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Wireless charging for iphone

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 07:02:00 +0000

While wireless charging capability is built into the latest Nexus handsets, iPhone users looking to unplug are faced with the prospect of shelling out for a wireless-ready (and often bulky) case like the Powermat series. The iQi Mobile looks to slim down the equation with a wireless power solution that works with most iPhone soft cases.

As the name suggests, the iQi Mobile uses the Qi (pronounced “i-chee”) standard and is compatible with iPhone 5, 5C, 5S & iPod Touch (5G). It consists of a 0.5 mm thick, credit-card like receiver unit and a flexible plug for the phone's Lightning connector that allows it to be squeezed behind a standard soft case. From there it enables charging at a rate faster than USB 2.0 with any Qi compatible charging pad, including the Koolpuck charger which is being bundled with the iQi Mobile offering.

Funds are being raised to bring the iQi Mobile to market via Indiegogo where the campaign has almost quadrupled its US$30,000 goal with 18 days still left to run.

The company says early backers of the campaign will receive their iQi Mobile perks before Christmas. A full retail launch is slated for 2014 with the iQi Mobile receiver to be priced at $35 and the receiver/Koolpuck charger bundle to cost $85.

The video pitch for the iQi Mobile is below.

Source: Indiegogo

Attempt To Convert Prof Hawking’s Brainwaves Into Speech

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 08:32:00 +0000

An American scientist is to unveil details of work on the brain patterns of Prof Stephen Hawking which he says could help safeguard the physicist’s ability to communicate.

Prof Philip Low said he eventually hoped to allow Prof Hawking to “write” words with his brain as an alternative to his current speech system which interprets cheek muscle movements.

Prof Low said the innovation would avert the risk of locked-in syndrome.

Intel is working on an alternative.

Prof Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 1963. In the 1980s he was able to use slight thumb movements to move a computer cursor to write sentences.

His condition later worsened and he had to switch to a system which detects movements in his right cheek through an infrared sensor attached to his glasses which measures changes in light.

Because the nerves in his face continue to deteriorate his rate of speech has slowed to about one word a minute prompting him to look for an alternative.

The fear is that Prof Hawking could ultimately lose the ability to communicate by body movement, leaving his brain effectively “locked in” his body.

In 2011, he allowed Prof Low to scan his brain using the iBrain device developed by the Silicon Valley-based start-up Neurovigil.

Prof Hawking will not attend the consciousness conference in his home town of Cambridge where Prof Low intends to discuss his findings, but a spokesman told the BBC: “Professor Hawking is always interested in supporting research into new technologies to help him communicate.”

Decoding brainwaves

The iBrain is a headset that records brain waves through EEG (electroencephalograph) readings – electrical activity recorded from the user’s scalp.

Prof Low said he had designed computer software which could analyse the data and detect high frequency signals that had previously been thought lost because of the skull.”

An analogy would be that as you walk away from a concert hall where there’s music from a range of instruments,” he told the BBC.”As you go further away you will stop hearing high frequency elements like the violin and viola, but still hear the trombone and the cello. Well, the further you are away from the brain the more you lose the high frequency patterns.

The iBrain device collects EEG data which it transfers to a computer

“What we have done is found them and teased them back using the algorithm so they can be used.”

Prof Low said that when Prof Hawking had thought about moving his limbs this had produced a signal which could be detected once his algorithm had been applied to the EEG data.

He said this could act as an “on-off switch” and produce speech if a bridge was built to a similar system already used by the cheek detection system.

Prof Low said further work needed to be done to see if his equipment could distinguish different types of thoughts – such as imagining moving a left hand and a right leg.

If it turns out that this is the case he said Prof Hawking could use different combinations to create different types of virtual gestures, speeding up the rate he could select words at.

To establish whether this is the case, Prof Low plans trials with other patients in the US.

Intel’s effort

The US chipmaker Intel announced, in January, that it had also started work to create a new communication system for Prof Hawking after he had asked the firm’s co-founder, Gordon Moore, if it could help him.

It is attempting to develop new 3D facial gesture recognition software to speed up the rate at which Prof Hawking can write.

“These gestures will control a new user interface that takes advantage of the multi-gesture vocabulary and advances in word prediction technologies,” a spokeswoman told the BBC.

