There’s no shortage of interesting and unique alarm clocks that serve as alternatives to the usual, but this may be the most gentle way they have come up with to wake you up. It could also make you look very creepy to your partner. It was designed by Ian Walton and Eoin McNally, who wanted to create a product that could help combat the rigors of a “24 hour” lifestyle.

A grid of LEDs begins to glow about 40 minutes before it’s officially time to wake you up. That way, a slow and gentle increase in light will bring you out of sleep more naturally. It may even stop your traditional bitching and moaning against the pillow. The glo Pillow is just a prototype, but it did pick up one of Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2007 awards, so there’s hope.

RESPeRATE is an interactive breathing device that helps you control your blood pressure by lowering it to safe levels. It’s bio-feedback for breath control. No, you don’t need a mint. The idea is that if you are breathing properly your BP will go down. But not when you make the initial purchase at a price of $290. So from there it would have to go.

The device will automatically analyze your breathing pattern and create a personal melody for you, composed of two distinct inhale and exhale guiding tones, delivered through the earphones. Just listen to the melody and synchronize your breathing to the tones. By prolonging the exhalation tone it helps you slow your breathing and reach the “therapeutic zone” of less than 10 breaths per minute. So what does that do exactly? They say that the muscles around small blood vessels in your body will relax.

Everybody gets stressed. It’s the nature of our fast paced civilization. The StressEraser wants to help. So just calm down, find your zen place and read on. Ahhh, that’s better. Deep breaths. The device claims to be an an award winning biofeedback medical device. It’s designed to calm your mind and relax your body in under 15 minutes. The idea is to focus your mind and guide your breathing by synchronizing it with a “calming” BreathWave patten. Daily 15 minute nighttime sessions have to be done before sleep to calm your nerves.

Stay in your special spot. We’re almost finished. Picture yourself gently gliding through clouds. Your deep regular breaths are your propulsion…Holy crap! That jet almost rammed you. That couldn’t have helped your nerves any. Back to the StressEraser. It can also be used during the day if you’re feeling stressed. Measuring 3.75″ x 2.5″ x 0.6″, the device is designed to be carried around. I’ll hope you’re still calm, because the price tag is $299.

At first glance, you’re thinking you would never wear these right? It’s not all that dorky. Looking like Cyclops from the X-Men might just score you a hot Jean Grey. It’s not meant to be a fashion accessory anyway. The SightMate LV920 from a company called Eyetonomy is a wearable device that’s designed to correct poor eyesight for those suffering from serious visual impairments.

The system has a 2-megapixel camera with a 3x zoom situated between the eyes, which provides images on twin 640×480 displays that can be tilted up to 15 degrees for comfort. The headgear comes with a remote to control magnification and other features and it only weighs 8 ounces. It can also help those who are color blind.

A recent study conducted by the FDA showed that contrary to previous reported studies involving iPod media players and cardiac pacemakers, Apple’s iPod players do not affect the heart beat regulators. We brought you news on a study of iPods and pacemakers last May by a high school student (along with help from local cardiologists) showing that 50% of the subjects studied showed interference in their pacemaker while holding an iPod within two inches for 5-10 seconds.

The recent study by the FDA was published Friday on BioMedical Engineering Online with tests concluding that the iPods did not produce enough of an electromagnetic field to cause any interference with a pacemaker. The study used four different models of the iPod: an iPod Shuffle, iPod nano, iPod with video and a fourth generation iPod. When the iPods were held a distance of 10 mm from a 3-coil sensor a peak strength of only 0.2 millionth of a Tesla was detected. This value would need to be hundreds of times larger to cause interference with a pacemaker, according to the study.

Here’s one of those gadgets that seems to take advantage of new mothers. Or maybe it just takes advantage of those who need a little too much information. kickTrak can automatically count your baby’s kicks starting at 24 weeks and apparently give you a reliable way to track the movement pattern, and reduce the risk of stillbirth.

One other use is that it can be used at the onset of pregnancy as a rough countdown timer for your due date and can time your contractions when labor begins. Plus it has little tiny feet on the display screen. I’m not sure that this would really help prevent a stillbirth, but I’m just a dumb guy blog writer. More likely, this would be used by the overbearing sports father wanting to gauge the kid’s field-goal kicking abilities from day zero.

Apple has a new patent application in the European Patent Office that details out a new volume control feature to help prevent hearing loss when listening to an iPod. People that have messed around with the settings on an iPod have likely already noticed that you can already set the maximum volume for your iPod to avoid an inadvertent blasts of sound that could damage your ear. The new feature would be available in iPods and the iPhone and would take into account not only how loud the volume is while your listening, but also how long you’ve been listening to decide when the listener may have had enough.

