The feelSpace navigation belt vibrates to help the vision-impaired find their way outside. Worn around the waist, the German Institute of Cognitive Science-developed belt connects wirelessly to a smartphone navigation app. As individuals move, specific sides of the belt vibrate to direct travel to a predetermined destination.  

////////////////////////////

A medical implant called a stentrode could help people suffering from paralysis to move again. Inserted into a blood vessel next to the brain’s motor cortex, the tiny devices detected and recorded brain activity in animal testing. Researchers at the University of Melbourne in Australia plan to use stentrodes with a group of paralyzed patients in 2017. It’s hoped the technology will wirelessly communicate brain activity to bionic exoskeletons that patients wear, allowing them to move by thought alone.  

////////////////////////////

Smart bandages with integrated temperature sensors, informational LEDs and tiny reservoirs to deliver medicine could help skin wounds heal better. Made out of a rubbery hydrogel designed by MIT mechanical engineers, the material is extremely flexible and can stick to the inside fold of a knee, for example. The bandage can release medication in response to skin temperature or light up if its medication runs low.