Ugh! This DUNKABLE wearable tech is REPELLENT Although last Week’s Wearable Technology Show was dominated by gadget solutions looking for a problem, on a couple of stands were solutions to, er, the problem of solutions from P2i and HzO. The two companies collaborate with manufacturers to ensure that your shiny new wearable tech toy doesn’t turn into a damp squib when the …
Just give me a spray can of this stuff so I treat my grout and sealant around my bath/shower to stop the stuff going moldy. Please. It's 2014 and most of us still have to put up with useless maintenance-intensive shite between our tiles. I don't expect much from the 21st century but if grout technology could move on a little it would be appreciated :)
It's funny the things that trigger long buried memories; this has reminded me of an edition of Tomorrow's World where a spray coating had been applied to an electric drill and the inventor put the connected drill in a tank of water and started it. It must have worked as he wasn't immediately fried. I think the presenter at the time was Maggie Philbin.
I remember it too, I think it may have been Kieran Prendiville but I could be wrong.
It was quite an impressive demo.
Did go looking for it on YT but couldn't find it but did find a great Tomorrows world one on hacking. Get the BBC model B's and goldfish bowl monitors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYYm9Lin8X4
>I keep telling folk there was one where they had mice or something breathing under 'water' - some sort of liquid.
No, you're right, the film got the idea from a real demonstration. Google fluorocarbon mouse for the video.
I think it's too expensive to be of widespread use (plus I'm not sure viscosity even of fluorocarbons wouldn't be a problem for bigger critters).
"(plus I'm not sure viscosity even of fluorocarbons wouldn't be a problem for bigger critters)."
It's actually being used as in liquid-assisted ventilation strategy for respiratory distress. A real life saver for people that've nearly drowned in nasty water, or are suffering from acute pneumonia.
They are still talking about it for diving. They do however use the tech in some hospitals for premature babies and such due to something like their lungs aren't properly formed/ able to take in air in atmosphere yet.
eidt:I see Capt daft has beaten me to the comment about medical uses.
My Sansa Clip MP3 player has survived a cycle through the washing machine... I couldn't remove its battery, but just left in on a radiator for a couple of days before attempting to charge it up. It worked fine.
Two months later, the washing machine wouldn't drain, so I investigated the filter... amongst the horror of hair and gunk, I found the microSD card that the washing machine had knocked out of the MP3 player - it worked fine, too.
I've heard of other Clips surviving the same - one user dropped it amongst sachets of silica gel. A nice little machine, even if the clip on the back always snaps off (they are easy to lose, so I've had a couple of them!)
A cheap source of silica gel is cat litter (unused, please!). A caravan owner swears by leaving trays of cat litter around his caravan whilst it is unused in winter, to absorb any dampness. The cat litter can be gently heated in an oven to restore its effectiveness.
Should be made mandatory on all new mobile tech. Should include, MP3 players, cameras and such.
The business should be franchised. 800 handsets in a chamber at a time is fine. WIll try and plasma blast everything in one go. Cordless phones, small Tvs, modems/routers, cameras, computer keyboard and mice, bluetoth speakers.et al
Whats taking them so long?
But please dont let Apple patent it. Else we are all doomed.
Cameras are a bit harder- the electronics will work fine, but the lenses are harder to seal against water ingress, and pond water on the inside of the lenses won't help image quality and also upset the delicate moving parts (focus, zoom, image stabilisation mechanisms).
But yeah, essentially solid-state devices are easy.
Yet I already own three waterproof cameras - one old enough to have just about died, one replacement for same, and one Xperia Z1. Four if you count a GoPro with its waterproof case. Sure, they may well need to keep the current technique of physically preventing the water getting in to some places rather than just dipping everything in magical repellent goo, but given that we've been doing that perfectly well for quite a while now it can hardly be considered a huge problem.
There's an amusing demo of something similar here from the Big Breakfast [YouTube] in 1990-something (poor quality unfortunately).
It's about time all portable devices were made at least water resistant as standard, and I don't mean just the PCB, so that they can be used in a downpour or in humid conditions, and I don't want to have to buy Sony or some stupid waterproof bag for something which should be standard for all portable devices with a built-in power source!
If all portable devices were water resistant, Garmin etc. would face some serious competition and have to provide better for cheaper e.g. mapping Bicycle GPS is still stupid expensive for a usable package, buggy, and with only a tiny low resolution screen. The smarter watch people are really missing a trick for this, because they could clean up, by not making the strap the only mounting method, adding other sensor channels, and adding extra button shells or cases.
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