SURFING IN THE RAIN

Internet Umbrella Lets Users Browse in Any Weather



Gray, rainy days may be about to get more colorful thanks to a new umbrella invented by Japanese researchers. The Internet Umbrella, conceived by a team at Keio University, acts as a photo browser by displaying images from the Internet as the user walks along. The handle of the umbrella contains a projector that displays images on the underside of the umbrella.

Student Inventors
The Internet umbrella, named Pileus (meaning the head of a mushroom) was created by two young graduate students. Second-year doctoral student Matsumoto Takashi, 27, and first-year master’s student Hashimoto Sho, 22, of Keio University’s Graduate School of Media and Governance were motivated by a desire to make walking on rainy days more enjoyable. Both belong to a research lab led by Professor Okude Naohito that is renowned for its interaction design research based on the concept of ubiquitous computing.

Prompted to start this project by the everyday act of using an umbrella, Matsumoto and Hashimoto combined numerous technologies to make the Internet umbrella a reality. The handle of their creation contains a camera, a motion sensor, GPS, and a digital compass. The device is controlled by rotating the grip.


Pileus has been presented or displayed in several countries, including the United States, France, and Austria, and won the Innovation Prize at Laval Virtual 2007, Europe’s biggest virtual reality convention.



Future Vision
The Internet Umbrella has two main functions. One is browsing the online photo-sharing site Flickr. Not only can the umbrella display photos from the site; using the camera in the handle it can also take pictures and upload them to the Internet via a wireless connection. Pileus users can thus view each other’s photo streams. The umbrella can also display movies from the video-sharing site YouTube.

The other key function of the device is to help users find their way around by displaying 3D maps using Google Earth. The umbrella “knows” the user’s location (thanks to GPS) and direction (thanks to the digital compass), so it can show a bird’s-eye map of the surrounding area, enabling the user to navigate streets with ease. Both functions are easily controlled by rotating the grip of the umbrella. The team is currently working on enabling photos taken with the umbrella to be displayed on the map, along with their location.



Predicting continued growth in the quantities of tagged photos and consumer-generated media on the Internet, the developers imagine a time when Pileus users will be able to view social information generated by other users anywhere in real time. On their website they stated, “This product aims to enhance people’s everyday lives by synchronizing information on the Internet and in real places.”




http://web-japan.org/trends/science/sci071003.html

WORLD'S SMALLEST HUMANOID ROBOT

A new humanoid robot, certified as the world's smallest, will be released this autumn by Japanese toy manufacturer Tomy Company. On October 25, 2007, the Omnibot 17µ i-SOBOT is scheduled to hit the market—as well as the 2008 edition of Guinness World Records, which will list the product as "the smallest humanoid robot in production." Robotics fans look forward to i-SOBOT as a fun toy to add to their collections, but also as a leap forward in miniaturization of the advanced parts that go into these high-tech tools.

Surprising Size and Price
i-SOBOT stands just 16.5 centimeters tall, and weighs only around 350 grams. While the robot fits in the palm of your hand, it remains a fully outfitted bipedal machine, with 17 moving joints. Used throughout the body are tiny, custom servomotors developed by Tomy. The robot's onboard gyro-sensor allows it to maintain its balance automatically as it goes smoothly through its programmed motions. i-SOBOT comes with an infrared remote-control unit, but users can also use voice commands to control it.

Tomy's i-SOBOT architecture, the control system developed to operate this new robot, makes use of 19 integrated circuit chips that work in tandem to enable the toy's complex actions.



i-SOBOT will be sold for ¥29,800 before tax ($248 at ¥120 to the dollar) in fully assembled form, complete with rechargeable batteries and its remote control, which features twin joysticks, programmable buttons, and an LCD screen. According to the manufacturer, this price is quite affordable for a robot of this complexity. In addition to its release in Japan, the robot will make its way to markets in the United States and elsewhere in Asia. In 2008 Tomy intends to extend sales to Europe as well. To reach its global sales target of 300,000 units, the company is localizing i-SOBOT's software in English and Chinese in addition to Japanese.

Four Modes for Action
An attractive feature of this versatile robot is its four separate modes for controlling the action. In Remote Control Mode, the user manages the robot's movements directly with the command buttons and joysticks on the wireless remote. In Programming Mode, the user has the option to easily choose commands from a list of available actions—182 in all— or to use the controller to create original actions, or use a combination of the two to program complex sequences that can be up to 240 steps long, with 80 steps stored in each of the robot's three memory slots. Special Action Mode, meanwhile, includes 18 more complex preprogrammed actions, such as "hula dance" and "air drumming." And Voice Control Mode lets the user give the robot one of 10 commands, to which the i-SOBOT can respond with a range of actions.

