Health Tech

The case for getting grandma to play World of Warcraft

The online video game World of Warcraft is in the news again, this time for its potential to help boost certain cognitive skills--specifically spatial ability and focused attention--in older adults.

Researchers at North Carolina State University's Gains Through Gaming Lab tested the cognitive functions of 39 60- to 77-year-olds and then broke the study's participants into an experimental group, which played the MMORPG for 14 hours over a two-week period, and a control group, which did not play WoW at all.

Implantable device propels itself through bloodstream

As implantable medical devices become smaller and less power hungry, they are taking on a variety of new roles. What began as largely stationary objects, such as pacemakers and cochlear implants, are becoming small enough to actually pass through our bodies (i.e. in the form of pills) to deliver drugs and perform diagnostics.

Now, a new class of medical devices is emerging that adds a twist to the traditional implant: the devices are so small that they can travel through our bloodstream, not to mention are powered wirelessly via electromagnetic radio waves, according to Stanford electrical engineer Ada Poon.

By moving through the bloodstream, these tiny implants will be able to perform minor surgeries such as removing blood clots, Poon told an audience at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco this week.

Now your tongue can secretly operate a computer, wheelchair

Many with ALS or high-level spinal-cord injuries have been relying for years on the old sip-and-puff technology to operate wheelchairs and computers. This tech requires the user to sip or puff precise amounts of air pressure into a straw, and it is anything but subtle.

The operation of wheelchairs and other devices could soon be far less conspicuous, thanks to a prototype dental retainer developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology--for those who don't mind getting their tongues pierced, that is.

Featuring a small retainer that fits along the roof of the mouth, the Tongue Drive System uses more

Singing gloves give new meaning to jazz hands

Hand gestures can add a lot to a conversation. They can convey excitement and help you describe a scene or object. And, of course, the simple act of lifting a certain finger can quickly let someone know you're not too happy with them. In all, gestures are an effective form of communication, and now, researchers in Vancouver have found a way to take them to the next level.

A team of engineers from the University of British Columbia has developed a pair of gloves that read hand gestures and convert them to speech and song, potentially giving those with speech and/or hearing disabilities another way to communicate.

The project, called Digital Ventriloquized Actor (DIVA) and led by UBC professor of electrical and computer engineering Sidney Fels, tries to replicate the movements of real vocal cords through the use of hand gestures read by a system of sensors.

Braille texting app could have broader appeal

Most of us have at least tried to text without looking at our phones before. I confess to having shot off a quick message while stopped at a red light, or immediately following crazy goals and tackles at soccer matches, or even from the confines of my pocket at parties.

Now a free, open-source app called BrailleTouch is about to make this form of multitasking that much easier--for the visually impaired and sighted alike.

Designed at Georgia Tech, the app incorporates the Braille writing system into a touch-screen device. It essentially turns an iPhone's touch screen into a soft-touch more

'Nomophobia' up as more folks fear being mobileless

We humans seem to have the capacity to fear just about anything these days. From chromophobia (fear of colors) to genuphobia (fear of knees or kneeling), optophobia (fear of opening one's eyes) to selenophobia (fear of the moon), we've been able to identify just about any phobia imaginable.

So it should come as no surprise that nomophobia, the fear of being out of mobile phone contact, exists at all, let alone may afflict as many as two in three adults, according to a new survey out of the U.K.

Commissioned by SecurEnvoy, creator of tokenless two-factor authentication, more

Electronic cigarette blows up in man's mouth

From the age of dot, we're all told not to put gadgets in our mouths.

But along came electric toothbrushes--and then electronic cigarettes. Some will wonder how safe they might be after a 57-year-old Florida man was taken to hospital Monday night when his electronic smoke exploded while he was smoking it.

He ended up in an Alabama hospital, facing burns, the loss of part of his tongue and his front teeth.

Joseph Parker, division chief for the North Bay Fire Department, offered a graphic analogy to the Associated Press: "It was trying to hold a bottle rocket in your mouth when it went off. The battery flew out of the tube and set the closet on fire."

Hot nanotubes blast chemo-resistant cancer cells into oblivion

When it comes to cancer cells, a particularly confounding breed called cancer stem cells have proven difficult to kill. Because they divide so slowly, chemo drugs do them little harm, and they appear resistant to heat therapies that are generally good at killing most cells. Some cancer drugs even appear to promote the growth of cancer stem cells.

Now, three years after they found that the heat from 30-second laser blasts can kill kidney cancer stem cells, researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center say the same treatment works to kill breast cancer stem cells as well.

Torti's team more

New app gauges ideal time for coffee break

If you're wondering whether you're too many cups or too many hours into the day for yet another jolt of caffeine, a free app developed by researchers at Pennsylvania State University aims to help.

In building the Caffeine Zone app, professors representing several disciplines relied on peer-reviewed studies to devise a simple formula: those with between 200 and 400 milligrams of caffeine in their bloodstream are in the optimal mental alertness zone, while anyone above 100 milligrams has entered the good-luck-sleeping-anytime-soon zone.

Windows 8 will be more accessible to those with disabilities

Microsoft is enhancing some of the accessibility features in Windows 8 to make the new OS easier for people with disabilities.

Certain "assistive technologies" have long been a part of Windows. The built-in Narrator can read text aloud to people who are blind. The Magnifier can zoom in to display content for people who have trouble seeing. Speech recognition allows people who are unable to type to navigate via voice.

But as described in the latest Building Windows 8 blog by Jennifer Norberg, a senior program manager on Microsoft's Human Interaction Platform team, Windows 8 is taking those features a few steps further.more

Health Tech

The case for getting grandma to play World of Warcraft

Implantable device propels itself through bloodstream

Now your tongue can secretly operate a computer, wheelchair

Singing gloves give new meaning to jazz hands

Braille texting app could have broader appeal

'Nomophobia' up as more folks fear being mobileless

Electronic cigarette blows up in man's mouth

Hot nanotubes blast chemo-resistant cancer cells into oblivion

New app gauges ideal time for coffee break

Windows 8 will be more accessible to those with disabilities

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