“We are working closely with Professor Hawking to understand his needs and design the system accordingly.”

Intel began working with Prof Hawking after he wrote a letter to its co-founder Gordon Moore in 2011

Revolv home automation

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 08:26:00 +0000

Once you start automating your home with electronic locks, lights, switches, and other components, the number of apps on your phone can multiply very quickly. Worse, it seems like you should be able to easily link their behavior together yet can’t.

After all, if you want the lights to turn off when you leave the house, shouldn’t the thermostat also turn down? The Revolv home automation system and associated smart phone app aim to simplify things with one centralized control hub that promises easy setup, no additional support fees, and an evolving lineup of supported devices and features.

Using Revolv is designed to be simple. Once plugged into a central location for optimal Wi-Fi coverage, the unit automatically adds supported devices from the home network, while others need to be added manually via a walkthrough on the Revolv app.

The unit boasts seven wireless radios supporting ten different wireless protocols, with Insteon, Wi-Fi, and Z-Wave currently covered, and more including ZigBee to be rolled out later. What it doesn’t require is an Ethernet connection, creating an account, or monthly fees, with the system registering your phone simply by using the phone’s flash. Only iOS devices are currently supported, but Android, Windows Phone and others will follow.

Once devices are enabled, the fun begins. You can design different home "scenarios," such as coming home, vacation, relaxation, movie night, or bedtime, with rules being triggered by the phone’s proximity, motion sensors, or based on time. Currently the GeoSense proximity trigger is only enabled for one phone, though this will be updated early next year. However, multiple phones can control a Revolv system.

The company is also working on more complex conditional rules, as might apply in households where not everyone has a smartphone. Also planned is a feature that recognizes when people are still at home, despite the GeoSense-linked user leaving the house with their phone.

Belkin WeMo light switches and electrical outlets, Philips Hue and Insteonlightbulbs, Kwikset and Yale locks, and wireless speakers from Sonos are just a few of the devices currently supported, with a full list that is being regularly updated found on Revolv’s website.

The Revolv system is currently available for US$299.

If you’ve started to automate your home, what would you do with Revolv? Let us know in the comments.

Below is Revolv’s video pitching the “sexiness” of home automation.

Source: Revolv

Create your own sixthsense device

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 14 Dec 2013 18:32:00 +0000

Hi friends you are all know that Pranav Mistry developed a Sixth sense technology, which is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with that information.

He reveals his Sixth Sense technology project to the world as opensource..

HARDWARE:

Camera

The camera is the key input device of the SixthSense system. The camera acts as a digital eye of the system. It basically captures the scene the user is looking at. The video stream captured by the camera is passed to mobile computing device which does the appropriate computer vision computation. The major functions of the camera can be listed as:

Captures user’s hand movements and gestures (used in reorganization of user gestures)
Captures the scene in front and objects the user is interacting with (used in object reorganization and tracking)
Takes a photo of the scene in front when the user performs a ‘framing’ gesture
Captures the scene of projected interface (used to correct the alignment, placement and look and feel of the projected interface components)

Suggested Product: Logitech QuickCam Pro for notebooks

Projector

The projector is the key output device of the SixthSense system. The projector visually augments surfaces, walls and physical objects the user is interacting with by projecting digital information and graphical user interfaces. The mobile computing device provides the projector with the content to be projected. The projector unit used in prototype runs on a rechargeable battery. The major functions of the projector can be listed as:

Projects graphical user interface of the selected application onto surfaces or walls in front
Augments the physical objects the user interacting with by projecting just-in-time and related information from the Internet

Suggested Products: You can buy either laser (AAXA, Microvision) or L.E.D (3M MPro110) projectors.

Mirror

The mirror reflects the projection coming out from the projector and thus helps in projecting onto the desired locations on walls or surfaces. The user manually can change the tilt of the mirror to change the location of the projection. For example in application where the user wants the projection to go on the ground instead of the surface in front, he can change the tilt of the mirror to change the projection. Thus, the mirror in the SixthSense helps in overcoming the limitation of the limited projection space of the projector.