This robot is entertaining to the ear as well as the eye. As it goes through its actions it plays sounds from its library of nearly 100 sound effects and songs. The speaker can be turned off, too, when silent action is preferable. The toy is humanoid in form, but the designers have included playful actions in its repertoire that have it imitate the adorable movements of animals.

Tomy has taken steps to make i-SOBOT eco-friendly. The toy manufacturer is shipping the robot with three rechargeable AAA batteries from Sanyo Electric Co., whose Eneloop nickel metal hydride batteries let users keep the robot running for months without sending dead batteries to landfills. Tomy is also collaborating in Sanyo's Energy Evolution Project by making i-SOBOT part of the programs carried out at Japanese elementary schools. The companies hope to boost children's awareness of environmental issues by powering the fun robot with rechargeable cells.

http://web-japan.org/trends/science/sci070831.html

Palette Digital Artist

Among the new gadgets that emerged out of the Next-Gen PC design competition is the Palette-Digital Artist. This is a palette that makes it possible to paint digitally on a touchscreen without using the mouse or a painting program.

Palette is a hardware system design concept that designated for digital artist, painter, design visualizer and people with passion in visual arts. The system were designed based on the background of basic painting behavior and its physiology activities.

Palette is designed to have connectivity with other devices such main PC system, Main monitor or other wireless peripherals. connectivity between them are wireless and the user interface screen surface of the palette is using photo-optic visual sensor with color recognition as its main advantage.

B-membrane Laptop/Desktop Hybrid

“B-membrane” design by Korean designer Won-Seok Lee. Some highlights of this Kubrick inspired mother ship computer include a membrane keyboard that appears when needed, integrated optical drive and when not used as a computer, the projector can beam ambient light effects on any surface.

Amazing technology from Japan . .. . . but can you guess what it is?!

You’ve just looked into the future… yep that’s right!
You’ve just seen something that will replace your PC in the near future.
Here is how it works:

In the revolution of miniature computers, scientists have made great developments with bluetooth technology…
This is the forthcoming computers you can carry within your pockets.

This “pen sort of instrument” produces both the monitor as well as the keyboard on any flat surfaces from where you can carry out functions you would normally do on your desktop computer.

Can anyone say, “Good-bye laptops!”


resource

EU smart-home concept shown off

How everything in your house could be controlled by one device

"Smart-home" technology that allows people to control household appliances via their mobile phone or other gadgets is being shown off in Germany.

To see the video click here

The EU-funded i2home project is aimed at giving greater independence and freedom to older and disabled people.

It uses so-called "middleware" to allow heating, air conditioning, lighting, and other gadgets to be controlled by a user's chosen interface.

It is the result of research between EU industry, universities and user groups.

"The users of the technology have been the driving force in the project - all technical solutions are based on a thorough investigation of the users' needs and desires," said project coordinator, Jan Alexandersson.

Kitchen concept

The researchers worked with various groups in order to match the technology to their needs, including Alzheimer's patients, blind and partially-sighted people and young people with cognitive impairments.

The research has now officially come to an end. But the project team, and some of the users, are still evaluating the work and demonstrating how the technology can be used in the German town of Saarbrücken.

There, the technology has been installed in a mocked-up kitchen.


"Finally, something that works," said Ginger Classen, a blind, German accessibility expert.

"If this technology is adopted by many manufacturers, I could finally go appliance shopping like sighted people in a normal store, having the choice to buy cool and stylish products."

This platform requires all appliances in the home to be networked together.

The middleware sits between the home appliances and a controlling device, such as a mobile phone, and allows them to communicate. i2home has also created a variety of interfaces for control devices.

So far the group has tested touch screens, mobile phones running the Windows Mobile and Android platforms, speech input and output devices and an ordinary domestic TV set with a simplified remote control to run the UCH.

The researches say that i2home demonstrates that technology - that has traditionally been regarded as too complex for many mainstream users - can be made usable and enjoyable for older and disabled people.

In addition, because the middleware has been built to open standards, it means that anyone can use the underlying code to build their own user interface for a device to control networked appliances.

By the start of 2010, there were more already than 100 organisations and companies in Europe using or working with i2home technology, according to Mr Alexandersson.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8495479.stm

Digital Planet

ROBOTIC PATIENT

Japan leads the world in the field of robotics. There has been a massive investment by the government in automation for everything from healthcare, to home security.

At the Nippon Dental University Hospital in Tokyo, Prof Naotake Shibui even uses a robot called Simroid to train his students.

Armed with a dentists’ drill and a face mask, Gareth starts his dental training.

GIANT GUNDAM

Nothing embodies the Japanese love of robots more than the statue that’s about to open in Oidaba, a reclaimed island in southern Tokyo.

