You could glow in the dark with photonic skin additives and polymer LEDs

Isn’t the future wonderful? It’s just possible that you might go jogging at night without the need for reflectors or little lights to tell cars where you are, and not just because the cars are picking up your thermal signature. Researchers at the University of Tokyo have taken e-skin, a stretchable artificial skin that can have circuits embedded in it, and added polymer LEDs. These lights are highly resilient, being capable of resisting deformation while still functioning perfectly well. The innovation could be used to display patient vitals in a medical setting but the solar-powered skin-lighting could also be used for the aforementioned jogging example or as an addition to an evening outfit. Combine this with Hololens and we might as well be in the future.

Source: via Ars Technica

The Pico Neo is a mini-VR experience powered by smartphone hardware and Android

Virtual reality is everywhere. It’ll overtake actual reality, at this rate, but companies are still figuring out the best was to make their hardware. A Chinese company, Pico, claim to have worked something out by placing the components used to drive the headset, in this case a Snapdragon 820, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage and a custom version of Android, into the gamepad that the Pico Neo setup uses. The screen specs look impressive enough but whether you’ll be able to use the headset, which can also run on a PC, with Vive or Oculus VR presentations, isn’t known yet. Still, if you feel like taking a chance then the Pico Neo is up for pre-order at the moment, for $550 (around R8,000) for the headset, gamepad controller and what look like PlayStation Move knockoff wands. Now that we think of it, it does bear a certain resemblance to Project Morpheus…

Source: Pico

Samsung will let you get the Galaxy S7, S7 edge in ‘pink gold’

So you’re inordinately fond of Samsung’s new flagship smartphones but you’re worried that they’re not pink or gold enough for you. First, that’s oddly specific. Second, Apple calls that ‘rose gold’, so it’s a thing. And you’re going to be able to have the thing with a Samsung smartphone. The company has announced that the new colour option will launch in South Korea… today, actually, with “select markets” following. We hope we get it, because pink gold is a “natural color that provides a sense of comfort”. Yes, really.

Source: Samsung

Finally, something to get the Stuff team awake without resorting to a coffee IV

Who would have thought that we’d choose to develop something like this, rather than have it applied by a repressive government looking for answers. Any answers. The Shock Clock is a wearable with a bit of a bite, because it has been developed with the aim of not letting sleeping log lie. The wristband, which has passed its modest $1,000 IndieGoGo target many times over, wants to wake you up. It’ll start with a buzz, the same as a normal wristband might produce. If that doesn’t work, it resorts to an alarm, and if that fails… well, then you get the electroshock therapy you paid for. The Shock Clock will eventually retail for $99 (R1,425). We just hope it works as planned – knowing us, we’ll develop a strange habit where an electric shock sends us off to dreamland.