Athlete’s Cap Sends Out Alerts About Head Injuries

Research shows that repeated hard knocks to the head during impact sports can cause long-term brain injury. But it can be hard for coaches watching from the sidelines to tell how hard a blow really was.

That’s why MC10 developed a skullcap to be worn alone or underneath a helmet that detects how hard a player’s skull is hit. Depending on the severity of the impact, different colored LEDs light up on the back of the cap for all to see.

Reebok Checklight - Source: IEEE
Reebok Checklight – Source: IEEE

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Broadcom’s CEO bets on a behemoth market for wearable chips

Broadcom has become a big name in consumer electronics and networking chips. But now the multibillion-dollar Irvine, Calif.-based chip design firm sees an even bigger opportunity in the market of silicon chips for wearable computing devices. The market for connected, wearable electronics is expected to hit $1.5 billion by 2014. And the company’s WICED Direct platform brings Internet connectivity to all sorts of previously unconnected appliances and wearable devices.

Source: Broadcom
Source: Broadcom

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How do you design fitness trackers for people that really need them?

Too many products look like they were designed by men in Silicon Valley for men in Silicon
Valley, says one wearable tech CEO.  The people in real life who wear Nike Fuelbands, Jawbone Ups and Fitbits may not be models, but they tend not to be the people most in need of extra fitness motivation.  So how do you get the less-fit masses to join the fitness-tracking bandwagon?

Photo: Nike Fuelband - Giga Om
Photo: Nike Fuelband – GigaOM

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