Suggested Product: Any 1”X1” first surface mirror

Microphone

The microphone is an optional component of the SixthSense. It is required when using a paper as a computing interface. When the user wants to use a sheet of paper as an interactive surface, he or she clips the microphone to the paper. The microphone attached this way captures the sound signals of user’s touching the paper. This data is passed to computing device for processing. Later, combined with the tracking information about user’s finger, the system is able to identify precise touch events on the paper. Here, the sound signal captured by the microphone provides time information whereas the camera performs tracking. The applications enabled by this technique are explained earlier.

Mobile computing device

The SixthSense system uses a mobile computing device in user’s pocket as the processing device. The software program enabling all the features of the system runs on this computing device. This device can be a mobile phone or a small laptop computer. The camera, the projector and the microphone are connected to this device using wired or wireless connection. The detail of the software program that runs on this device is provided in next section. The mobile computing device is also connected to the Internet via 3G network or wireless connection.

Suggested Hardware Components

These are the basic pieces that you should buy. You can choose any brand, and the following list are those items that worked well for us:

Pico-Projector

Laser

AAXA ~$110
Microvision ~$200

L.E.D

3M MPro110 ~$270

Camera

Logitech QuickCam Pro for notebooks ~$23

Microphone

Microphone of Logitech QuickCam pro for notebooks ~$23

A mirror assembly

Front faced mirror is best, 1”X1” first surface mirror (this can be purchased from anywhere, i.e. Ebay)

Laptop Computer: Any Windows computer (this will act as the mobile computing device)

SOFTWARE:

How to run the Software Component of SixthSense

The prototype system runs on windows platform and majority of the code is written in C++ and C#. We will be uploading newer versions as it is being developed; this will also include a mobile version.

NOTE: We are moving the new code to Git this week. Meanwhile you can download it at the link below.

WUW v0.1 beta

Download

v0.1

or you can download latest release tag from: github

Instructions for running WUW_v0.1

WUW_v0.1 is the beta version of SixthSense code (WUW stands for Wear Ur World, a former name of the project). This version runs on Windows. Make sure you have Visual Studio and Direct X installed. Extract and copy the files from wuw_v0.1.zip to any location on your computer. Open WUW01.sln (which is present in the folder "CODE") then click on F5 to debug it. If you debug it successfully, a black screen appears with a little square box on the right just hover your mouse around it and you will find Option tabs such as Camera, Tokens and Apps.

Camera: you can choose which camera to use and configure the camera settings here. You may need to mirror the camera here using the camera settings. It is also recommended to use fixed/manual white balance and exposure such that the camera image is stable and light independent.

Tokens: This version of code uses colored fingertips as markers. One need 4 different colors in order to run most of the Apps. We recommend to use Red, Yellow, Blue and Green (or colors that are different enough). We have also noticed that the matt colored tape/objects works better as they have less reflective changes. When you click on ‘Add Markers’, the screen starts blinking and after 4-5 secs it stops with a still picture so that you can add those markers on your hand as new markers. You can simply drag-select the colored marker on the screen by mouse cursor. Once you have all four markers (O, P, M, and N) added the software will start tracking the four markers. You can set the thresholds to better the tracking. You can save those markers and can reuse in subsequent executions, or can add new markers every time.

Apps: there are three ways to launch any application. Apps tab can let you choose the apps you want to load and run. One can also load apps from ‘Menu’. ‘Menu’ is triggered using Namaste gesture. Once on Menu screen you can choose the App by hand-click (Hand Click gesture works by moving the O marker and hiding P marker.

(Some of the Apps require some particular settings. There are also several types of gestures that are supported as of now. Details on Applications and Gestures will be added soon here.)

You have to do....

After downloading the code from Github, uncompressed the zip file to any location in your computer (Ex: F:\sixthsense-sixthsense-4e155fc)
Now open MS Outlook for running the Mail app( without outlook you may get errors )
Now click on WUW01. Fig.1
A Window appears Fig.2. Now click F5 to debug it.(Make sure you're connected to the internet)
A Black window appears as in Fig.3. There are certain options like camera,Tokens and apps

Camera:

Here you can select the camera you want to use from the drop down options.
If you are having multiple cameras you can select from those option or if you have single camera it will automatically start capturing.
You can also adjust your camera settings (Brightness,contrast,..etc) by clicking on "Adjust Camera Properties".