It’s a giant statue of the famous anime robot Gundam. The 18m tall, 35 tonne figure has been built to mark the 30th anniversary of the TV series.

Gareth talks to ethnographer Patrick Galbraith, from the University of Tokyo, and author of The Otaku Encyclopaedia, about why Gundam is so popular.

AKIHABARA: ELECTRIC TOWN

Gareth takes a tour of Akihabara, or Electric Town, with technology consultant Steve Nagata.

Akihabara is the centre of ‘otaku’ or ‘geek’ culture in Tokyo. Here you can buy anything from spy cameras, to underground computer games.

INTELLIGENT TOILET

Toilets in Japan are undoubtedly the most sophisticated in the world. None more so than the Intelligent Toilet Mark II, produced by Daiwa House.

This water closet not only measures your weight, body temperature and blood sugar, but it also plots a weekly graph of your health stats.

Gareth visits the little boys’ room, for a demonstration of the best in toilet technology.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003jjnr

Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of 'SixthSense' technology

Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of 'SixthSense' technology


At TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data -- including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper "laptop".

In an onstage Q&A, Mistry says he'll open-source the software behind SixthSense, to open its possibilities to all.




http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tv/TED-India-Pranav-Mistry/videoshow_ted/5231080.cms

Microsoft Milan Surface Computer Playtable: computing table

Some big news from Microsoft yesterday on a new computer called the Microsoft Milan Surface Computer (or Playtable) which is basically a computing table.

Then you add to that some amazing technology and this is one of the best products I have seen from Microsoft in many years, just look at the photos (IT LOOKS AMAZING) and I am not just saying that because I love technology and gadgets.

With all new computers and phones the designers are talking computer interaction and touch (just look at the iPhone), this is the first product from Microsoft’s Surface Computing group (a tabletop computer code-named Milan).

30-inch horizontal display and 22 inches high, this acrylic table is very similar to a table top Pacman game my dad had years ago but obviously not with the technology that’s in the Milan Playtable.

Microsoft Milan Surface Computer Playtable Features:

Wi-Fi enabled (put a WiFi digital camera on the table top and the machine downloads the photos automatically)
Interact with photos much like actual physical photos (pass them around the table)
Music application turns the table into a virtual jukebox
Concierge application that helps you pull together an itinerary for a day out in a strange city
First generation Microsoft Surface Computer aimed at retail and in bars and hotels
Browse the Web
Imagine controlling a Media Center PC like this
Interactive slideshows
…and so much more




The surface computing market is potentially a multi-billion dollar business, so Microsoft does not want to make the same mistakes they did with Search (They are getting in early with this market).

Microsoft is launching the platform just for big retail clients currently (or I guess if you’re a millionaire you can get what you want, for a price).

So for us lesser earning people, the cool Microsoft Milan coffee table will just be in the photos…what a shame as I want one.



Via wired


http://www.product-reviews.net/2007/05/30/microsoft-milan-surface-computer-playtable-computing-table/

Blind people phone

The blind now also able to use the touch screen mobile phone. You may be thinking, how they use it while we know that the blind is not able to see. Scientists have created on the phone with touch screen technology so that the vibration can stimulate the Braille letters that are injected in the mobile phone.

Jussi Rantala from the University of Tampere, Finland, together with some of his team to create mobile phone with a priority to bring this letter in Braille mobile phone. Letters are then displayed on the touch screen.

In this test, the researchers use a mobile phone with a piezoelectric material attached to the touch screen. Later, these materials vibrate when get electrical signals.

Braille letters will code two-thirds through the matrix, where each letter presented in a different configuration of dots of the letter emerged drowned.

To support this device, install the software that they represent the dots of the letter emerged intense pulse vibration of single dots, while the letters are presented as the sinking of vibration longer weaker.

Sony walkman with Zappin technology

Sony make walkman with modern technology Zappin. With this latest injection technology, the music it can choose their favorite songs without having to see the display.

In the shuffle mode, the user can hear the walkman every song snippet on the chorus, and if they like, can play it. The process of selecting songs to be faster because the user does not have to listen to every song from the beginning.

To be easier, the user only needs to press the button a quick tap on the walkman. This device automatically detects and plays an important part chorus and the songs help listeners choose the desired song. This device has a memory capacity of 2 gigabytes, the capacity of this device is enough to save the file to 300 songs.

Sony claims this Zappin technology to improve the lack of devices that have a long cable. The newest Package of W series consists of a pair of earphone attached directly to the ear because of hearing only the length of the cord two inches.

Second earphone cables are connected by a circle around the user’s walkman. Sony recommends the music player is for those who like to listen to music while exercise, because they generally do not like the use of long cables.

http://apple-gen.com/2009/04/sony-walkman-with-zappin-technology/

Is Your Slow Computer Driving You Crazy? Slow Computer Tips

Dealing with slow computers can turn out to be a painful and frustrating task. However, you can manage it just fine if you know how to go about fixing things up. For starters, try and understand some basic slow computer fix tips, which help you in cases when your computer gets hung up in the middle of some important work.

