Lifeboat Foundation

Sensing a hug from each other via the internet may be a possibility in the near future. A research team led by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) recently developed a wireless, soft e-skin that can both detect and deliver the sense of touch, and form a touch network allowing one-to-multiuser interaction. It offers great potential for enhancing the immersion of distance touch communication.

“With the rapid development of virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), our visual and auditory senses are not sufficient for us to create an immersive experience. Touch communication could be a revolution for us to interact throughout the metaverse,” said Dr. Yu Xinge, Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at CityU.

While there are numerous haptic interfaces in the market to simulate tactile sensation in the virtual world, they provide only touch sensing or haptic feedback. The uniqueness of the novel e-skin is that it can perform self-sensing and haptic reproducing functions on the same interface.

Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced the invention of a nanowire, 10,000 times thinner than a human hair, which can be cheaply grown by common bacteria and can be tuned to “smell” a vast array of chemical tracers—including those given off by people afflicted with different medical conditions, such as asthma and kidney disease.

Thousands of these specially tuned wires, each sniffing out a different chemical, can be layered onto tiny, wearable sensors, allowing health-care providers an unprecedented tool for monitoring potential health complications. Since these wires are grown by bacteria, they are organic, biodegradable and far greener than any inorganic nanowire.

To make these breakthroughs, which were detailed in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectrics, senior authors Derek Lovley, Distinguished Professor of Microbiology at UMass Amherst, and Jun Yao, professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering at UMass Amherst, needed to look no farther than their own noses.

Summary: Recent studies have explored the use of psychedelics for the treatment of a range of mental health disorders. A new study reveals more insightful and mystical “trips” while exposed to psychedelics may be linked to an enduring reduction of symptoms for those with anxiety and depression.

Source: Ohio State University.

A more mystical and insightful psychedelic drug experience may be linked to an enduring reduction in anxiety and depression symptoms, according to a new study.

Optogenetic control of neural activity in the deep brain is achieved without intracranial surgery using ChRmine.

Synthetic speech and voice cloning startup Resemble AI has introduced an “audio watermark” to tag AI-generated speech without compromising sound quality. The new PerTh Perceptual Threshold) Watermarker embeds the sonic signature of Resemble’s synthetic media engine into a recording to mark its AI origin regardless of future audio manipulation, yet subtle enough that no human can hear it.

Audio Watermarking

Visual watermarking hides one image within another, invisible without a computer scanner in the case of particularly high-security documents. The same principle applies to audio watermarks, except it’s a very soft sound that people won’t notice but encoded with information that a computer could decipher. The concept isn’t new, but Resemble has leveraged its audio AI to make PerTh more reliable without compromising the realism of its synthetic speech creation.

Continue reading “Resemble AI Creates Synthetic Audio Watermark to Tag Deepfake Speech” »

Blurring lines between man and machine.

A breakthrough has made way for a new paradigm in bioelectronics. Earlier, it took the implantation of physical objects to initiate electronic processes in the body. Humans have incorporated technology to enhance the human experience and take charge of their evolution. They’ve also integrated devices within them that could alternately function as organs when biological tissues fail.

Scientists have now developed a viscous gel that will be enough in the future.

Continue reading “Scientists grow electrodes in brain, thanks to a simple viscous gel” »

The transient electronic bandage reduces inflammation, and dissolves into your body after use.

Northwestern scientists have created a groundbreaking medical device with the potential to revolutionize healing: an electrotherapy patch that accelerates wound recovery and safely self-dissolves when no longer necessary.

Cost-effective solution for closing wounds.

Continue reading “First-of-its-kind e-bandage speeds wound healing” »

A precise replica of the patient’s heart is created as a soft, flexible shell.

MIT engineers’ newly developed robotic heart will help doctors adjust therapies to individuals’ unique heart structures and functions. The personalized 3D-printed heart can control and imitate the patient’s capacity to pump blood.

Melanie Gonick/MIT

Continue reading “MIT scientists developed a 3D-printed heart that works like a real one” »

Health — operanewsapp.