Tokens:

Click the "New Marker" button, you will see the camera flickering 3 times, during this period you will have to position you fingers (with the markers) in front of the camera and on the 3rd flicker you will have a still image.

Now simply drag the mouse over the markers with small circles that should only cover the part of the marker,repeat this process four times for the four markers (M,N,O & P)
Add the colour markers in the order : Red ,Yellow ,Blue & Green Fig.4

You can also check this video for adding colour markers :

APPS:

Some apps are listed below:

Test:

You can see whether the four markers are being tracked and moving while you are moving those particular markers that is on the fingers.Fig.5

Draw:

The red marker (M) draws when the yellow marker (N) is hidden.When both the markers are visible you can move the mouse pointer to select different colours or eraser,etc Fig.6

Photo:

Make a rectangle with your pointer fingers and thumbs and when the gesture is recognized,the countdown starts
Remove you hands from the camera frame to capture the desired photo. (The countdown lasts for 3 secs) Fig.7

Gallery:

Displays the photos that you have taken Fig.8

Mail:

Displays a list of email from outlook (required that MS Outlook be running for this to work)

Weather:

Displays a weather app that can be localised to your area.Fig.9

Stock:

Displays 16 stocks values real time, use the slider at the bottom of the projected display to set the time scale.

Effects:

Play with beautiful wavy lines and explore your imagination.Fig.10

Newspaper:

It projects newspaper stories and related videos from Youtube or other web sites,directly onto the surface of the paper.Fig.11

Book:

For book-recognition,the program gets activated with a gesture, and the system snaps a photo of the book, compares it with book-cover images it finds online, computes a match, and retrieves and projects the ratings.Fig.12

Clock:

An Analog clock will be projected by doing a circle gesture. Fig.13

Configuring the code at Google (wuw_v0.1):

Same Requirements as written above.

Download the code from wuw_v0.1 & follow the steps as written above.

How to add colour markers

You can also follow the steps above to add the markers or check this video :

How to remove the Black box ?

This is an error where some part of the screen is covered with a black box.

To remove the Blackbox follow the steps :

Click on the WUW01.sln file ( In the folder named "Code" )

Click on WUW.cs ,highlighted area & do as written in the Pic.1 like

Right click the black box which is present in the extreme left.

Click on the option send to back and it gets hidden.

You can also check this video :

InTouch Technology

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 07:06:00 +0000

How many mobile electronic devices to you have now? A smartphone, a laptop, a tablet, digital camera, maybe even a smart watch? And how often is it necessary to transfer pictures, documents or videos, between your devices? The inTouch technology developed by researchers from the VTT Research Center of Finland lets a ring, bracelet, or even a smart fingernail act as a conduit to transfer information between devices simply and securely – even when the devices are owned by different people.

You have probably wished you had such a feature at some point. I was recently at an event where I was working with five friends. We had all taken pictures at the event, and now we wanted to share the pictures with each other. But we all had different devices with different operating systems. We uploaded the pictures – one at a time – to Facebook or another online service, and then downloaded them one at a time to our devices, and then again to our laptops or desktop computers once we got home. But what if there was a better way?

The team at the Smart Interaction Solutions lab at the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland, led by Dr. Jani Mäntyjärvi has been experimenting with different devices in different forms that can act as a “touch conduit” of information between different devices.

The basic idea is that the user wears a ring, or bracelet, watch, or even a “smart fingernail” (i.e. a small chip embedded in an artificial fingernail) that has some small amount of memory, an antenna, but no battery. The system would require the devices to have a special antenna that sends out enough energy to power the ring or other inTouch device, just like how an RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) chip works.

When the user touches their device with an inTouch ring, for example, a special icon appears. If the user wants to upload a small amount of information, like a website address, or a small picture, the data is actually stored in the ring. Then when the user touches another device equipped with the same technology, they can initiate a download from the ring back into the device.

Sending a friend a website address is a simple task of touching your smartphone on the web page, selecting the “upload” icon, and then touching the friend’s device and selecting download. The information is wirelessly transferred via the ring.

Because the ring has limited storage capacity, the cloud is used as an intermediary for larger amounts of data, such as video files. The inTouch software uploads the file to a cloud service, so the ring only has to store a link to the data. Then, once the user touches the device to which they wish to send the video file, it knows where to go to download it.