Maybe Scientologists really are trying to take over the world, one Katie Holmes at a time. A doctor has now begun selling aromatherapy type perfumes with a Scientology slant. However, the Doc claims that Aromatherapy is based on folklore and the diverse general effect of natural oil fragrances. “Scentology IS aromachology, the specific scientifically demonstrated effects of fragrance on mood, mind and behavior.” So does that mean it will make me jump on Oprah’s couch and proclaim that I am in love 100 times?

There are three different Scentology oils at $25 each. Peppermint is supposed to help you with endurance, vanilla is to control your craving, and orange is a “bliss booster.” Kooky as Tom Cruise can be, there is some evidence that certain scents can affect our health in different ways. So if you want to join the ranks of Scientology, and see what the other half smells, $25 is all it will cost.

The Exmocare watch has a sort of sporty look, but sports is not what they had in mind. It knows how you are feeling and wants to send that info to someone who cares about you using e-mail or IM. Someone like a relative of caregiver.

The watch uses infrared LEDs to measure the heart rate and its variability. It can also process galvanic skin response that signals the emotional state of the wearer. Another feature is the on-board accelerometer that detects movement. When the Exmocare watch is worn over time, it learns to recognize the wearer’s baseline physical state. That’s how it knows when your vitals deviate too much. This could be very beneficial to those elderly who do not get checked in on very often.

You know the drill. There are really only two orifices where you can park a thermometer. One is slightly uncomfortable, the other completely unpleasant. Those days are now over thanks to Kidz-Med Inc’s new thermometer called “Thermofocus”. You can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from babies everywhere. The company claims that it is the first thermometer to take accurate body temperature readings without actually touching the body.

It does this by reading infrared heat from a person’s forehead, which yields results as accurate as the dreaded rectal thermometer, and more accurate than an ear thermometer. The Thermofocus doesn’t just take a human’s temperature. It can also be used to take the temperatures of baby formula, bath water, and even food.

Now here’s an interesting new concept in dental care. Throw out the paste. Instead of using toothpaste, the Soladey Ionic Toothbrush uses energy created from light.(fluorescent tube, light bulb or the good old sun) It converts light into negative ions which when mixed with saliva and water can clean the bacteria from your teeth. This is all thanks to a titanium ionic conducting rod which creates the negative ions. It kills the bacteria and gets rid of bad breath.

I hear ya. What about that minty fresh feeling? Well, I suppose you could keep a tube of toothpaste around just to satisfy your strange craving. Or maybe they could make the bristles on this new brush have a minty flavor.

If you walk around feeling groggy and out of it all day, it may be because you are waking up right in the middle of your deepest sleep cycle. This also leads to grumpiness. It is far more ideal to wake up in one of your light sleep cycles, fully refreshed. That’s the idea behind the Natural Sleep Cycle watch.

It uses an accelerometer to keep track of small physiological changes that occur when you are experiencing light sleep. Then it wakes you when the moment is right. I hear you, you have a tight schedule and can’t be late for work. No worries. You can specify how long before your alarm it should start it’s calculations for the best time, from 10 to 90 minutes before.

We’re often surprised here at the ‘Brick by the different types of things that companies come up with which are powered by a USB connection. Most do seem to make a lot of sense though; people are spending more and more time at their computers and most of these devices don’t require a lot of juice to power them. This far infrared heating pad is a good example, offering the benefits of infrared heat through the convenience of a USB connection.

No, not a Halo inspired vacuum cleaner, with scenes from the game all over it. The Halo line of UV vacuum cleaners actually uses UV-C(a spectrum of ultraviolet light) to kill germs, dust mites, and bacteria that live in your carpet. This way, you won’t have to use harsh chemicals to have a cleaner living space. That’s good for you and the environment.

Of course it will still suck. Well, I hope it doesn’t suck. What I mean is, it will still suck up all the other filth in your carpet as well as zapping germs. Pretty interesting concept. This technology is apparently showing up in a lot of other new products as well. The war on filth just got some new artillery.

The internet giant is never content to sit back and let anyone else take a large piece of the pie. Hey, that’s how they got so rich! That’s why they are following Microsoft’s lead where health and medical records are concerned. They plan to roll out Google Health sometime early next year if they keep to their schedule.

It makes sense since users all begin at the Google page to search for health and medical information anyway. So they will be applying Google’s expertise in indexing, searching, and managing vast amounts of information to the idea. It also doesn’t hurt that they will have the health industry targeted with their Adwords program. If Google’s history has shown us anything, it should be a huge success and give the giant still more dominance in the industry.