Wearable computing has taken another step forward with a new fiber development coming from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China. The fiber is actually a tiny capacitor stretched into a flexible thread that can be woven into cloth. This offers interesting possibilities for energy storage and for sensors that can be woven into clothing.

By creating a simple rolled capacitor and then heating and extruding it, Professor Jian Feng Gu and his team have created a soft, flexible fiber that is between 0.5 and 1 millimeter (0.02 to 0.04 inches) in diameter that can be woven into cloth yet also has 1,000 times as much capacitance as a coaxial cable.

Used in conjunction with pizeoelectric energy generators (or a portable solar panel) energy to operate electronic devices could be stored in the fibers. Sensors could be developed by combining these fibers with other inductor materials, which could lead to a variety of sensing circuits, as well.

via: MIT Technology Review

Like an incandescent bulb, an ordinary LED shines light in all directions. An Austin TX company, Illumitex, is making LEDs that are much more directional. The package Illumitex is manufacturing is a square array of 16 LEDs that actually projects light in a square pattern. (There is a video clip showing this from Greentech Enterprise.) This means, for many lighting purposes - including illuminating signage, worksurface lighting, and so forth - more of the light goes where it is wanted.

While the Illumitex package only puts out 500 lumens, compared to the roughly 900 of a typical 60 watt incandescent bulb, the lighting is comparable, or even better, because the directional nature of the square LED package puts all of the light out in the direction where it is needed, instead of spreading it out in all directions. This also means that a light fixture using the Illumitex package would not need secondary reflectors or other directional lighting control, meaning that the fixture could be much smaller in size. And the Illumitex LED package only uses 6.5 watts.

via: Inhabitat