This technique does require some modifications to the devices involved – a special antenna and transmitter/receiver needs to be incorporated into each smartphone, tablet, or computer in addition to the Wi-Fi, cellular, and Bluetooth wireless technologies that may already be there.

Dr. Mäntyjärvi sees this type of wearable information conduit as enabling quite a few applications besides just simple file sharing. The ring can act as a password or security device that can unlock doors, or perhaps start your car. A bracelet could be used as an ID card to enable industrial equipment, or identify specific operators. The ring could also contain a link to a person's medical information that doctors could access in the emergency room.

The chips and antennas involved are very small, and since they have no batteries, can be placed in any number of wearable accessories, clothing, jewellery, or, as mentioned, a fashionable fake fingernail.

This person uses a fingernail-shaped chip to transfer data between a tablet and a smartphone with just a touch.

This data ring makes the connection between two devices by transferring data via a wireless antenna.

The touch device can also take the shape of a bracelet. You still have to touch the device to confirm the connection.

You can see a demonstration of the technology in the following video.

Source: VTT

3D Internet

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 16:03:00 +0000

Also known as virtual worlds, the 3D Internet is a powerful new way for you to reach consumers, business customers, co-workers, partners, and students. It combines the immediacy of television, the versatile content of the Web, and the relationship-building strengths of social networking sites likeFace book . Yet unlike the passive experience of television, the 3D Internet is inherently interactive and engaging. Virtual worlds provide immersive 3D experiences that replicate (and in some cases exceed) real life.
People who take part in virtual worlds stay online longer with a heightened level of interest. To take advantage of that interest, diverse businesses and organizations have claimed an early stake in this fast-growing market. They include technology leaders such as IBM, Microsoft, and Cisco, companies such as BMW, Toyota , Circuit City , Coca Cola, and Calvin Klein, and scores of universities, including Harvard, Stanford and Penn State .

Introduction of 3D Internet

The success of 3D communities and mapping applications, combined with the falling costs of producing 3D environments, are leading some analysts to predict that a dramatic shift is taking place in the way people see and navigate the Internet.
The appeal of 3D worlds to consumers and vendors lies in the level of immersion that the programs offer.

The experience of interacting with another character in a 3D environment, as opposed to a screen name or a flat image, adds new appeal to the act of socializing on the Internet.
Advertisements in Microsoft's Virtual Earth 3D mapping application are placed as billboards and signs on top of buildings, blending in with the application's urban landscapes.

3D worlds also hold benefits beyond simple social interactions. Companies that specialize in interior design or furniture showrooms, where users want to view entire rooms from a variety of angles and perspectives, will be able to offer customized models through users' homePCs .
Google representatives report that the company Google is preparing a new revolutionary product called Google Goggles, an interactive visor that will present Internet content in three dimensions. Apparently the recent rumors of a Google phone refers to a product that is much more innovative than the recent Apple iPhone.

Google's new three dimensional virtual reality :

nyone putting on "the Googgles" - as the insiders call them - will be immersed in a three dimensional "stereo-vision" virtual reality called 3dLife. 3dLife is a pun referring to the three dimensional nature of the interface, but also a reference to the increasingly popular Second Life virtual reality.
The "home page" of 3dLife is called "the Library", a virtual room with virtual books categorized according to the Dewey system. Each book presents a knowledge resource within 3dLife or on the regular World Wide Web. If you pick the book for Pandia, Google will open the Pandia Web site within the frame of a virtual painting hanging on the wall in the virtual library. However, Google admits that many users may find this too complicated.

Apparently Google is preparing a new revolutionary product called Google Goggles, an interactive visor which will display Internet content in three dimensions.
A 3D mouse lets you move effortlessly in all dimensions. Move the 3D mouse controller cap to zoom, pan and rotate simultaneously. The 3D mouse is a virtual extension of your body - and the ideal way to navigate virtual worlds like Second Life.
The Space Navigator is designed for precise control over 3D objects in virtual worlds. Move, fly and build effortlessly without having to think about keyboard commands, which makes the experience more lifelike.

