Nottingham Trent University

The technology has successfully been used to navigate a VR environment – note the magnetic ring on the index finger, along with the white magnetoresistive sensors in the sleeve

Wearables

Smart clothing controls devices via finger movements – no touching required

We've heard about clothing that could be used to control devices via finger taps and swipes on the fabric. The tech sounds impressive, but it does have some limitations. That's where a new "touchless" finger-gesture-detecting fabric comes in.

The metasurface display technology could replace the LCD layer in flat-screen televisions, bringing thinner panels, higher resolution, fast response times and lower power consumption

Electronics

Meta-display concept could retire LCD panels in big-screen TVs

A research team from the UK's Nottingham Trent University, the Australian National University and the University of New South Wales Canberra has developed a display prototype that could replace the LCD panels common to many of today's big-screen TVs.

The plastic counterweight (right) could save around 45,000 tonnes of CO2 each year in the UK, while also reducing transport fuel consumption by nearly 184,000 liters

Around The Home

Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin

Washing machines can be heavy appliances. Very heavy. Some of that weight is due to concrete blocks that help keep the machine stable during spin cycles. Researchers have developed a plastic counterweight to replace the concrete, which is hollow and light until delivery and then filled with water.

The Hive at Kew Gardens in London is a new installation inspired by recent research on bee communication

Architecture

Bees help shape experience inside The Hive

Coming to London’s Kew Gardens is an installation from sculptor Wolfgang Buttress. The Hive is a light-, sound- and vibration-emitting structure controlled by the activity of bees in an actual beehive on the garden’s grounds.

Sensors right in car seat textile could be used to monitor heart rate and detect when a driver is falling asleep

Automotive

Heart rate-sensing car seats could alert sleepy drivers

Falling asleep at the wheel is extremely dangerous both for the driver, and for others sharing the road with them. Researchers are working on a solution to this threat. They're doing it with sensors in a car seat that detect the driver's heart rate, and alert the driver if they start dozing off.