Kazuhiro Taniguchi of Hiroshima City University has developed a 17 gram “Earclip-type Wearable PC” equipped with a GPS, compass, gyrosensor, battery, barometer, speaker and microphone. A microchip and data storage enable users to load software. The device is being tested now, with promising applications for the elderly and disabled.
The system can be connected to a smartphone and allow the user to navigate through software programs using facial expressions, such as a raised eyebrow, a stuck-out tongue, a wiggle of the nose or by clenching teeth.
The device uses infrared sensors that monitor tiny movements in the ear, which differ depending on how the eyes and mouth move. Because the user does not have to move either hand, its developers say it can serve as “a third hand” caregivers, rock-climbers, motorcyclists, astronauts, and people with disabilities.
The earpiece could also function as a hearing aid, and could monitor the wearer’s health, including pulse and body temperature, while logging how often they eat and sneeze. An accelerometer could tell when the user falls and instruct the smartphone to notify relatives, or call an ambulance based on GPS data.