Students at MIT have developed a bracelet, called Wristify, that can change human body temperature. They say the thermoelectric bracelet could help the environment and bank balances all at once by cutting down on air conditioning and heating costs.

 We’re all hearing about all kinds of new wrist worn devices – things like smartwatches and fitness bands. While these things are cool, and often serve a practical purpose, we would be hard pressed to describe any of them as devices that completely change the way you feel. One recent invention is doing just that! Literally! The Wristify is a new wrist worn device that can help control your temperature – or at least perceived temperature.

Human skin is incredibly sensitive to temperature. All that’s needed is to spot-heat or spot-cool a small part of the body. Using certain pressure points, like the back of the neck or the wrist, yields great results. By changing the temperature of that spot at a rate of .1 degree C per second, the entire body feels several degrees hotter or colder, respectively. It’s important to note that the body isn’t actually that much warmer or cooler, but that it’s being (somewhat) tricked into feeling that much warmer and cooler.

Most bracelets aren't likely to alter your temperature too much either way, but the Wristify isn't most bracelets. Developed by four MIT engineering students, the Wristify works on the principle that heating or cooling the skin on one part of the body can make the entire body feel warmer or colder. By creating a personal heating and cooling device, the Wristify team ultimately hopes to cut the amount of energy currently used to heat or cool entire buildings.

Now that winter is rapidly approaching, many thermostats across the country are switching on for the first time of the season. Thing is, autumn weather can be temperamental — one day it’s 41 degrees and rainy, and then next it’s sunny and 75. For those prone to chills and hot flashes, temperature fluctuations can be uncomfortable, if not summon nasty colds.

However, four MIT engineering students want to level things out with Wristify, a prototype wristband that monitors air and skin temperature, and then sends thermal pulses into the wrist to warm or cool the wearer according to their needs. Developers say their wristband can alter the body’s temperature simply by providing .4 degrees Celcius per second to the wrist.

STAY COOL: The Wristify is a thermoelectric bracelet designed to keep you warm, or cool, whichever you prefer. The bracelet monitors air and skin temperature, then sends tailored pulses of hot or cold waveforms to the wrist. The result is that you feel warmer or cooler.

"The concept is simple – when you’re hot a cold cloth applied to your skin helps you feel cooler and the same is true when you’re cold. A change in temperature on your skin makes you perceive an a different overall thermal comfort. So using that concept, students at MIT developed Wristify..."

We all have had an experience where we've been uncomfortable and not had the ability to adjust our thermal comfort," co-inventor and MIT's Materials Science Department graduate student Michael Gibson told BostInno. He further explained that he and his fellow inventors have all experienced events in their lives that led to the decision to take charge of their own temperature environments.

We all know someone who can never seem to get comfy, no matter the temperature. They're always pulling off sweaters because they're too hot, or cranking up the heat because they're too cold. But soon, salvation for these folks could come in the form of a special wristband that uses a copper heatsink to fool your body into thinking it's just been warmed or cooled—when in reality, the ambient temperature hasn't changed.

A group of MIT engineering students wants you to get nice and comfy. They've created a thermoelectric bracelet designed to keep its wearer at the optimal thermal level for personal comfort.

"...four MIT engineering students developed a thermoelectric bracelet that monitors air and skin temperature, and sends tailored pulses of hot or cold waveforms to the wrist to help maintain thermal comfort.

For this invention, the team, called Wristify, took home the $10,000 first prize at this year’s Making And Designing Materials Engineering Competition (MADMEC), held Tuesday afternoon."