The entire world is in a big hurry, it’s exhausting. There aren’t enough hours in the day. The craving for performance has moved beyond the realms of physical capabilities. Everyone is craving optimal mental performance. The capacity to get more out of your brain on a daily basis opens up so many possibilities. How much happier could you be? How much more money could you make?

‘Brain fry’ is an experience we all can relate to. When you just feel like you can’t concentrate, or you aren’t working at 100% capacity. This increased experience of mental fatigue is not only limited to high end executives though.  Those diagnosed with long term conditions such as neurological disorders and stroke also experience increased mental fatigue and may see exacerbations of other symptomology if they over-stimulate their brain.

If we were to be presented with a technology that could inform us about our impending decline in mental performance, and we then did something about it, we could experience some quite dramatic benefits. Positive effects of such a technology could include prevention of headaches and migraines and greater productivity at work. The benefits could span even further with implications on large populations. Imagine the number of motoring accidents that could be avoided if individuals were notified when it would be wise to take a rest, or the improvement in patient care if doctors were notified when their workload was becoming excessive and fatigue was increasing the likelihood of mistakes.

A Japanese company called J!NS have created a set of glasses, called Meme. The wearable technology analyses eye movement and the strength of every blink an individual makes to assess level of physical and mental fatigue and predict the rate at which these may decline in order to inform the user when it may be preferable to take a rest, before seeing a detriment in performance. The glasses sync with a smart phone app which informs the user of changes in fatigue using an intuitive interface which also has the capacity to hold your schedule and feedback on your ability to complete your tasks.

Other capabilities of the technology include calories burned, activity, posture and speed. However best of all it appears a company have finally found an appealing set of designs. J!ns provide several fashionable options destroying the conventional method of making designs as unfashionable as possible that wearable technology companies seem to employ.

The J!ns Meme technology isn’t on the market just yet however when they’re released they are expected to cost around $1000 (a reasonable £590 pounds at the current exchange rate). To compare consider the Google glass technology is expected to be sold for around $1500.

Ok, so this technology isn’t likely to hit the mainstream just yet, but the quality of aesthetic design is certainly exciting and suggests that further enhancements in the fashionable side of wearable technology are coming soon… I can’t wait.

Jack Barton (Researcher, Rescon Ltd)

Links

http://www.crunchwear.com/smart-glasses-let-know-fatigued/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+crunchwear+%28Intelligent+Clothing+-+Wearable+Electronics%2C+Smart+Clothes%2C+Smart+Fabrics%2C+Wearable+Tech%29

https://www.jins-jp.com/jinsmeme/en/