 4 million by Mio/Navman.
"In the years to come navigation-enabled mobile phones will be used for auto navigation, pedestrian navigation and many other types of location-based services," says Egil Juliussen, principal analyst for TRG. "This opens up a new world of services and capabilities".
Recent acquisitions by TomTom and Nokia point the way toward the coming battle for the GPS consumer, according to Juliussen.
"Required for success in the GPS market of the future will be connectivity, inexpensive maps and rich point-of-interest content addresses alone will not be enough", he adds.
Garmin and TomTom are adding connectivity to their devices, he notes, and mobile phone makers are adding maps. "A large volume market for inexpensive, dedicated navigation devices will live on past 2008," Juliussen says, but survival for TomTom and Garmin may mean finding a way to compete for smartphone users.

Nov 26, 2007

Vodafone "InsideOut" connects phones to Second Life

Via Textually.org

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Vodafone offers a new service called "InsideOut" that allows interaction between characters in Second Life and real phones.

"Both voice calls and text messages can be ferried in and out of the game, with SMSes running a cool L$300 (around $1) and voice calls running L$300 per minute.

Calls and messages placed to Second Life, though, are billed at the same rate as they would be to a traditional German phone."

Nov 04, 2007

Time Magazine names Apple iPhone `Invention of the Year'

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TIME magazine has named the iPhone "Invention of the Year."

19:15 Posted in Wearable & mobile | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: mobile, wearable

May 02, 2007

Psychnology: special issue on Mobile Media and Communication

The special issue of Psychnology Journal on "Mobile Media and Communication: Reconfiguring Human Experience and Social Practices?" is online 

Contents (click on the links to download the full paper) 

Editorial Preface
Ilkka Arminen

Is It Fun to Go to Sydney? Common-Sense Knowledge of Social Structures and WAP
Ilpo Koskinen

Texters and Talkers: Phone Call Aversion among Mobile Phone Users
Ruth Rettie

Discourses on Mobility and Technological Mediation: The Texture of Ubiquitous Interaction

Giuseppina Pellegrino

Mobile Fantasies on Film: Gathering Metaphoric Evidence of Mobile Symbiosis and the Mobile Imaginary

Kathleen M. Cumiskey

23:00 Posted in Wearable & mobile | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: mobile

Apr 11, 2007

IJHCS Special Issue on Mobility: Understanding Mobile Use

Via Usability News 

Call for Papers: International Journal of Human-Computer Studies Special Issue on Mobility: Understanding Mobile Use and Users

23:16 Posted in Call for papers | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: mobile

Mar 16, 2007

Methods of Understanding and Designing For Mobile Communities

have a look at this PhD thesis by Jeff Axup - lot of interesting stuff about mobile research methods...

Download the entire thesis here:

Methods of Understanding and Designing For Mobile Communities

Society is increasingly on the move, mobile devices are commonly being used to coordinate group actions, and group communication features are rapidly being added to existing technologies. Despite this, little is known about how mobile groups act, or how communications technologies should be designed to augment existing behaviour. This is partially due to minimal research being done on the topic, but also to the lack of research methods available to study the topic with. Mobile groups are challenging to study because of frequent and long-duration movement, frequent distribution, and the rapidly changing environments they operate within. To address these issues, this research focuses on methodological issues surrounding the development of mobile devices for mobile groups and communities. More specifically it addresses backpackers, who are a relevant example of this type of community. The research primarily explores the convergence of computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) and the field of mobile device development. This enables the combination of emphasis on designing technologies for groups, social implications, mobile device design, and mobile settings.

Major research outcomes presented in this thesis lie in three areas: 1) methods, 2) technology designs, and 3) backpacker culture. Five studies of backpacker behaviour and requirements form the core of the research. The methods used are in-situ and exploratory, and apply both novel and existing techniques to the domain of backpackers and mobile groups.

Methods demonstrated in this research include: field trips for exploring mobile group behaviour and device usage, a social pairing exercise to explore social networks, contextual postcards to gain distributed feedback, and blog analysis which provides post-hoc diary data. Theoretical contributions include: observations on method triangulation, a taxonomy of mobility research, method templates to assist method usage, and identification of key categories leading to mobile group requirements. Design related outcomes include: 57 mobile tourism product ideas, a format for conveying product concepts, and a design for a wearable device to assist mobile researchers.

Our understanding of backpacker culture has also improved as a consequence of the research. It has also generated user requirements to aid mobile development, methods of visualising mobile groups and communities, and a listing of relevant design tensions. Additionally, the research has added to our understanding of how new technologies such as blogs, SMS and iPods are being used by backpackers and how mobile groups naturally communicate.

22:15 Posted in Wearable & mobile | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: mobile, wearable

Feb 01, 2007

Google: the future is in mobile phones

From Textually.org

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[via Mad4MobilePhones] "It is clear that 2007 will be the year that mobile search query traffic grows substantially. Our current model is to use targeted text ads and we have evidence that the monetization of those ads is higher than in non-mobile uses. So it looks like the advertising revenue on a per-search query is likely to be significantly higher on mobile than on non-mobile.

