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US Kids Increase Study Time Link That doesn't mean they're spending less time in front of the television. Today's children and teens spend more than 14 hours a week watching the tube - almost as much time as children did in the past. As students age from junior to senior high-school levels, they spend more time on computer activities, less time sleeping, and much more time visiting, socializing, and studying outside of school, the researchers found. In general, girls aged 6 to 17 spend less time playing, more time studying, and less time watching television than boys do. [ permanent link to this entry ]
Hitachi Pioneers 'Shadow' User Interface Link Researchers from Hitachi's Ubiquitous Platform Group labs have successfully built a prototype display table (a table with a computer monitor built in) that uses a shadow as the user interface. The prototype uses technology developed by the company's Human Interaction Laboratory that reacts to shadows cast upon the table. The display itself is a Hitachi high-def LCD projector, the CP-X328J, which projects the equivalent of a 42-inch screen onto the table. Apparently Hitachi may start selling the display as a commercial product as early as Q2 2005. [ permanent link to this entry ]
Visual Google Link Neven has applied for a patent to cover the use of image-recognition software on mobile phones and has started cutting deals with various companies. Vodafone Japan and NTT DoCoMo to offer wireless video-messaging services powered by Neven Vision technology. Vodafone's MovieMask, launched in July, recognizes your changing expressions as you look into the camera and adds the appropriate special effects, like tears or sparkles. DoCoMo introduced a similar service called Face Stamp in November. Neven Vision expects at least three European cell phone carriers to make the technology a standard feature next year. Meanwhile, the company is developing a security application that would use biometrics - facial features, skin texture, and iris pattern - to authenticate purchases made via cell phone. And this fall, after two years of development, the company is rolling out its most ambitious service, what Neven describes as a "visual Google." The company has tweaked its facial analysis algorithms to identify anything from a Coke can to the Mona Lisa, barcodes to kanji. By linking this object-recognition software to a database of images, Neven aims to build a search platform for phonecam users. Don't know what something is? Snap a pic and the service sends back a match within 10 seconds. The technology will debut next year in ads that offer, say, $1 million to the millionth person to submit an image of a can of Coke. Travel guides are next: Snap a picture of the Pantheon to learn its history, or click a road sign you need translated from German to English. "The system hyperlinks the visual world," Neven says. "Eventually every building and object will be in the database." [ permanent link to this entry ]
Glass That Keeps Its Cool Link Two researchers at University College Londonhave developed “intelligent glass,” which selectively reflects the infrared on hot days. Skyscrapers that incorporate this smart material could save millions of dollars a year in air-conditioning costs, the researchers estimate, while cars with smart-glass windows could remain relatively cool even in blinding sun. The secret is a superthin coating of vanadium dioxide molecules doped with tungsten, Parkin says. At low temperatures, vanadium dioxide is transparent to infrared. At higher temperatures, the bonding between the molecules changes and the material becomes reflective, like a metal. The scientists believe that within five years, intelligent-glass windows could be on the market, costing perhaps only 20 percent more than the ordinary kind. [ permanent link to this entry ]
Anywhere Interface Link A computer chip calculates the precise origin of each tap and translates that information into mouse clicks and keystrokes. Users might use the technology, for example, to “click” on a storefront mannequin’s hat to learn its price. Ing says the technique has advantages over other user interfaces under development because it can work with a surface as large as four square meters, and the number of “keys” can reach 544 [ permanent link to this entry ]
Robotic Pillow for Grandparents Link Robotics researchers at Carnegie Mellon have designed a pillow that uses sensing and wireless phone technology to provide a physical touch, and thus better social and emotional support, for distant family members.
The Hug is shaped like a person about to give a hug, with two arms reaching up and out from a small torso. To send a hug, the grandchild would squeeze the left paw and speak her grandfather's name into a microphone in the top of the torso. Voice recognition software identifies the name and matches it to a phone number corresponding to the other Hug. The grandfather's pillow lights up and plays sounds. To accept the hug, he squeezes the left paw and says hello. When the girl squeezes or pats the device, sensors convert those motions into a data stream that is converted on the other Hug into vibrations. Thermal fibers around the Hug's belly radiate heat that increases with time. If someone is not home to receive a hug, the other person can leave a message that includes voice and vibration patterns. Unfortunately, there is little chance that the Hug will be mass produced in the near future. "It would need to go through product development, where people may want to change its appearance and make it more adaptable to different-sized people," said Francine Gemperle, a researcher who worked on the project. "I certainly hope that someone picks it up and does something with it." [ permanent link to this entry ]
McDonald's, Coca Cola Unveil 3-D Holographic Ad Link According to the company's website, "Provision's display systems represent a revolutionary technology that provides the projection of high resolution holographic like 3D aerial images into space detached from any screen, without any glasses." The application allows marketers to project three dimensional imagery that is visible from up to 100 feet away.
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Accelerating Change 2004 Link This year's theme, Physical Space, Virtual Space, and Interface, analyzes the intersection of three monumental trends: 1. Accelerating interconnectivity of the physical world 2. Increasing accuracy of the simulated world 3. Growing intelligence of the human-machine interface. The list of speakers is impressive and, while the overall thrust of the conference appeares tech-centric, there looks to be a reasonable range of speakers who will be grappling with the social implications. [ permanent link to this entry ]
Office Space Gets New Meaning at NEC Japan Link NEC envisions a world without walls, and not many printers or chairs, either. The Japanese computing giant has launched a strategy to employ technology to reorganize how work gets done in the modern world and is exploiting its own offices as a showcase. In a working 500-employee demo that's part of NEC's broadband division, there are no chairs in the conference rooms: Standing cuts down on meeting length. Rather than pass out memos or draw on white boards, employees examine and manipulate documents with collaborative software on plasma screens, which also function as videoconference systems. Phones have also been banned. Employees place voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls through their laptops, linked to a headset. [ permanent link to this entry ]
An Image of a Single Thought Link The University of Illinois at Chicago has unveiled the world's most powerful magnetic resonance imaging machine for human studies, capable of imaging not just the anatomy but metabolism within the brain. These improvements in brain scanning, have resulted in higher accuracy, real-time scans. The image is a snapshot of a brain as it learns a new task. This advanced technology ushers in a new age of metabolic imaging that will help researchers understand the workings of the human brain, detect diseases before their clinical signs appear, develop targeted drug therapies for illnesses like stroke and provide a better understanding of learning disabilities.
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Hypoallergenic Cats Link The plans are to block the gene in cats that cause allergy-inducing proteins. The cost for the genetically modified felines - about $3500. Allerca expects the birth of the first special kittens in early 2007. [ permanent link to this entry ]
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