Important Innovations

GymCam Source:  Carnegie Mellon University New Smart Camera, New Algorithm, New Exercise Tracking Carnegie Mellon University engineers have developed a smart fitness tracker for the gym and for your home exercise area.  The GymCam system scans the crowds in a gym to automatically identify exercises and count the number of repetitions. All that's needed is a stationary camera with the new algorithm in a gym to detect exercise, the type of exercise and reliably count the number of repetitions. In your home for personal use, it can do the same functions.  It works with a smartphone for a person to record and track their workouts at home.  CMU says a number of companies are expressing interest in the system for in-home exercise. Vision Based System with New Algorithm This is a vision based system that employs a new algorithm to detect repetitive motion.  The CMU inventors say it goes beyond wearable sensors like smart watches, which they say don't track all exercises equa

Carnegie Mellon University's "Miraculous" Liquid Metal Droplets Enable Self-Healing Electronics This is a tech wonder.  Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have created a substance that spontaneously repairs itself under extreme mechanical damage.  The scientists say it could be used to build self-repairing robots and wearable computing, among other leading-edge tech. Breakthrough New Material The soft-matter composite material is composed of liquid metal droplets suspended in a soft elastomer. When damaged the droplets rupture to form new connections and they reroute electrical signals without any interruptions.  Circuits made of traces of the material remain fully operational even when severed. Exciting Uses Like Wearable Computing The differentiators in this self-healing material are its flexibility and softness just like natural skin.  That primes it for wearable computing and soft humanoid robots that are safe with human. Other applications are bio-in