Modern 3D film technologies have managed to get most of the population used to wearing glasses. Even those like myself who are (so far) lucky enough to not need them outside of a movie theater. And while I’m not going to jump to the conclusion that SensoMotoric Instruments, or SMI, is taking advantage of this trend. I find the timing of their new eye tracking binocular glasses a little suspicious.
Mostly because the glasses don’t really benefit the person wearing them. In fact, maybe ‘test subject’ is a better term than ‘person’ since the glasses are designed to benefit researchers, or marketing types, who have a vested interest in how the human eye wanders. Whether it’s across the UI of an application, the dashboard of a car, or even an advertisement in a magazine. A couple of small cameras on the rim of the glasses constantly monitor the movement of the wearer’s eyes, while another camera records what they’re looking at in HD. Overlaid on that video is a small blue circle which indicates exactly what the wearer is focusing on. Whether it’s a shelf half way across a store, or the details on the side of a package.
In theory the technology could be applied to actually interacting with user interfaces on smartphone apps, or automobile interiors, without the use of your hands. But given the limitations of today’s technology the glasses would still be required. And if there’s one thing we’ve learned from 3D over the years, it’s that no one wants to be forced to wear them.
We love us some new product announcements from Dyson, and while their latest creation is really just an updated version of a prior product, that’s fine by us. The Dyson Hot, a name clearly derived after months of voting and testing on HOTorNOT.com, is, for all intents and purposes, just a new version of the Dyson Air Multiplier fans with a heating element added. But given their Air Multipliers are pretty much the slickest, sexiest fans you can buy, that’s not a bad thing.
The Dyson Hot can be set between 1 to 37 degrees celsius and constantly monitors the room, automatically turning the heating element on or off to maintain the set temperature. And because all of the magic is hidden away inside the heater’s unique and bladeless housing, there’s no exposed heating elements that can lead to a burning smell when random particles land on it. For added safety, the Dyson Hot’s housing remains minimally warm during operation, and will even turn itself off if it gets tipped over. Available nationwide in the UK come October for ~$430 (£269.99) and presumably all over the world in a similar timeframe.
Remember Teddy Ruxpin? For his time he was pretty advanced as far as animated toys go. But as a stuffed animal he was the last thing you wanted to take to bed with you. He had enough ’80s technology inside him to stop a car if left in the middle of the street, so I don’t think he ever became any kid’s best friend. A group of researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology are hoping to right history’s wrongs though, and are working on an animated stuffed animal that’s still soft to the touch.
Strings running through the bear’s arms and legs are connected to motors hidden inside its padded torso. By pulling on the strings with varying amounts of force, the limbs are able to move in different directions, creating a fairly convincing life-like effect. Furthermore, because the strings are under tension, the electronics in the torso are also able to detect and register when the limbs have been touched or moved externally, allowing the bear to react and move in response. Most importantly, it’s these kinds of advancements that will give mankind the upper hand and advantage when robots eventually become self aware and rise up. Arms and legs made of steel make punches and kicks very dangerous. But arms and legs made of fabric and stuffing? They make being attacked feel like getting an overzealous hug!
While it can be an essential tool for diagnosing what’s wrong with a patient, MRI machines are large, noisy, expensive and can be extremely uncomfortable to be inside. Many people find them cramped and claustrophobic, which can be particularly difficult since you have to lie perfectly still for long periods of time to get a clean image. So GE has created a considerably smaller MRI machine that’s specifically designed to be used for imaging a patient’s limb.
Besides requiring smaller rooms and being considerably more affordable for a hospital, the new Optima MR430s is also far more comfortable for the patient. They sit or recline in an adjustable padded chair and insert their arm or leg into the machine. And since they’re more comfortable while the MRI is doing its thing, they’re less prone to moving about which results in clearer images and results. What sets GE’s new compact MRI machine apart from other compact solutions is that it still uses a powerful 1.5T (Teslas) magnet which means there are no compromises when it comes to image quality. And while the MR430s is limited in that it can only handle limbs, it does free up a hospital’s full-body machine when only a limited part of a patient’s body needs to be imaged.
My parents remember exactly where they were when man first landed on the moon. But as a gadget blogger, my most vivid ‘do you remember where you were when…?’ memory was when the original iPhone was first revealed. Today could be another one of those days though. Nike has apparently invited a select group of journalists to Los Angeles for a super secret event, including the folks from Highsnobiety who posted the following photos of what awaited them at their hotel.
