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Online Gamer Stabbed Over Cyber-Sword Link Another example of the vanishing line between virtual and physical. A Shanghai online game player stabbed to death a competitor who sold his cybersword, highlighting a dilemma in China where no law exists for the ownership of virtual weapons. Qiu Chengwei, 41, stabbed competitor Zhu Caoyuan repeatedly in the chest after he was told Zhu had sold his "dragon saber," used in the popular online game "Legend of Mir 3." "Legend of Mir 3" features heroes and villains, sorcerers and warriors, many of whom wield enormous swords. Qiu and a friend jointly won their weapon last February, and lent it to Zhu who then sold it for 7,200 yuan (US$870). Qui went to the police to report the "theft" but was told the weapon was not real property protected by law. "Zhu promised to hand over the cash but an angry Qui lost patience and attacked Zhu at his home, stabbing him in the left chest with great force and killing him," a Chinese court was told. As yet, no verdict has been announced. [ permanent link to this entry ]
The Transgenic Zoo Link Peter Yeadon's Transgenic Zoo is an ongoing case study which explores the architectural implications of nanotechnology and nanobiotechnology. "We're already designing new forms of life and new classes of substance," says Yeadon referring to cloning, genetically modified food and nanotechnologies. "So, how can architecture acknowledge this era of living products?" The TZ would be situated in Toronto. The existing zoo would be relocated downtown and enhanced with bioengineered plants and animals. The bioengineered creatures are already available: we have injected jellyfish genes into plants to make glow in the dark trees, cloned goats, etc. Polymer scaffold have been developed at the University of Washington to grow human organs such as liver, bones or heart. At the Zoo, such a scaffold would be installed to grow human nails for a neighbourhood beauty salon. Buildings in the TZ are another form of life. They would be covered by a receptive molecular coating of peptides and proteins that act as messengers. Peptides can self-assemble and conform with environmental influences. For instance, a building might seal off its openings at the sign of harmful gases or defend itself against water damage by transforming its facade into water-repellent reptile scale. Gecko feet can adhere to any surface and university are developing adhesives that mimick gecko's properties. In Yeadon's scenario, self-climbing conveyance devices called Geckovators would replace elevators and interior corridors. People would move freely alonf the facades of the buildings to get to the desired suite. >> PDF of the article from the architect's website [ permanent link to this entry ]
Teleblaster : The New Age of TV? Link There is always talk around The Futures Lab offices of personalized audio-visual portals and so we will be watching this development with much interest, no pun intended. When you couple this with the C-Generation (content) trend it's a doubly worthy example. The Teleblaster is born to explode television by allowing viewers to watch TV programs in different ways. Essentially it rethinks the value of television and turns it into a great source of visual information and positive emotions. From the site's description: "Users can mix videofeed with a TV broadcast, the Teleblaster therefore giving unlimited possibilities for creativity: television becomes, literally, a Lego set from which users/watchers creates his/her own worlds."
The principal novelty of TeleBlaster is that it provides its users with unique possibilities of control over information streams and gives an additional freedom of choices of TV watching modes. There is perhaps the feeling that because the innovation involves some sense of involvement, it won't be a mainstream hit, at least not for now. TV is perhaps the ultimate in passive leisure, its popularity rooted in that trait alone. Still, roll on the new age of TV. [ permanent link to this entry ]
Vending Machine As Surveilance Tool Osaka is turning to high-tech systems for preventing/dealing with crimes. In addition to RFID-based mobile messaging service, special vending machines with embedded surveillance cameras will be used.
The city plans to install 10 such vending machines - called Unmanned Police Station Robots - next year. Kids will carry RFID tags that have a push button and press it in case of emergency and the nearest vending machine will respond by automatically transmitting pictures of the area to the police. The RFID tags are also used to track kids. Of course. [ permanent link to this entry ]
Growing Your Own Replacement Teeth Link Advances in stem cell research and bioengineering have led to successful experiments in growing replacement teeth, as reported by the International Association for Dental Research. Using post-natal dental stem cells, researchers believe that they can one day cultivate replacement sets of teeth, eliminating the need for dentures and artificial tooth implants. [ permanent link to this entry ]
Interactive Retail Link At The Futures Lab, we like the idea of retail becoming much more interactive than pushing a cart up and down an aisle. It shouldn't surprise you that this particular manifestation of a retail kiosk caught our eye. Fraunhofer HHI has a new 2-D /3-D display system showing at ceBIT 2005. The solution provides drag and drop operations between the holographic display and the 2-D display, allowing the user to grab objects and examine them closely in 3-D. Another display intended for showroom kiosks, Free2C, also by HHI uses a camera to track a single viewer's movement and projects separate channels of video to each eye to create a 3-D display.
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NanoSolar By the Roll Link Their manufacturing process consists of printing nano-scaled solar-cell layers, bypassing the traditionally expensive vacuum methods yet meeting and in some cases, exceeding industry standards. The company was founded to build the ultimate solar electricity cell and develop sunpower conversion technology capable of making solar electricity profitable and scalable to a significant fraction of the world’s electricity generation. [ permanent link to this entry ]
Cheap At-Home Genetic Testing Link Commercials hawking prescription drugs directly to consumers have driven doctors crazy for years. Now comes a new kind of medical marketing that is already troubling some medical professionals: at-home genetic testing. An increasing number of online startups are marketing tests that can show predisposition to any number of maladies, from breast cancer to blood clotting. They are exploiting the blizzard of genetic discoveries reported almost daily since scientists published the complete map of all human genes five years ago. The tests are cheap, easy to administer, often just a cotton swab inside the cheek, and the results are available online, cutting out the visit to the doctor's office. Plus, the companies note, the test results aren't usually jotted down on official medical histories, which keeps sensitive information away from insurance companies. More>> [ permanent link to this entry ]
Methuselah Mouse Prize Hits $1M Link The M Prize is the premiere effort of The Methuselah Foundation; a scientific competition designed to draw attention to the ability of new technologies to slow and even reverse the damage of the aging process, A financial award derived from private donations is won by the research team that breaks the record for the world's oldest mouse. Once healthy life-extension is demonstrated in mice, the attitude that 'aging is inevitable' will no longer be possible and will give way to an all-out "war on aging". [ permanent link to this entry ]
Artificial Muscle That Works Like Fingers Link A group of Kyoto-based researchers has unveiled an artificial muscle, probably the world's smallest, that is capable of holding objects like real fingers do. The human-like material was developed by Nobutaka Tsujiuchi, a professor of mechanical dynamics at Doshisha University, and the Kyoto-based software development company Squse. The part of the artificial muscle enclosing a controlling device is made of a natural rubber measuring 0.5 centimeter in diameter and 3 cm in length. The artificial muscle, which is about the same size as the real muscle found in human fingers, is wrapped in a polyester net and comes with a compressor about the size of a syringe.
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Embedded Sensors : From Spacecraft to the Home Link
The technology, known as ReverSys, can be used with most solid materials: glass, wood, steel, even a brick wall. Sensitive control panels can be placed at any location on a surface to create an interactive human-machine interface. It also has a number of important advantages: * it is wireless and cable-free and can be integrated onto any surface * it does not require any modification to the surface * it is aesthetic and fits with any decor * it can easily be re-programmed to reposition the sensitive zones * it is simple to operate * it can be easily moved There are multiple applications of such a technology which may well do for switches what wi-fi has done for computers. [ permanent link to this entry ]
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