Come in contact with toxic substances while working in a lab and you’ll literally be caught red handed (or blue in this case). New gloves are being developed now at the Fraunhofer Research Institution that will alert wearers that they’ve been exposed to chemicals or other poisons. The gloves are equipped with a custom senor material that when exposed to hazardous substances, turns it blue. This immediate and real-time feedback will help researchers, lab techs and scientists avoid overexposure and encourage safer lab habits.

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Researchers at Duke University have used a consumer-grade 3D printer to make something out of a Sci-Fi movie- an invisibility cloak. Yaroslav Urzhumov and his crew of engineers have used the printer to create a device that sort of looks like a giant perforated waffle. The holes and perforations are arranged in an algorithm that, together, deflect microwave beams and make the obscuring cloak- that is easily printed on an at-home 3D printer.

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Illustration by Stop the Cyborgs

Now that the Google Glass has hit the mainstream, we’re just waiting for the slew of usage bans that are anticipated to ensue. With texting and cell phones banned everywhere from driving to movie theaters, a device like Google Glass is sure to follow suit- despite the lack of regulation to the brand new device.

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Extruded plastic baubles not your thing? Rapid-prototype firm Hot Pop Factory just unveiled the world’s first three-dimensionally printed wooden necklaces. Named after the northern forest, the limited-edition “Boreal” collection, uses recycled cherrywood filaments instead of the typical powdered nylon. Mixed with a binding polymer, the material even emanates the “slightest scent of charred wood” during the 42-minute printing process, according to founders Matt Compeau and Bi-Ying Miao, who use a Makerbot Replicator for their fabrications. The resulting curvature and heat-induced striations, much like fingerprints or the rings of a tree, are unique to each individual piece.

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Firefighters and rescue workers have a lot working against them while battling blazes or searching through rubble. It’s hard to see and hear, plus their protective gear, while incredibly important, is desensitizing. A new tactile helmet developed by researchers at the Sheffield Centre for Robotics could give these life savers an extra sense of touch. Like mouse whiskers (or curb feelers), the distance-detecting sensors in the helmet cause pads to vibrate in the helmet, alerting the wearer to nearby surfaces. This early warning system could help them navigate and move faster in dark and smoky places without running into walls.

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In the wake of the horrific gang rape in Delhi last December, Indian women are taking to the streets in protest and even creating products to help prevent rape. Three engineering students have come up with anti-rape lingerie that will literally shock an assailant with electricity if they attack someone who is wearing it. The underthings, named SHE (Society Harnessing Equipment) are also equipped with GPS and the ability to text emergency services and the girl’s parents to alert them of her location and situation. The trio created the electro-shock underwear because they felt helpless that the government wasn’t doing enough to protect women.

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Google will be manufacturing its “Glass” eyewear in Silicon Valley, a move that the Financial Times hails as a “high-profile example of the return of electronics manufacturing to the U.S.” The technology giant will be working with Hon Hai Precision Industry, the Taiwanese firm better known as Foxconn, to assemble the futuristic eyewear at a facility in Santa Clara in California. Tim Bradshaw reports that only a few thousand of the devices will roll off the factory line in the coming weeks, compared with the millions of Apple products Foxconn typically cranks out in China.

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You thought the smartphone wars were bad? Just wait till the battle heats up over the smartwatch. As Samsung goes public with its plans for a wristwatch-style computer, and rumors of an Apple “iWatch” hits fever pitch, the giants of the tech world have just begun to fight. Not that companies aren’t already competing for real estate on your arm, of course. Sony released an Android-powered model last April. The Pebble watch, which raised a record-smashing $10 million on Kickstarter, began shipping in January. And let’s not even mention the plethora of fitness bracelets—Fitbit, Jawbone Up, Nike Fuelband—that are vying for a slice of an increasingly saturated market.

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The aptly named Helmet of Justice is a video camera-equipped brain bucket that can record evidence onto a USB drive in case of a crash. Developed by software developers from Chaotic Moon, the ‘black box’ bicycle helmet was designed to help cyclists figure out what happened if they got hit by a car and prove fault if need be. The Austin firm developed the 360 degree video helmet after one of their own employees fell victim to a hit and run while riding his bike. Drivers beware – the Helmet of Justice is on the case!

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Not everyone pulls a nine-to-fiver within the confines of an office cubicle. “Roughnecks,” for instance, regularly brave below-freezing temperatures in the Arctic in pursuit of oil and natural gas. To help these workers cope with their hostile environment, Norwegian scientists are developing a line of “smart” clothing that can help supervisors determine when their charges should stop working and head back inside. Instead of relying on temperature and wind measurements to gauge safety conditions, the “ColdWear” jacket features built-in sensors that monitor the physiological health of its wearer in real time.

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Forget Google Glass; the tech giant is in the footwear business now. Or at least it was at the SXSW series of film, interactive, and music festivals in Austin on Monday. Together with Adidas, the technology giant unveiled its concept “Talking Shoe,” a smart sneaker designed to get people off the couch and exercising. But Google didn’t just see fit to give the shoe the usual moving parts (an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a pressure sensor, Bluetooth connectivity). The sneaker also boasts a personality, one that is alternatively cheering and jeering depending on your level of activity.

