Wearable device to assist first responders.

• Author: Tadjdeh, Yasmin

* A new device called the "Wearable Smart Gateway" can connect sensors--such as body cameras, heart rate monitors and locator beacons--worn by first responders or members of the military and feed that data back to a command center.

The device, which was developed by Mutualink, a Wallingford, Connecticut-based communication and multimedia company, can be used to give agencies and commanders better situational awareness, said one executive.

"A remote agency can see the data, how a soldier or a first responder is feeling by their biologic measurements [and] what they're seeing from real-time body cameras," said Michael Wengrovitz, vice president of innovation for Mutualink.

Data is sent securely and instantly to a cloud-based network, which can be accessed by a command center, he said. It can be viewed through a browser on a computer, a tablet or a smartphone.

The device is powered by Intel's Edison chip, he said. "It's basically a computer, which is the size of a postage stamp, that runs off a small battery. ... It hardly takes any energy at all."

It can be used for a variety of situations, including monitoring a person's vital...