As part of that, we are investing in new categories of using mobile devices. For example, YouTube content is being used and can be viewed on mobile devices in various partnerships that we're doing. Those are as much opportunistic for us, and they're not really driving revenue yet; although in theory, you could imagine a combination of video, video advertising on a mobile phone that would have the best entertainment value but also very, very high monetization rates. We're unlikely to split it out. It's not material today in a financial sense, and more importantly, it's still emerging.

We are making a significant investment in technology around mobile because of the growth rate of mobile and the ultimate scale of that business. You won't really see its financial impact until `08."

 

22:58 Posted in Wearable & mobile | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: mobile, wearable

Jan 31, 2007

BuddyCheckService helps seniors

Re-blogged from Textually.org

BuddyCheckService helps seniors that live alone keep their independence.  It uses ASR speech technology to enable overtaxed family caregivers to monitor loved ones on a regular basis, and are alerted by text message or call on their mobile phone if there is an emergency.

17:15 Posted in Wearable & mobile | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: mobile, wearable

New mobile monitoring system from Loughborough University

Via Medgadget 

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Researchers at Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the Loughborough University in the UK are planning to introduce a portable telemedicine technology to the market. The system enables a doctor to observe remotely up to four different medical signals from a freely moving patient. Signals that can be transmitted include the ECG, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and blood glucose level.

 

Now Professor Woodward has been awarded a grant by the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), enabling him to join forces with experts in India on the project. Working with the Indian Insitute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi), the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University and London's Kingston University, he is hoping to miniaturise the system, designing 'smart' sensors and mini-processors that are small enough to be carried by patients and able to acquire biomedical data from them. The network of sensors will be linked via a modem to mobile networks and the internet, and to a hospital computer. The device would then be used by doctors to remotely monitor patients suffering from chronic diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes, which affect millions of people across the world.

"Such a 'Mobile Disease Management System' is long overdue," says Professor Woodward. "Especially in view of the proliferation of applications in mobile data communications. It is also achievable in a three-year time frame and should provide a step-change in improving the quality of life of patients needing expert diagnoses, and for those with pre-diagnosed conditions or undergoing post-operative care.

"In the UK, the project will allow a more patient-driven health service, as promoted by the Government to improve the efficiency of health care delivery. In India, the project will link clinics and regional hospitals in remote areas to centres of excellence. As in the UK, the Indian Government is encouraging the integration of new and existing networks, much needed because of a large population spread over a vast area.

 

Link at Loughborough University...

00:56 Posted in Wearable & mobile | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: mobile, wearable

Jan 27, 2007

GPS Sneakers Send SMS to Parents if kids go off limites

From Textually.org

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GTX GPS Xplorer Smart Sneakers keep track of your kids and if they wander beyond a delimited area, a GPS signal activates a text message alert to the parents phone.

 

13:15 Posted in Wearable & mobile | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: mobile, wearable

Jan 10, 2007

Wirelessly controlled tactile display

Re-blogged from Infoaesthetics

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a wirelessly controlled tactile display, consisting of a 4 × 4 array of vibrating motors that is mounted on a waist band or on the forearm. this tactile display can be used as a navigation aid outdoors, as experiments have proved that 8 different vibrotactile patterns can be interpreted as directional (e.g. stop, look left, run, proceed faster or proceed slower) or instructional cues (e.g. "raise arm horizontally", "raise arm vertically", "hop") with almost perfect accuracy.

 

[link: newscientisttech.com & ieee.org (pdf) springerlink.com|via boingboing.net]



22:05 Posted in Wearable & mobile | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: wereable, mobile

Dec 23, 2006

Future scenario video about UMPCs

Via Mobile Community Design

The UMPC site has an interesting little future scenario video about how UMPCs might be used

Dec 20, 2006

Mobile Presence

From Networked Performance (via Pasta and Vinegar)

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MoPres: Sense and contribute to the ghosty presences around you by Jane Oh, Alex Bisceglie:


MoPres brings out the residual presence of the people who occupied your current location. It is a geotagging project with the humanized `context' of the locations. The raw data is from bio-metric sensers rather than the conscious, forceful, and mostly inaccurate logging which will provide a more creative and sophisticated flexibility of interpretation on the experiences of people

User Scenario: People wear the vest with embedded sensor package [heart rate and body temperature sensors], and the data is logged through the cell phone with geo tagging [gps and/or cell-tower id]. Once the mobile application reads the pattern of the data in relation to locations, it triggers the output devices embedded in the vest [heater and the pulse motor] with relevant residual patterns so that people can experience others' past experiences at the given spot.



Nov 08, 2006

Alert driver fatigue wrist device

Via Medgadget

A future concept designed for the AA, this flexible rubber device uses motion combined with reaction time to determine whether or not you are suffering from driver fatigue. The device comunicates with an RFID tag positioned in your car and only starts to detect whether you are tired when you are in your car. The device can be bent to fit your wrist, and has memory to stay in position, to ensure it will not fall off.

Designer: Daniel Ruffle


 

 

22:55 Posted in Wearable & mobile | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tags: wereable, mobile

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