Next steps in wearable tech

Tech devices are rapidly evolving from those you carry around with you in a pocket to those you wear on an arm, and they seem to be getting smaller and smaller. We have the laptop as the progenitor, culminating in the smartphone and tablet.

And beyond: Google Glass, a computer you wear, freeing your hands, that can connect to the Internet via voice commands. The “smartwatch” is now in the works. Plus, there are little fitness gadgets you can wear that record vital data including number of steps taken in a day.

Inspiration for an Invention

Isabel Hoffman’s daughter, 14, became very sick after moving to America from Europe. Doctors couldn’t diagnose her.

Hoffman, an entrepreneur, then took her daughter to Dr. Neil Nathan, who diagnosed the teen with toxicity to the mold Aspergillus penicillium. A house mold test confirmed this. The Hoffmans moved, and the girl was put on a gluten free diet, since the toxicity causes gluten intolerance, and her health was restored.

Hoffman wondered how many other people suffer with unexplained ailments. So she, with a partner who’s a mathematician, created a handheld device: TellSpec.

Point it at or hold near an object, including food, and it transmits ingredient information to its smartphone app and displays the data.

Have celiac disease? Scan foods with TellSpec to see if they have gluten. Allergic to soy or simply want to avoid it? Hover the device, which is smaller than a mobile, near the food to get your readout on your smartphone.

TellSpec also supplies information about potential health issues with the ingredient. Sounds like “Star Trek,” but this device will be on the market August 2014.

How Wearable Technology will save Lives

• Can identify substances in foods that can literally kill a person with an allergy, such as peanuts, or harm a person, such as gluten.
• Can identify sugar content: valuable for diabetics.
• Can identify toxins in water and walls.
• Current wearable devices can track blood pressure, heart rate and other vitals: data that not only is helpful to fitness conscious people, but those with medical conditions.