A black box labeled ‘IT’S ABOUT TIME’ with a pair of futuristic Back To The Future Part II inspired sunglasses inside. And two days ago, the following viral video, McFly’s Closet, was uploaded to YouTube by one ‘DocEmmettBrown88′ which shows a room filled with blinking Nike ‘MAG’ sneakers.
So all of the clues, including the fact they patented self-lacing shoes last year, point to Nike finally producing a real pair of shoes as seen in BTTF Pt. II. Complete with a self-lacing mechanism, which their first attempt, the Hyperdunks from a few years ago, were sorely lacking. Of course maybe I’m getting my hopes up too high here, but maybe, just maybe, Nike will come through for all of us BTTF fans this time.
While turn-by-turn voice prompts certainly make navigating with a GPS device easier and safer while driving, they’re still not necessarily the best solution while riding a bike. Not having easy access to the navigation device, or more likely your smartphone, hinders their usability. So a team at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands has created an interesting alternative.
Instead of a voice telling you to turn here or go there, their Oh Music, Where Art Thou? app adjusts the volume and left/right mix of your music, providing auditory hints of where you should be heading. So when you should be going to the right (not necessarily just a turn) the sound in your headphones would be heavier on the right side. And as you got closer to your destination, the music would get increasingly louder. Kind of like playing hot or cold.
What’s particularly nice about the system is that you don’t need to see your smartphone’s display at any time, and you’re not really limited to a specific predefined route. On the down side though, in order for the compass to accurately detect the position and orientation of your head to adjust the music accordingly, your device pretty much needs to be strapped to your noggin. Hence the special headphones pictured above.
If you’re curious how well it works, and happen to live in Stockholm, you can download a prototype version of the app for your Android smartphone here.
Where I live, the movie theaters provide subtitle services to hearing impaired guests via a small glass screen they place in front of where they’re sitting, which reflects the text from an animated pixel board located at the back of the venue. From what I’ve seen the system appears to work pretty well, as long as you sit in a fairly limited ‘sweet spot’ that lets you see both the text and the screen. Sony thinks they’ve come up with something better though. And while their subtitle glasses are still in the prototype phase, they seem like they have a lot of potential.
They look a bit like the shutter glasses you have to wear when watching a 3D film, but the hardware on either side of the lenses actually projects the subtitles onto the glass. So no matter where the viewer is looking, they’re still visible. And even though they sit right in front of the wearer’s eyes, the subtitles still feel like they’re part of the screen, which helps make the whole experience feel more natural. (Relatively speaking.) Of course the technology isn’t just limited to use in a movie theater though. The glasses could incorporate a small mic and voice recognition software, providing real time subtitles during a conversation in real life. And presumably if they ever do go into production, the electronics will be streamlined so that the specs don’t look so bulky.
It’s hard to get excited about a desk fan when air conditioning does a far better job at cooling a room. But that’s because desk fans don’t usually have a camera located in the center that can track targets, automatically aiming the breeze where it’s needed. Designed by Keita Watanabe, the fan, in its current technological state, can track special flag targets, turning to direct the air wherever it finds one in a room. The flags also have a different symbol on the back, letting the fan know if it should be on or off. This gives a user complete control of the fan without the need for a powered remote, but more importantly, by placing these flags around a room, it can tell it when to blow and when not to blow when set to sweep back and forth.
I can’t say that I’ve ever thought billiards wasn’t interactive enough, but apparently there are those out there who feel the game would be vastly improved with the addition of digital, video-game like effects. And I can only assume that’s what led to the creation of the CueLight system. Using an HD video projector mounted above the table, and presumably a video camera ball tracking system feeding a PC rendering all of the real-time 60fps animations, the CueLight creates interactive digital effects on the surface of the table during a game. Including Fluid, Fire and Reveal modes which are all demonstrated in the video below.
While it obviously has trouble tracking all of the fast moving balls during a break, the system appears to keep up pretty well with the balls during regular gameplay. And while the effects certainly look pretty cool, and will no doubt result in a lineup of people waiting to play, I can’t help but feel they’re also incredibly distracting. Pricing info isn’t readily available, but apparently the system can be ordered for an existing pool table since it’s able to auto calibrate itself. But it can be bought with a table as well.
Related Tags: Innovation, research
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