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Snowballs are a quirky name for a great concept – underwear to help men with infertility issues. After experimenting with different techniques to help him and his wife conceive, designer Joshua Shoemake found that using ice in the nether regions helped to bring down high temperatures and improve fertility. After ‘icing’ for a year, Shoemake became a father himself, and soon afterwards developed the idea of organic cotton underwear with re-freezable SnowWedges incorporated in the design, perfect for cooling.

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When Frog Design ran an internal competition for new wearable-technology concepts in 2012, its Seattle office submitted a do-it-yourself kit designed to give preteen girls the tools to create their own “smart” accessories. Geared toward the influential—and pivotal—tween demographic, the “Hello World” box featured accessible Arduino-based projects that require zero programming skills to complete. And, thanks to its modular design, the kit also allowed plenty of scope for creativity and personal expression. Frog Design needs to bring this to market soon, not just because it’s likely to spark a love of computing in a new generation of girls, but also, more selfishly, because we want one for ourselves.

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Both Iris van Herpen and the tag team of Francis Bitonti and Michael Schmidt claimed to have created the world’s first three-dimensionally printed dress. Let’s settle this the classy way, mano a mano. Who did it better?

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Photos by Albert Sanchez

Dita Von Teese did more than show off her curves at Manhattan’s Ace Hotel Monday night. The burlesque star and fashion icon also modeled what designers Michael Schmidt and Francis Bitonti claim is the world’s first fully articulated three-dimensionally printed gown. (Iris van Herpen might beg to differ, but we digress.) Created in conjunction with rapid-prototyping marketplace Shapeways, the Fibonacci-inspired mesh number consists of thousands of nylon chain links, dyed black, lacquered, and embellished with more than 13,000 Swarovski crystals to achieve its “sensual flowing form.”

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We’ve all seen the recent reports of the off-the-charts air pollution in China. The horrific air quality has prompted many Chinese to wear air pollution masks at all times and there are even mobile apps to alert people to the harsh air quality. As part on an international in-house competition, the Shanghai office of Frog Design set about to combine the two concepts into a smart device – the AirWaves mask, a pollution air mask that monitors the air quality in real time and shares the data to so everyone could see it. The combo mask and mobile app could alert people to hazardous conditions while improving monitoring for the country overall.

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Never let it be said that Barbie doesn’t have an eye for emerging trends. After forays into everything from aeronautics to zookeeping, America’s favorite plastic dilettante is poised to tackle the Next Big Thing: smart clothing. Unveiled at the 2013 Toy Fair in New York City, the upcoming “Digital Dress” doll features an interactive touchscreen frock that lets just about anyone “draw” their own animated designs, no programming experience necessary.

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Nike made history on Sunday when it debuted the first-ever football cleat built using rapid-prototyping technology. Weighing no more than 5.6 ounces, the “Vapor Laser Talon” boasts a contoured three-dimensionally printed plate designed to provide optimal traction, as well as help football athletes maintain their “drive stance” longer and more effectively, according to the sportswear giant.

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Up until last year, treatment for chronic acid reflux involved acid-suppressing drugs, but a new device fitted around a patient’s esophagus is showing promising results to provide relief. A recent study through the Mayo Clinic shows that nearly all patients outfitted with the esophagus ring had lesser symptoms and many were able to stop taking their medicines. The device is made up of tiny magnetic titanium beads and works as replacement valve to stop acid leaking from the stomach up to the esophagus.

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It doesn’t shoot web fluid from its wrists, but Victor Mateevitsi’s high-tech bodysuit could be the closest thing you’ll get to experiencing real-life “Spidey sense.” Inspired by the Spider-Man—and the tingly sensation the comic superhero feels when danger is close—”SpiderSense” could allow the visually impaired to sense and avoid obstacles in their vicinity. Doctor Octopus himself would approve of its construction. The suit features small robotic arms encased in microphone-equipped modules that send and receive ultrasonic reflections from adjacent objects. When the ultrasound detects someone (or something) moving closer, the arms respond by placing pressure on the part of the body closest to the “threat.” “When someone is punching Spider-Man, he feels the sensation and can avoid it,” Mateevitsi, a computer-science graduate student at the University of Illinois in Chicago, told New Scientist on Friday. “Our suit is the same concept.”

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Google is reportedly working with Warby Parker, a popular eyeglass company that sells its trendy wares online, to design “more-fashionable frames” for its “Glass” headset, according to anonymous sources who spoke with the New York Times on Thursday. Founded a mite two years ago, Warby Parker made its mark not only by selling its spectacles—prescription lenses and shipping included—for a then-unheard of $95, but also for its TOMS-like “one for one” business model. (To wit, for every pair of frames purchased, Warby Parker donates another to someone in need.) Google is obviously gunning to make Glass a status accessory. The device made its New York Fashion Week debut in September when models wore colored versions at Diane von Furstenberg’s runway show.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Google is Recruiting “Glass Explorers” to Test-Drive Its Headset

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Looking to dye your lovely locks, but without the toxic chemicals? Well, you’re in luck because you could be dying your hair with gold someday. Though a couple of scientists in New Zealand were able to successfully dye lamb’s wool with gold, Dr. Philippe Walter at Université Pierre et Marie Curie-CNRS and his colleagues were interested in trying out gold nanotechnology to dye hair. It’s known that the Romans and Greeks used to dye their hair with lead, so Dr. Walter figured gold would have similar effects. They carried out the test on a couple of white hairs by soaking them in gold particles. After a day, the hairs turned yellow then a little over two weeks later, the hairs were permanently a dark brown — even after several washes.

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