Estate Living Magazine Connection - Issue 43 July 2019 | Page 59

L I V E
S M A R T
With a globally ageing population, health tech is a focus for many
companies that are creating life-saving technology like the diabetes
monitor DEXCOM (dexcom.com/en-GB), which places a small sensor
under the skin. The bonus is not only life saving, but life changing, as
children and adults with diabetes can exercise, partake in playgroups
and sleep easily knowing that they are constantly monitored.
ANNOUK WIPPRECHT’S SPIDER DRESS (anoukwipprecht.nl)
merges technology and safety into a beautiful and elegant solution to
strengthen and protect the wearer. But the Spider Dress is perhaps not
as easily carried off by all of us as are other exoskeletons such as SuitX
(suitx.com), which is giving movement back to mobility-challenged
people (youtube.com/watch?v=7GR_lWgwrgs) and support to factory
workers.
Women’s healthcare is vastly under-researched (an interesting read is
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline
Criado Pérez) but the wearable market is realising how much can be
solved, and what a lucrative field it is. A shift in this can be found in
companies like Grace (gracecooling.com) – a bracelet that detects and
cools hot flushes ensuring that discomfort is minimised during the day,
and the incredible peaks in body heat that hinder sleep are curtailed.
ASENSEI (asensei.com/pages/vision) monitors your actions through
sensors in your clothing, and feeds back into your earpiece how you
should adapt to optimise your training session. The concept is to
give you the best coaching by monitoring your form and correcting
immediately. It is also used by coaches to monitor you, and notify them
when you require assistance.
Welcome to the future
When we take all these elements – exoskeletons, minuscule health
devices and nanotechnology – along with IoE (Internet of Everything),
what we will have is a deeply connected and integrated universe that
centres on our individual body within a material world, and is supported
by a vast intelligence underpinned and evolving to you with AI.
Author: Chantal Lailvaux is a co-founder of AIHO and Kin, as well as ambassador for the CityAI
South Africa, and co-director for Pint of Science South Africa. Lailvaux’s passion is to bring simplicity
to the delivery of STEAM-based complexity through research, projects and public discourse.
I
As an example of how small wearables are becoming, take a look at
DIGISEC (digiseq.co.uk), which has created wearable ‘bank cards’
that are small enough to be fitted into a ring, and with which you can
make everyday purchases.