Registry is one of the most important things that need to be sorted for a slow computer fix. Many people tend to neglect this, but the fact is that most of the blue screens and other errors that come up on your computer are because of a faulty registry program. Thus, it is really important to get a proper registry scan done. Also, you need to ensure that your computer has a good anti-virus program.

A good anti-virus program not only helps to heal the viruses that have already attacked your computer, by it also helps you to know about potential dangers from any website that you are browsing, or any application that you are about to run, or any file that you are about to download or open. Viruses can cause computers to slow down, so regular virus scans are very important.

Similarly, regular defragmentation is also important for your computer so that you can get rid of the junk files and the corrupted files that are taking up a lot of space on your disk. For slow computer fix, also try and get all your programs and software updated to the latest version, because a lot many times, older versions of software or programs turn out to be the reason for your computer to run slowly. You must also always try to be careful about shutting down your computer properly each time, and not in a hurried way before the safe shutdown screen flashes.

Sony 3D LCD TV

Sony Plans to Introduce 3D LCD Television by End of 2010

The Wall Street Journal reports that Sony is planning to introduce a 3D LCD TV by the end of 2010. Sony's been in a bit of a slump lately, and a push to 3D would certainly provide some excitement.

This leak is all according to an unnamed source, so don't get too worked up, but supposedly Sony is set to announce the product at next week's IFA in Berlin. Panasonic has already committed to work on 3D TVs, but Sony could still be the first to get a product out the door. We'll have to wait until next week to find out if there's any truth to the rumor.

Deaf Phone?

Pratt student Suhyun Kim is quite concerned about the deaf folks and wants them to enjoy technology as much as we do. Her Visual Sound is a mobile phone for the hearing impaired that converts voice input to text and text input to voice. The design features two handy pillars that scroll sideways to expose the roll-out display. To communicate, the impaired person feeds in the text onto the touchscreen display, which gets converted to voice simulation for the person on the other end of the phone and vice versa.

The only drawback that I foresee is the time taken to input the text and converting it to sound. It may deter long distance calls, but on the flipside any form of communication is better than being mum

Music Sofa with CD player

When furniture is fused with high tech kit the results are often about as comfortable and stylish as sandpaper g-string. But the new Music Sofa by designer Giongkun Wuqiongkun defies the norm with its charmingly curvaceous lines and comfy interior cushion, which sent us from nought to napping in only a few seconds… until we were suddenly awoken by some beefy rock riffs. See, this sofa contains a stonking wireless speaker set-up. Plus with a built in CD player it should be music to your ears.

http://www.yankodesign.com/2007/03/22/music-sofa-built-in-cd-playerspeaker-by-giongkun-wuqiongkun/

Amazing VeinViewer technology

Another amazing technology to help the doctors! It is called VeinViewer. The VeinViewer by Luminetx™ utilizes near infrared light and patented technologies to illuminate subcutaneous vasculature by imaging their location on the surface of the skin. VeinViewer is a mobile biomedical device consisting of the following four components:

Infrared light source - The light source emits a harmless, near-infrared light reflected back to the surface from the tissue surrounding the vein, while no light is reflected back from the blood inside the vessel.
Digital video camera - The digital video camera captures the near-infrared light reflected back from the patient.
Image processing unit - The microprocessor adds contrast and projects this image back on the skin in their actual location.
Digital image projector - Using Texas Instruments Digital Light Processing™ technology, the projector displays these real-time images of the vasculature onto the surface of the skin.

click here to see the video..


http://simplebrowser.blogspot.com/2007/10/amazing-veinviewer-technology.html

Freecycle - Globike

Globike is a system designed to share your bike and your experiences with all the members of its online community. Globike is designed to promote the friendship and the cultural exchange between people from different countries through its online portal, together with the use of the bicycle as the best green transportation solution during a travel.

Every bike sends its position (obtained through the GPS system) to the online Globike portal. Users can access to the portal everywhere through their Globike device, and ask for a bike to other members.

With Globike, a boy from Barcelona that wants to visit Amsterdam can contact a person that lives there, become his friend, and visit Amsterdam riding the person’s bike. At the same time, he can share images, videos and etc. about the travel with his community’s friends.

The system is composed by an hardware part and a software part, that manages 3 areas: sharing, navigation and communication. The hardware part is composed by the Globike device and an electronic lock with a NFC chip inside, that has to be installed permanently on the bike. The device acts as a key, allowing a trusted member to unlock a booked bike. The Globike lock is able to automatically recognize the devices that can unlock it.