Researchers from the University of Washington and Aalto University Finland have developed a prototype contact lens that contains a single LED pixel, a custom made integrated circuit and an antenna. They then tried the lens on live rabbits (under general anesthesia for comfort) with no adverse effects.
Awesome!
The display consists of an antenna, a 500 × 500 µm2 silicon power harvesting and radio integrated circuit, metal interconnects, insulation layers and a 750 × 750 µm2 transparent sapphire chip containing a custom-designed micro-light emitting diode with peak emission at 475 nm, all integrated onto a contact lens. The display can be powered wirelessly from ~1 m in free space and ~2 cm in vivo on a rabbit. The display was tested on live, anesthetized rabbits with no observed adverse effect. In order to extend display capabilities, design and fabrication of micro-Fresnel lenses on a contact lens are presented to move toward a multipixel display that can be worn in the form of a contact lens. Contact lenses with integrated micro-Fresnel lenses were also tested on live rabbits and showed no adverse effect.
So yeah, this is very rudimentary but… baby steps, baby steps! And while we don’t expect things to remain at the single-pixel level forever, later iterations will inevitably go up in pixel density very slowly. This means that when the first commercial generations reach the consumer level, it will likely only be for displaying things like text. But as the technology is further developed, we have no doubt that always-on alternate/augmented reality will become possible.
We’re several years away, but there you have it. Barring accidental death, if you’re under 60 today, there’s a good chance you will live to see this happen.
There’s something about turning a traditional game of chess on its side and hanging it on a wall that invites a passive gameplay. This particular set looks like an ornate picture frame and one can imagine it hanging on a wall in a mansion much too large for its inhabitants. Each player could walk by it on any given day and play their turn, only to come back the following week and pick the game up where it was left off. A “last move” marker indicates to the opponent what just happened, making it even easier to let time pass between plays. At $300, the pricetag matches the scenario:
The board is made from cherry veneer, alternately stained and left in its natural color to produce the 3 1/4″ H x 2″ W black and white spaces. Eight transparent acrylic shelves support its set of classic Staunton chess pieces. The black pieces are made from rosewood, known for its darkly veined grain and stout heft; the white pieces are made from boxwood, selected for its fine grain and high density–all are turned by hand and finished with a durable, high-gloss cover coat.
There are many approaches to blissful alcoholic intoxication, and while one of the more popular relies on cold carbonated cereal, many people prefer the more complex cocktails and shots. There are many ways to mix your poisons and with this shot glass, there’s one more. Just look at the picture, we think you’ll see what’s going on. It’s pretty cool, at least on a presentation standpoint, if not on a doing-anything-to-the-way-it-tastes aspect. Each plastic glass holds an ounce (30ml), half of which in each compartment. It’s 3£ or about $5 for a set of 6.
One review concluded the following about the Dell Vostro 3550: “The Dell Vostro 3550 provides small-business customers a durable design, solid performance, and good sound. ” Which is good because today you’re looking at a $70 rebate on the usually $519, 15.6 inch laptop. For $449 you get: “Core i3-2310M 2.1GHz Dual-core Laptop in Aberdeen Silver, 2GB RAM, 250GB 7200RPM Hard Drive, Fingerprint Reader, Webcam, USB 3.0 ports, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, Intel HD 3000 graphics, DVD burner, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OS and more.” Free next day shipping too!
This is a T-Shirt with a Death Star on it. We talk about it because we’re geeks and are bound to talk about Star Wars stuff. This particular T-Shirt is also special because it can light up on command and make it look like the Death Star is firing. And it’s got little sound effects too.
You’re gonna be the life of the party with this!
It’s not available just yet, but the ThinkGeek people are working on getting this in stock by December. Best part is it’s only $30 which is decent for a T-Shirt, let alone one that lights up and makes little sounds.
It bears repeating at any given chance: past a certain point, megapixel counts in sensors are almost meaningless unless you’re printingroad signs. What matters more is the quality of the lens, and when you’re talking about the camera on a phone, well, size constraints kind of limit things. If you don’t mind giving your iPhone 4 or 4S a trip-to-the-eye-doctor look, Photojojo has created an accessory that could add a little range to the types of photos you can take. Made from aircraft grade aluminum, the iPhone Lens Dial features a rotating dial with three different lenses:
“A 0.7x Wide Angle for sweeping landscapes. Get fun warped images with the 0.33x Fisheye. Switch to the 1.5x Telephoto and get nearly two times closer to your subject.”
Aside from the dubious claim that 1.5 is nearly 2, Photojojo seems to have made an interesting product. The lenses are “optical quality coated glass” and the case gives you access to all your buttons. Holes in the rotating dial let you take pictures with the iPhones regular camera. The only two drawbacks we can see is that shots taken with it appear to display some massive amounts of vignetting. And the price: $249!
Black Thursday (aka the new Black Friday, aka Thanksgiving day) and Walmart… That’s the yearly convention of smartly dressed folk calmly on the lookout for a good deal, ain’t it? Oh… who are we kidding? Shit is gonna get real, people! Walmart has announced that they’ll be selling the previously-for-Europe-only blue Wii for $99.96 on the Thursday before Black Friday at 10pm, two hours before more electronics go on sale at the regular time. That’s the console, a controller and a nunchuck. In blue.
We’re kind of torn over cycling. It’s fun, good for you, low impact on the joints… but holy balls is it painful in the, uh, taint area. Some people like getting seats with more padding, but what you think you make up for in comfort you actually end up losing through chaffing and rubbing on all the extra seat area. The most efficient cycling seats are like the one you see here, long and narrow. But until now that did equate with pain. With the Fizik Kurve, what you have is the best of both worlds. It has a flexible carbon composite shell, mounted on forged aluminum rails. The seating area is stretched between these rails like a hammock and the amount of flex you have can be adjusted through an integrated bolt. There are three different Kurve models whose shape is meant to accommodate different riders’ body morphology.
Riding properly and perhaps more comfortably doesn’t come cheap. The Fizik Kurve seats are about $300.
It’s no point repeating it on every single article, we all know winter’s pretty much already here. At least for those of us who don’t live in or near the tropics, this presents us with many issues. And none is more pressing than that of dealing with cold cars in winter. Most people get remote car starters and let things idle until toasty enough to drive away in. But that’s wasteful, people! Much better to plunk down this large electric heater with a programmable clock. Set what time you expect to be in your car and 20 minutes prior it will begin blasting hot air through its two tilting vents. Not sure what time you’re leaving? There’s a remote that works up to 200 feet away as well.
Sure the engine won’t be warm but that can be done in 2 or 3 minutes rather than the much longer time it takes to get the inside warm as well. You save gas, save the planet a little and everyone’s happy. The Car Interior Preheater can then be recharged through AC or with an included car charger.
Related Tags: Innovation, medicine, Technology
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