Posts Tagged ‘energy’
BioEnergy: Harvesting Power from the Body to Run Devices
11/27/2012
As computing devices shrink in size, price and power consumption, they are being embedded in all sorts of everyday objects, including light bulbs, hearing aids, and even the human body. But what happens in 8-10 years when the pacemaker battery wears out? Today that requires another operation to replace it, but in the foreseeable future medical devices might be powered by the body itself, from heart beats, blood flow, lung contractions and arm and leg movements, as well as by electrical energy already produced by the inner ear.
That’s the message of the Wall Street Journal video below, which shows researchers investigating ways to harness the body’s energy – such as heat, sound and movement – to power medical devices.
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What’s new in Smart Home technology?
09/11/2012
By Alex Lane (original article: What is a Smart Home? Samsung’s NaviBot S can clean the low places)
The original Smart Home device has to be the Teasmade, and the textbooks say that a smart home is one that uses home networking technology and your internet connection to automate and simplify everyday living.
It’s the use of networking and broadband connections that takes smart home technology beyond simple home automation, where each device usually stands alone, with its own control system.
Smart home tech is a fast-growing field, from cleaning your house to opening the curtains and switching on the lights. There’s also a growing field of utility and power management, for your gas, water and electricity [and for home health care]. Surrounding them all are unified networking and control systems that can control and monitor all of your devices, not just one for each.
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The Benefits of Napping
07/23/2012
When was the last time you let yourself have a nice, leisurely nap?
Past articles promoted the health & productivity benefits of good sleep, but what about a short nap? The folks at Patio Productions shared this great infographic on the science and statistics of napping, spent inside or in the majestic outdoors. Enjoy, and pass it along to friends.
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Will Healthcare Lead The Future of Smart Homes?
07/05/2012
As a technologist, futurist, mHealth advocate, and past Home Systems consultant, I’m a fan of embedded technologies that make products smarter and easier to use, especially those that improve healthcare, but I side with “Smart Home” skeptics and add my own comments after this press release. – Wayne Caswell, mHealthTalk editor
The Future of Smart Systems
By 2020, experts think tech-enhanced homes, appliances, and utilities will spread, but many of the analysts believe we still won’t likely be living in the long-envisioned ‘Homes of the Future’
June 29, 2012 — Hundreds of tech analysts foresee a future with “smart” devices and environments that make people’s lives more efficient.
But they also note that current evidence about the uptake of smart systems is that the costs and necessary infrastructure changes to make it all work are daunting. And they add that people find comfort in the familiar, simple, “dumb” systems to which they are accustomed.
Some 1,021 Internet experts, researchers, observers, and critics were asked about the “home of the future” in an online, opt-in survey. The result was a fairly even split between those who agreed that energy- and money-saving “smart systems” will be significantly closer to reality in people’s homes by 2020 and those who said such homes will still remain a marketing mirage. Read the rest of this entry »
Caregivers and the “Smart” Homes of Tomorrow
04/17/2012
This article features comments I posted on a James Holloway article about Smart Homes of Tomorrow, where automation is based on sensors and learned intelligence that encompasses any device providing automatic control of home functions. Systems most likely to be automated are: lights, thermostats & home appliances; television, video & music systems; security alarms & monitoring systems; and home health care monitors, alarms & communication devices.
A conceptual smart home with 17 components, including automated pet feeder.
mHealthTalk Comment:
My perspectives aren’t too far from what Mr. Holloway wrote about. They came from introducing IBM to the Smart Home market in 1994, helping it launch IBM Home Director, and retiring in 1999 to start CAZITech, a Digital Home consulting firm.
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UPnP Forum wants TVs to make you Healthier
11/15/2011
Staying Well Connected: UPnP Forum Targets Health and Fitness Networking
It’s True — TV Can Now Make You Healthier and May Lower Your Energy-Bills
BEAVERTON, OR–(Marketwire – Nov 15, 2011) – Leading global home networking standards group, UPnP Forum, has announced the formation of an E-Health and Sensors (EHS) Working Committee. The new body intends to address consumer-electronic (CE) industry opportunities in the areas of home personal health and wellness, as well as the increasing availability of sensor applications to monitor and control devices within the home.
Brain Entrainment for Better Sleep and Health
11/13/2011
By Bruce Meleski, PhD, Intelligent Sleep Consultant (part 2 of 2)
The human body has many pulses, rhythms, and frequencies that can be measured and recorded. Heart rate is one of the best known, represented by beats per minute. Depending upon the efficiency of the heart, there can be wide variations in one’s heart rate. Certain conditions also impact heart rate such as exercise, stress, or anxiety.
The brain has electrical frequencies that can be measured and changes during the day are normal. Sleeping slows the brain frequency to a very slow rate allowing the body to rest. Sleep brain waves are known as delta brain waves. Read the rest of this entry »
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Sleep Balance – Your Path to Better Sleep
11/13/2011
By Bruce Meleski, PhD, Intelligent Sleep Consultant (part 1 of 2)
In the modern world, sleep is the ultimate human balancing act, providing rest and recovery while living in a 24 hour stimulated environment with lights, noise, smells, toxins, and stressful events continuously. As a result, many people suffer from sleep loss and sleep related issues.
From chronic disease to athletic performance and mental acuity, if you lose sleep it impacts your life in some way. It is not just the amount of sleep but also need the right type of sleep. Slow wave sleep allows the body to restore at the cellular level. Without this cellular repair, the risk of disease increases for obesity, diabetes, depression, and hypertension. Loss of sleep also affects our day to day performance. Sleep loss impacts athletic performance, memory recall, focus acuity, and reaction time.
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National Demonstration Home for Universal Design, Part 1
09/08/2011
Rosemarie Rossetti, Ph.D. (used with permission)
Thirteen years after a freak accident left her paralyzed, Rosemarie found a new mission in life: sharing what she has learned about Universal Design. She founded Universal Design Living Laboratory and is building a national demonstration home that will be opened to the public this fall. I’ll be writing a series of articles about her project and start with this, her story.
About The Demonstration Home Project
My Story
On June 13, 1998 my husband, Mark Leder, and I decided to celebrate our anniversary by going on a bicycle ride. It was a beautiful day with a clear blue sky, perfect biking weather. I was riding down the path ahead of Mark, when he heard a loud crack and yelled, “Look over there something is falling!” I glanced back at him and suddenly a 3 1/2 ton tree came crushing down on me, leaving me injured on the bike path. My life was changed in that instant! I was paralyzed from the waist down with a spinal cord injury.
Make Aging in Place Easier With a Green Home
08/09/2011
This article by Lynn Wilson is republished with permission from The CareGiver Partnership
Aging in place and green living are important lifestyle considerations right now. We’re continually discovering products and technology that allow us to age in place — to stay in our homes, safely and comfortably, for as long as possible. At the same time, we all want to live in healthy, easy-to-care-for, energy-efficient homes. Here are some ideas for incorporating green strategies into designing a home focused on aging in place.
Natural light
When a house is designed to take advantage of natural light, it requires less artificial lighting, offers improved visibility, and saves energy by making temperature control easier. In winter, leave curtains open during the day to let the sun in, then close them at night to hold in the heat. In summer, Read the rest of this entry »
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