NTT Docomo’s Cases Make Smartphones Measure Radiation, Body Fat, Alcohol

Japan’s biggest mobile carrier NTT Docomo unveiled a few pretty interesting smartphone add-ons today. Perhaps most notable are a set of special cases the company developed to not provide extra protection but to add unique functions to the handsets they are used with.

These jackets essentially turn smartphones into dosimeters, and there are three of them: one to measure radiation, another that keeps track of the user’s body fat and muscle bulk, and a third model that measures the alcohol content in the user’s body (plus bad breath).

NTT Docomo says that sensors built into the cases do the actual job, while the smartphone itself serves as the interface and displays the results. Needless to say, all data can be saved for future reference.

This jacket, for example, helps measure radiation:

The company plans to showcase the cases during the CEATEC Japan 2011 exhibition next month.

Here’s a video from Penn Olson shot at Docomo’s CEATEC preview press conference today:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XLgWmVM234&w=560&h=315]

Via Penn Olson