Controlling your avatar with this 3D mouse is fluid and effortless. Walk or fly spontaneously, with ease. In fly cam mode you just move the cap in all directions to fly over the landscape and through the virtual world
Hands on: Exit Reality:The idea behind ExitReality is that when browsing the web in the old-n-busted 2D version you're undoubtedly using now, you can hit a button to magically transform the site into a 3D environment that you can walk around in and virtually socialize with other users visiting the same site. This shares many of the same goals as Google's Lively (which, so far, doesn't seem so lively), though ExitReality is admittedly attempting a few other tricks.
Installation is performed via an executable file which places ExitReality shortcuts in Quick Launch and on the desktop, but somehow forgets to add the necessary ExitReality button to Firefox's toolbar . After adding the button manually and repeatedly being told our current version was out of date, we were ready to 3D-ify some websites and see just how much of reality we could leave in two-dimensional dust.

Exit Reality is designed to offer different kinds of 3D environments that center around spacious rooms that users can explore and customize, but it can also turn some sites like Flickr into virtual museums, hanging photos on virtual walls and halls. Strangely, it's treating Ars Technical as an image gallery and presenting it as a malformed 3D gallery .

3D Shopping is the most effective way to shop online. 3DInternet dedicated years of research and development and has developed the worlds' first fully functional, interactive and collaborative shopping mall where online users can use our 3DInternet's Hyper-Reality technology to navigate and immerse themselves in a Virtual Shopping Environment. Unlike real life, you won't get tired running around a mall looking for that perfect gift; you won't have to worry about your kids getting lost in the crowd; and you can finally say goodbye to waiting in long lines to check out.

Mind-controlled quadcopter flies using imaginary fists

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 06:05:00 +0000

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have done away with all that tedious joystick work by developing a mind-controlled quadcopter. It may seem like the top item of next year’s Christmas list, but it also serves a very practical purpose. Using a skullcap fitted with a Brain Computer Interface (BCI), the University's College of Science and Engineering hopes to develop ways for people suffering from paralysis or neurodegenerative diseases to employ thought to control wheelchairs and other devices.

View all

The aim of the Minnesota team led by biomedical engineering professor Bin He is to develop ways of developing thought-control devices that can work reliably at high speed, without the need for surgical implantation. This means extensive real-world testing and, though spectacular, flying is actually a very simple activity in a three-dimensional environment without the complications of obstacles and terrain that a ground vehicle encounters. That’s one of the reason why it was possible to make a plane that flies on autopilot decades before a self-driving car was even considered. So for developing mind-controlled devices, something like a quadcopter is an inexpensive option because is it relatively easy to control the variables of the experiment.

The quadcopter used was an AR Drone 1.0 built by Parrot SA of Paris, France. It is configured to fly with forward motion pre-set and the operator is able to use mind control to make it go left or right or up and down. A video camera mounted on the front provides a field of view pointing directly forward, an arrangement designed to promote a sense of embodiment in the operator and enhance feedback.

The key feature of the mind-controlled quadcopter was the non-invasive BCI skullcap. Invasive BCI are used for controlling robot limbs and have shown some success, but embedding these are a major surgical undertaking with risks of infection and rejection.

Non-invasive versions can avoid these problems we've already seen projects that use this approach for controlling wheelchairs and robotic appendages.

Even if the ultimate goal is an implanted interface, a non-invasive BCI can help in the process by allowing the patient to become familiar with a BCI before the procedure, especially for a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, where early implantation isn’t warranted.

The skullcap BCI is based on electroencephalography (EEG). Inside the cap are 64 electrodes that record tiny currents of electrical activity in the brain. These are usually very complex and chaotic, which is why you can’t strap someone to an EEG machine and read their mind, but brain activity in the motor centers of the central cortex can be more readily identified. The system uses closed-loop sensing, processing and actuation. The cap picks up the signals, they are conveyed to a computer for processing and the output is in the form of commands to the quadcopter’s control system by WiFi.

"It’s completely noninvasive," says Karl LaFleur, a senior biomedical engineering student involved in the project. "Nobody has to have a chip implanted in their brain to pick up the neuronal activity."

