Who: Professor Todd Coleman’s Neural Interaction Lab, and recent graduate Dr. Dae Kang
What it does: Continuous monitoring of vital signs can be uncomfortable, high noise, and restricted to hospital environments. However, recent developments in flexible, stretchable electronics are allowing metrics like brain activity (via EEG) to be measured wirelessly and with high precision. A typical EEG involves attaching electrodes to the scalp with glue and gel, connected to wires and heavy machinery. The temporary tattoos under development in the Coleman lab accomplish the same thing wirelessly. Due to improved conformability to the skin – they can even reduce motion artifacts in comparison to standard machinery. Further, the technique is modifiable: different miniature sensors can be added depending on the desired application.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, or even use Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for MakeCode, CircuitPython, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell with Google Hangouts On-Air is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
