Scent By A Wireless Web

‘Scent Whisper’ is a jewellery project that provides a new way to send a scented message. The two pieces focus on a spider and the defence mechanism in bombardier beetles that squirt predators with a high-pressure jet of boiling liquid in a rapid-fire action. The devices involve microfluidics and wireless technology that link a remote sensor (a spider) with a fragrance-dispensing unit (a bombardier beetle) to create two items of jewellery that constitute the ‘wireless web’. A message is ‘scent by a wireless web’’ from a spider to a bombardier beetle brooch, that sprays a minute sample of fragrance. The purpose is to benefit human wellbeing, through olfaction stimulation of the autonomic nervous system, and as a novel communication system to send an aroma ‘message’ that could be healing (lavender), protective (insect repellent), seductive (pheromones) informative or communicative. The user whispers a secret message into a spider brooch, which transmits the message to a beetle brooch worn by an admirer. The spider’s sensor, implanted in its abdomen records the humidity of her breath and releases scent from the beetle onto a localized area, creating a personal ‘scent bubble’. About this conference: Wearable Futures was an interdisciplinary conference, aiming to bring together practitioners, inventors, and theorists in the field of soft technology and wearables including those concerned with fashion, textiles, sportswear, interaction design, media and live arts, medical textiles, wellness, perception and psychology, IPR, polymer science, nanotechnology, military, and other relevant research strands. Examining how some broad generic questions could be explored in relation to wearable technology the conference referred to but was not restricted to: aesthetics and design, function and durability versus market forces; the desires, needs and realities of wearable technologies; technology and culture; simplicity and sustainability; design for wearability; wearables as theatre and wearables as emotional 'tools'. Wearable Futures actively aimed to encourage debate, discussion and the formation of collaborative projects across a wide range of disciplines. Key fundamental questions across the conference in relation to wearables were: What is out there? Who wants it? What do they want? How is it achieved? Keynotes were drawn from the field of fashion and textiles through Suzanne Lee and Sarah E. Braddock Clarke; interactive design through Chris Baber; and design and computational arts through Joanna Berzowska. These diverse speakers provided an overview for the wide range of papers, poster and exhibits (over 60) presented in the panels and exhibition covering four broad themes drawn from strands taken from the initial call: Technology and Culture; Aesthetics and Making; Design for Wearability; and Desires, Need and Reality. The conference set out to highlight the growing arena for wearable technologies in an interdisciplinary context and also to look at the positive and negative applications of technology in this context. This was enhanced by the inclusion of an exhibition, supported by the Arts Council of Wales, which ensured that there was space for the rhetoric and the reality of the field to be discussed concurrently. Research within the Smart Clothes Wearable Technologies Group at University of Wales proposes the end-user as key to its practice and this conference reflected that in the approach to selection of papers and exhibits. The conference ensured that the full landscape of the field in 2005 was reflected through practitioners in design, art, craft, science, technology, cultural theory & performance, thus taking the subject beyond 80's and 90's research in which, for example, the work of Steve Mann and MIT put the individual researcher at the centre. Prototypes were an essential component to the conference and curated into the exhibition, which in 2005, in contrast to Mann, shows a focus on making the technology appear seamless rather than celebrating it through high visibility. One year on from Wearable Futures, research in the field seems to have expanded out into other areas of technology and practice with further conferences, applications and publications reflecting these developments. As 2010 becomes the present rather than the future (see Sarah E. Braddock Clarke and Marie OMahony, Tecnho Textiles: Revolutionary Fabrics for Fashion & Design, Thames and Hudson, 1997), what will the realities of wearables, smart materials and technology be in the next ten years? Wearable Futures generated a starting point for this area of debate; a key emerging strand being the focus on the body and its relationship to technology. Cyborg culture is being revisited but the concerns and relationship with the technology are different from the ones of 20 years ago. New materials evolving through Biotech and Nanoscience have the potential to supersede the machine and/or electronic driven devices, contributing to the design and creation of 'new flesh' or carrier of technology. These applications are being explored by creatives, academics and cultural theorists, whilst being applied to prototypes and industry with the end user in mind. Wearable Futures was a window on that changing role in 2005