The experiment used five subjects – three women and two men in their twenties. Other subjects manipulated the quadcopter using a conventional keyboard to act as a control group. The test subjects were trained to control the quadcopter by imagining opening or closing their fists. Imagining making a left-hand fist causes the brain to fire activity in the area of the motor cortex controlling the left hand, the system detects this and tells the quadcopter to turn left. Imagining a right-hand fist makes it turn right, and imagining making both fists makes it go up and then down again.

This is something of a first because it required precise mapping of the brain. "We were the first to use both functional MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging) and EEG imaging to map where in the brain neurons are activated when you imagine movements," LaFleur says. "So now we know where the signals will come from."

The training involved working with simulators that resembled an old Ponggame from the 1970s. The subjects had to learn to move a cursor on a screen left and right, then to move it up and down as well. Once they’d mastered this, they were set to controlling a simulated quadcopter in a virtual environment.

In the final experiment, a standard-size university gymnasium was kitted out with two large balloon rings suspended from the ceiling. The object of the exercise was to fly the quadcopter through the rings.

The operators faced away from the area, so they could only see through the quadcopter’s camera as a way of providing feedback on performance. The results showed an over 90 percent success rate in navigating the course once the system had been calibrated and the subjects had familiarized themselves with the layout.

"Our study shows that for the first time, humans are able to control the flight of flying robots using just their thoughts sensed from a non-invasive skull cap," says Bin He. "It works as good as invasive techniques used in the past.

"We envision that they’ll use this technology to control wheelchairs, artificial limbs or other devices. Our next step is to use the mapping and engineering technology we've developed to help disabled patients interact with the world. It may even help patients with conditions like autism or Alzheimer’s disease or help stroke victims recover. We’re now studying some stroke patients to see if it’ll help rewire brain circuits to bypass damaged areas."

The findings of the team were published in the Journal of Neural Engineering.

The video below shows the mind-controlled quadcopter in action.

Source: University of Minnesota via BBC

Man With Thought-Controlled Bionic Leg to Climb Chicago Tower

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 05:53:00 +0000

After losing his right leg in a motorcycle accident, Zac Vawter, 31-year-old software engineer will put his thought-controlled bionic leg to the ultimate test on Sunday when he attempts to climb 103 flights of stairs to the top of Chicago’s Willis Tower, one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers. If all goes well, he’ll make history with the bionic leg’s public debut.

Vawter has signed up to become a research subject, , helping to test a trailblazing prosthetic leg that’s controlled by his thoughts. The robotic leg responds to electrical impulses from muscles in his hamstring. Vawter will think, “Climb stairs,” and the motors, belts and chains in his leg will synchronize the movements of its ankle and knee. Vawter hopes to make it to the top in an hour, longer than it would’ve taken before his amputation, less time than it would take with his normal prosthetic leg — or, as he calls it, his “dumb” leg.

A team of researchers will be cheering him on and noting the smart leg’s performance. Vawter can not keep the leg after the experiment, the bionic limb will stay behind in Chicago. Researchers will continue to refine its steering. Taking it to the market is still years away.

“Somewhere down the road, it will benefit me and I hope it will benefit a lot of other people as well,” Vawter said about the research at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

Bionic — or thought-controlled — prosthetic arms have been available for a few years, thanks to pioneering work done at the Rehabilitation Institute. With leg amputees outnumbering people who’ve lost arms and hands, the Chicago researchers are focusing more on lower limbs. Safety is important. If a bionic hand fails, a person drops a glass of water. If a bionic leg fails, a person falls down stairs.

In this Oct. 25, 2012 photo, physical therapist assistant Suzanne Finucane, right, helps Zac Vawter as he practices walking with an experimental "bionic" leg at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. After losing his right leg in a motorcycle accident, the 31-year-old software engineer signed up to become a research subject, helping test a trailblazing prosthetic leg that's controlled by his thoughts. He will put this leg to the ultimate test Sunday, Nov. 4 when he attempts to climb 103 flights of stairs to the top of Chicago's Willis Tower, one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers. (AP Photo/Brian Kersey

The Willis Tower climb will be the bionic leg’s first test in the public eye, said lead researcher Levi Hargrove of the institute’s Center for Bionic Medicine. The climb, called “SkyRise Chicago,” is a fundraiser for the institute with about 2,700 people climbing. This is the first time the climb has played a role in the facility’s research.

