Embr Wave: the device that changes your body temperature

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The device presented at the most recent CES electronic fair can "hack your brain" to change your body temperature

A team of graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology created a wrist band with which it is possible to give a perception of heat or cold to those who use it through the thermoelectric effect.

They explain in their launch to the market that the core temperature does not change, that is, it is not an internal physiological change but a response of the nerve endings generated by the handle. This is explained by one of the exhibitors for the Digital Trends website: "The feeling is as if you had your hands around a cup of hot coffee in the winter, after entering the cold or having cooled your fingers in the ocean afterward from a hot day, so it really does not change your core temperature. Change the temperature of your wrist while you use it."

Peltier effect
This technological marvel is created from the Peltier effect (or thermoelectric effect) which was discovered by Jean Charles Athanase Peltier in 1834, in which by means of electric pulsations a temperature change is generated by the oscillatory movement of the intervened conduits. In the case of the Embr Wave, the conduits are two: the device and the human body.

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How does it work?

The device in the wrist has a battery that throws small pulsations of heat or cold causing the brain to interpret this as a general sensation of the body and not localized. By doing it intermittently, it reflects a greater rapidity in the sensation of freshness and perception of temperature, causing the brain to automatically adapt to the ambient temperature that the device is reporting.

However, in order to act in conjunction with the sensation of the user, the device has an external temperature meter which helps calculate and counteract the temperature, as indicated by the portal As: "Curiously, the Embr Wave wrist thermostat it does not work in the same way in exteriors that in interiors. That's why you have to change the place where you take it. If you are on the street, the device should be on the outside of the arm, while indoors it is the other way around ".

The device creates a new market niche since, although it falls into the "wearables" category, it contains a specific need satisfaction that goes beyond controlling text messages or heart rate. The device already launched on the market through Kickstarter can be achieved at approximately $ 219 USD. It is also a trend since Time magazine included it in the 50 best inventions of 2018 among other devices that help the health and well-being of the human being

Undoubtedly, it is one of those technological advances that, although they may seem very simple and basic, are very popular among the public since they capture a very specific need, which is not covered today by the top technology brands. We will continue waiting for the development and innovations that the Embr Wave will bring us for 2019.

LatinAmerican Post | Gustavo Cantor Romero

Translated from "Embr Wave: el dispositivo que cambia tu temperatura corporal"