The Orange County Register gives us a current view of the market of wearable electronics that has some great insights:

In Orange County, no fewer than nine action sports brands are selling or working on apparel and accessories embedded with electronics.

And one of them is really huge:
"Our consumers want the latest technology in clothes," says Marty Samuels, president of Quiksilver Americas. "They're not just nerds."

Some of the insights are that the fashion maker think the market from the consumer. And the most important starting point still is the mp3-player and the "portable generation". This way Guerrero, a rapper, says: "It'd be great if he could peel off the technology portion of the jacket he wore yesterday and slap it on the jeans he slides on today." He thinks in gadgets so to say.

And the ocregister lists a great overview of products too:

Scottevest

* Headquarters: Ketchum, Idaho
* Product: Solar Powered jacket that charges a cell phone, PDA, Game Boy or iPod.
* Price: $425
* Hit stores: Holiday 2004

GapKids & Wild Planet

* Gap Headquarters: San Francisco
* Product: Hoodio, a hooded fleece jacket with built-in radio for children.
* Price: $68
* Hit stores: November 2004

Oakley

* Headquarters: Foothill Ranch
* Product: O Rokr sunglasses allow you to switch between stereo music and wireless cell phone
* Price: $249
* Hit stores: July 2006

The Register reports about a european police conference in Berlin, Germany. One of the real challenges on the street is to make sure that criminals can not use the policemen's gun. The conference that was more a kind of trade show but with man discussions on the floor showed one wearable system that could make sense.

A German producer of digital security systems for firearms has launched a blocking device that is inserted into the barrel and can only be removed with a pin and/or fingerprint authentication. The biometric interface can be worn around the wrist, and transmits the authentication signal via radiowave propagation.

I prepare the PIN version, otherwise s/lo could "rent" my finger...

Via Keeping Bobbies ahead of the bunch | The Register

Gizmag presents Urban Tool with some pictures. Urban Tool is from Vienna and I had the chance to test one of their products, the Sport Holster. Let's start with Gizmag:

We really like this idea - for the next decade at least, we'll have lots of gadgets to carry and this body-hugging holster concept appears the most practical solution.

Thats all you need to know but for you I'll tell a bit more.

First, yes, we all know the trouble with all the little gadgets we have. I think thats the reason why people wait for the iPhone - at least one gadget less ;-)
However, urban people want both: the possibilities because of all these little helpers (the last words reminds me to a passage in "The fifth element" ;-) and comfort.

The sport holster gives you both. For me I used it with my racing bike and my inline skates and it was more fun at all. The nice thing about inline skating is that you feel fast & free (with racing bike: faster & free'r). The sport holster just add's to that feeling. While skating nothing bothers. And when you rest everything is there, right where you need it. Now I wait for spring because I'm sure that the holster is the perfect add-on for my scooter too :-) (And I love this little key strap so much even if it is the most simple thing cause I'll never have to search for it ;-) Simple, convenient and stylish. What else do you want?

And btw. - it's just cool... Believe me ;-)

Some more pictures from Urban Tool

Via gizmag - Urban Tool sportHolsters

Urban Tool sportHolsters for people who need to carry a lot of stuff elegantly - gizmag Article

We really like this idea - for the next decade at least, we'll have lots of gadgets to carry and this body-hugging holster concept appears the most practical solution.

Some time to tinker over the weekend? Why not build your own textile switch? You maybe want to integrate something into your clothing and need to switch it on or off? For example a lamp? With this superb instruction it's that easy.

"Of course, this switch can be washed just like any other textile product.

The great thing about textile electronic is that you can easily create different shapes without much effort, just cut instead of a square a circular shape or a silhouette of a flower or . . ."

Via talk2myShirt

One of the most advanced wearable projects has stopped now, the land warrior. Time seems not to be right for the whole bunch of technologies planned. But a few became "part of the process". One of the biggest challenges is still power cause batteries where not powerful enough. Communication in the meaning of "always one" wold be important but is still not 100% reliable.

Just a little piece from this interesting must read:

Land Warrior tried to give each infantryman a wearable computer, using an eyepiece as a display (attached to the helmet, and flips down for use), and a small keypad to control the thing. GPS puts the soldiers location on the map shown in the eyepiece. Tests so far have shown that this works, but not well enough to withstand the rigors of the battlefield.

Meanwhile in Iraq, infantry officers and NCOs, equipped with PDAs, have found the map/GPS combo a tremendous aid to getting around, and getting the job done.

Go on here for the whole story: Infantry: Land Warrior Died For Our Sins

At the ISPO Website is a video about the wearable tech section this year. The video is in German (cause of the interviews are) but the pictures are still fun. Quote: Wearable Tech is the combination of computer technology and sportswear and one of the most important future markets. Burton for example has 10 jackets with controls build in.

Go to ISPO or just click here: WearableTech Video

. i s p o - the sports community .

Just found that product and wanted to show you in case you look for a new watch and / or just something to shop. No, I will not become like Engadget but that is fun: SonyEricsson MBW-100 Bluetooth for 249,-Euro is a link between your mobile and you. Via Bluetooth you may answer a call or control the music player within your phone.

