The Spinovo relieves middle and lower back pain by heating, cooling and “transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)”. That last one sounds a bit creepy, but it seems like the embedded electrode pads will only deliver the mildest of currents to stimulate the nerves. The TENS as well as the temperature treatment can be triggered by the user via the remote control, but I’m not sure if there’s an option for them to activate automatically.

As for correcting the wearer’s posture, bend sensors and electromyography sensors are used to detect the movement and position of the spine, as well as muscle activity. The wearer will be given aural and visual feedback via the remote if he needs to correct his posture. A couple of Lithium-ion batteries are used to power Spinovo for as long as 2 hours per charge.

Sounds neat, although it would be nice if the Spinovo was also a bit rigid so that the wearer would be coaxed into the proper posture as soon as the garment is worn. The Spinovo was one of the finalists in last year’s James Dyson Award, but there’s no word if Justine Smith is planning to turn her concept into an actual product.

[via TechChee]

Developed by a team from Osaka University, the Paranga is a mechanical device that acts as a controller for an E-book reader, providing readers with the sensation of actually flipping pages. The system can detect how much the book is bent, then page flips are detected using a paper-covered roller. Here’s a video the guys at DigInfo TV shot, showing off the Paranga in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Funny thing is that it’s not accurate enough yet to detect individual page turns, so in the prototype it’s used to just play with a flip-book animation. The concept seems interesting enough, but the fact that any version of such a device would add unnecessary bulk to the svelte E-reader, it’s kind of a non-starter. Perhaps they’ll figure out a way to create some sort of miniature haptic device that feels like turning pages without all the mechanical components, and then they’ll have something. For now, the concept is nothing more than an amusing novelty.

[via YouTube]

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My Touch Keys is a overlay that sits on your iPhone’s screen and has cutouts which line up with the location of the on-screen keyboard (portrait mode only). The static-cling sheets use their subtle divots to give you feedback on the location of the keys, even if you’re not looking at the screen.

I’d be concerned that the ridges on the film might get in the way of other, non-keyboarding activities, but the makers claim that you can still use the screen without interference. At just $7.99 a pair (including shipping), it’s not too much of a gamble, so if you have any desire to improve your iPhone typing accuracy and speed, you can grab one here.

[via Phonemag via Ubergizmo]

The Samsung SCH-W559 phone provides users with a vibration that approximates the sensation of a key click when they interact with the phone’s touchscreen. The QVGA color touchscreen display also supports handwriting recognition. The quad-band phone also features typical media phone capabilities including a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth and audio/video playback. As the phone is currently not available outside of Asia, I’m hoping this feature will find its way into some products stateside.

[via NewLaunches]