Wearable Superpowers for Earth and Beyond - Science Friday
Oh man, I so wish I was sitting in the studio for this discussion.
Wearable technologists from the University of Minnesota talk about solving problems for firefighters, astronauts, and creating real functional outfits that you see from sci-fi movies.
Ultrasonic waves are used in firefighters’ gloves to give a vibration/ haptic feedback whenever there is an object in their path, which is helpful to avoid obstacles or locate people when navigating through smoke and darkness during search and rescue.
One other aspect I found interesting is the “re-placement” of human elements. The example they gave was sweat. Hands feel sweat, and when astronauts are in space, that sweat has no where to go without gravity. They are working on heat regulated ventilation garments where they can put the sweat on the back of the hand so that it doesn’t affect dexterity.
Then I thought about my sweat. Wouldn’t it be cool if my sweat produced in my armpits could be wicked away somehow and moved toward the bottom of my arms?