The copy says (see below, in German) that we look 100times a day on the watch. Thats what I do with my mobil. This way it's just one look at both.

However, I avoid wearing a watch and believe in my "inner watch" to keep control of my time. And anyway I'll wait till end of the year for the iPhone. Then everything is melted together finally.

Pictures at Daily Gadget
German copy here
Google

Eleksen becomes more and more integrated with a bunch of technologies that are important today, most of them mobile. This way I think the news from them about their product range at this years 3GSM World Congress 2007 in Barcelona sounds quite good:

products and reference designs which combine a range of complementary technologies including Bluetooth, USB and wearable LCD display solutions with Eleksen's ElekTex smart fabric touchpads. These solutions are designed to be easily integrated into existing soft-goods products or adapted by mobile device manufacturers, carriers and soft-goods manufacturers for new product designs.

They have B2C like B2B products too what shows us that Eleksen made their Interface more specific for different applications and pay a strong attention at the business and not the hype.

Via Eleksen / Simplify User Interaction

"We have many exciting opportunities to use these proprietary coatings to stop infection before it causes disease and death," says Tom Roberg

Sounds like a huge new market that connects the pharmacy and the fashion market. The collaboration by researchers at North Carolina State University College of Textiles and Emory University School of Medicine found a new method to stop a flu with light. That technology is able to kill 99.9 percent of influenza viruses and 99.99 percent of vaccinia virus.

With such an easy idea the StartUp was already able to raise more than $400,000 in seed financing from North Carolina angel investors.

Via NC State Start-Up Looks to Turn 'Lights Out' on Flu, Other Viruses

It's just a long time ago I wrote about the will of the police in some US states to give people wrist bands to measure their drinking behavior because of former problems with alcohol in the public.

The Picayune Item writes about the bracelet and ask's the question about freedom. The Bracelet works easy: it measures the persons sweat every hour and analyzes the alcohol.

The question for freedom is much harder to answer. It's just about the ratio of society and individual and who is the one that has the control. We will see this question coming to our societies like a Tsunami...

Via The Picayune Item

Prof. Dr. Ing. Christoph Paar wrote a paper about security issues in pervasive computing. His main question was if there are differences between security applications for LAN and pervasive networks. This way he lists some of these networks and states that you'll need not much fantasy to find possible security problems here:

- Security in process automation
- Security in RFID-logistics chain
- Security in mobile applications
- Security in cars
- Security in ad-hoc-networks
- Security in geo-information-systems
- Security for "wearable" computer
- Security in intelligent rooms
- ...

Some of the differences right now are that in a LAN you can install new software what is not that easy for embedded computer chips. These chips today do not have the computing power for complex encryption. Dangerous are attacks that use information about the energy consumption or reverse engeneering to get information about the encryption used. Because you can not change things backwards it's more important to build in security systems before components are delivered.
Interesting that almost 98% of 32bit-chips are used within embedded systems and only 2% in usual computer.

Prof. Dr. Ing. Christoph Paar is director of the Horst Görtz Instituts for security in IT and teaches Communication security at the Ruhr-university Bochum, germany.

via (german) Inside-IT

A ubiquitous fashionable computer fashion show was held on 17th November in South Korea. The government staged the show in order to explore the role of fashion in a world where the Internet is always on and everyone is connected all the time.

The clothing manufacturers in South Korea are building themselves into their products as gadgets are not only ubiquitous and ever-present, but virtually a part of society after electronic devices becoming smaller every day.

My Korean is not so good - but you may check this site - it looks like there are the winner of the contest and some information of the technologies used.

News via Bharat Textile News

Picture via Nextcom Show

Part II - VDI/VDE-IT Innovation + Technik GmbH - what is it?

The VDI/VDE-IT is located in the middle of the power centers that drive innovation. The company studies research on many places, consults the government (especially the BMBF) and gives money to enterprises that are worth it. The VDI/VDE-IT is like an interface between science, politics and economy - or knowledge, power and money if you want. It translates structures into future. I call it by myself "Practical Trendoffice" ;-)

The first step is to have a "nose for trends". They "smell" or better listen carefully about whats going on in specific communities. To do so Mr. Strese for example is a studied mathematician. Open minded and structured and speaks the language of even the hardest scientists. If a trend gets stronger they check the needs and dig deeper into the communities. If a trend gets strong enough they suggest a topic to the government for support or get one backwards if there is a politic interest. Even from science come suggestions for topics from time to time.
The result is a program where companies start to get involved. Upon their business or future interest they look for themselves for a network of partner and - yep - try to get the money.

The work changed the last years. Mr. Strese told me that some 10-15 years ago the company was much more burocratic but already switched to project organization. At this earlier times the focus was on basic technologies but now is on applications.

From a business angle the target are smaller and midsized companies cause the bigger ones often enough have the money and support they need.

How these processes work will be told next saturday...

Read Part I here