RCUK Business Plan competition

Abstract: Sensory Design & Technology Ltd (SD&T) is seeking investment to develop and sell eScent® jewellery at a retailer in time for Christmas 2 012. The company mission is to enhance the ‘wellbeing’ of women. Women are having children later in life; they want to stay young, feel good and look good for a longer period of time and their spending power is at its greatest between the ages of 35-45. The target market is ‘wellbeing’ which has been on the increase in recent years. It is currently valued at £212 million in the UK and set to rise. There is increased media attention and consumer focus on environmentally friendly ‘eco’ products which are also pushing the growth of this market. This is increased by regulation to ensure product claims are valid due to fake ‘wellbeing’ claims. There are more than 8.5 million people in the UK who survive on as little as four hours of sleep a night. Women particularly find the juggling act of holding down a job and family life extremely challenging. Half of employed mothers reported sleep deprivation causing acute levels of stress and placing tremendous burden on marriages. Products to improve sleep grew by 10 per cent in 2009 and are worth £38 million in the UK. By 2014, sales of such products are expected to reach £45.3 million. This need is met by selling eScent®; scent dispensing jewellery that is solvent-free, reduces anxiety, improves sleep, rejuvenates the mind and is kinder to the skin. The way people use scent today in almost all applications is poorly targeted, inefficient and wasteful. eScent® is for everyday use; it is a high-tech product that is programmed to deliver a ‘wardrobe of fragrances’ to improve ‘wellbeing’, help relax and unwind. eScent® is fabricated from a built-in microfluidic device and delivers a personalised scent therapy experience, focussed solely for the user – day and night. It offers a patented, timed/controlled therapeutic scent dispenser which can also be placed on a bedside table, a child’s car seat or crib. The business model lies in SD&T designing the products, distributed initially by an exclusive launch at a retailer. The secondary market is for SD&T to sell replaceable cartridges as consumable products which are expected to be considerably greater than the primary market. At a later stage, the company will expand further into other market opportunities including medical, mobile phones, consumer products and apparel. The comp any would seek further investment from leading fashion designers to miniaturise eScent® and integrate within buttons to deliver their own signature perfumes. SD&T has an experienced management team with the relevant skills for this business in Fashion, Fragrance, Microfluidics and Biotechnology. The Chairman designate of the company is the former Chairman of the Fragrance Foundation. The company was founded by Dr Jenny Tillotson, a Senior Research Fellow in Fashion at Central Saint Martins and Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge. Dr Tillotson is acknowledged as a pioneer in the growing science and art of Scentsory Design®; computerised scent-output systems worn on the body for fashion and ‘wellbeing’ applications. She gained commercial experience working for a Wearable Technology company spinout from the MIT Media Lab

Painting the ideal home: using art to express visions of technologically supported independent living for older people in North East England

This paper describes the investigation of the development of future technological products to support older people in everyday living through the agency of a community art group. Recent research has identified a number of challenges facing designers seeking to use traditional participatory design approaches to gather technology requirements data from older people. Here, a project is described that sought to get a group of older people to think creatively about their needs and desires for technological support through the medium of paint. The artistic expression technique described in this article allowed the identification of issues that had also been found by previous research that used a range of different techniques. This indicates that the approach shows promise, as it allows information to be gathered in an environment that is comfortable and familiar using methods already known by the participants and which they find enjoyable. It provides a complement (or possible alternative) to standard protocols and has the potential benefit of extracting even richer information as the primary task for participants is enjoyable in its own right and is not associated with an interrogative process. Furthermore, it is argued that some of the key risks of traditional approaches are lessened or removed by the naturalistic setting of this approach

Planning & Open-Air Demonstrating Smart City Sustainable Districts

The article is focused on the \u201cdemonstration\u201d activities carried out by the University of Genoa at Savona Campus facilities in order to implement the \u201cLiving Lab Smart City\u201d. The idea is to transform the Savona Campus in a Living Lab of the City of the Future: smart technologies in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and energy sectors were installed in order to show a real application of the Smart City concept to population and external stakeholders. Moreover, special attention was given to the environment, personal wellbeing, and social equalities. The sustainable energy Research Infrastructures (RIs) of Savona Campus allowed enhancement of the applied research in degree programs and the collaboration with several companies. In particular, an important partnership with the Italian electric Distribution System Operator (DSO), ENEL S.p.A., started in 2017 to test the capability of these RIs to operate disconnected from the National Grid, relying only on the supply of renewables and storage systems. The \u201cLiving Lab Smart City\u201d is an important action to reduce the carbon footprint of the Savona Campus and to increase the awareness of students, teachers and researchers towards Sustainable Development in Higher Education Institutes

The impact of using location-based services with a behaviour-disordered child

In this paper we explore technologies that help parents locate their children. Parents regularly use mobile phones to stay in touch with their children, but recent developments in location-based tracking allow parents to assess the location of their child directly. Such location-based services offer new assurances, but also bring new privacy challenges. In order to explore these, we conducted a case study focussing on the way in which a family has used location-based technologies to keep track of a child with Aspergers Syndrome and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. This novel research shows that Location-Based Services, although usually applied to lone-worker situations, can be effectively applied to other user groups. The parents of the child were interviewed at length, and the interview was analysed using qualitative methods. The findings are discussed and considered against a current predictive model of LBS use

UN Global Pulse: Annual Report 2013

Through public-private partnerships, innovative analysis and the development of open-source methodologies, Global Pulse is strengthening public sector capacity to leverage digital Big Data for development and resilience. This report provides a brief overview of advances made during 2013