To prepare, Vawter and the scientists have spent hours adjusting the leg’s movements. On one recent day, 11 electrodes placed on the skin of Vawter’s thigh fed data to the bionic leg’s microcomputer. The researchers turned over the “steering” to Vawter. He kicked a soccer ball, walked around the room and climbed stairs.

It started with surgery in 2009. When Vawter’s leg was amputated, a surgeon repositioned the residual spaghetti-like nerves that normally would carry signals to the lower leg and sewed them to new spots on his hamstring. That would allow Vawter one day to be able to use a bionic leg, even though the technology was years away. The surgery is called “targeted muscle reinnervation” and it’s like “rewiring the patient,” Hargrove said. “And now when he just thinks about moving his ankle, his hamstring moves and we’re able to tell the prosthesis how to move appropriately.”

Experts not involved in the project say the Chicago research is on the leading edge. Most artificial legs are passive. “They’re basically fancy wooden legs,” said Daniel Ferris of the University of Michigan. Others have motorized or mechanical components but don’t respond to the electrical impulses caused by thought.

Printer pencil

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 05:36:00 +0000

So you don’t want to join pencil stubs and make a long pencil. No worries, we have another alternative, how about using them to print on paper. Yes, like a printer that uses pencil to print your documents. Traditional don’t you think? I feel the concept gets even more radical because it proposes the use of eraser to erase off mistakes! Do I hear my office scream in delight; no more cartridge woes!

Designers: Hoyoung Lee

Faster way of IRCTC tatkal booking in chrome

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 13:35:00 +0000

For the fastest Irctc ticket booking( mainly for tatkal ticket booking) follow the steps:
1) First of all you should have the Google chrome
2)Then you have to add the IRCTC Tatkal Booking Assistant extension into chrome browser from this link https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/irctc-tatkal-booking-assi/kpfgbhjnichkadiogfnojjljohhdnffk
3) Then you can see a train icon on the topleft of your browser.click that and create a new profile for the journey.
4)Start filling your details of your journey in that form appears..
5)You can select the tatkal or general.

6)After filling the details,save it.
7)Now its ready.. .If you open the IRCTC WEBSITE... Based on the details provided in that form...It automatically makes the process...At the stage of entering CAPTCHA it prompt you to enter..
8)After entering,It automatically takes you to payment gateway provided in that form.
9)After booking the ticket... disable this extension by right click that train icon or go to chrome://extensions/ and disable this... Enable this feature at the time of booking the ticket
10)That's all enjoy the Faster and Automatic ticket booking in chrome.

Windows 8 - "Picture Password"

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:48:00 +0000

Windows 8 includes a feature called picture passwords that allow you to login to your account by using gestures on an image with your finger or your mouse. This is especially useful for tablets where you want to avoid typing if you can. Instead of typing in a password, you select a picture and then create three gestures on it to act as your password. When you create the picture password you can use gestures that consist of taps, circles, or lines. Once the picture password is created you can then login to your Windows accounts by performing these gestures in the same direction as when you created them. That means if you circled an object counterclockwise you would need to circle it counterclockwise to login. Circling it clockwise would not count as a successful gesture. This method allows for tremendous variation in possible passwords on a given picture and allows you to avoid having to use the virtual keyboard.

To enable picture passwords, type picture password at the Windows 8 Start Screen and then click on the Settings category as shown below.

When the search results appear, click on the Create or change picture password option to open the User Settings screen.

On the above screen click on the Create a picture password option. Windows 8 will now prompt you for your password to confirm that you are the owner of the account we are adding a picture password to.

Type your password and then click on the OK button. You will now be shown a screen that gives a brief explanation on picture passwords.

To start the process of creating your picture password, click on the Choose picture button. A window will open that shows all the pictures in your library so that you can select a picture you wish to use for your picture password.

Select a picture you would like to use and then click on the Open button. Windows 8 will now show how your selected picture will look and ask if you would like to use it or select another one.

If you are happy with the picture click on the Use this picture, otherwise click on the Choose new picture to pick a different once. Once you select a picture you will be shown a screen where you need to create three gestures that will act as your password.

When creating these gestures, you can make circles, straight lines, or tap in the picture. Please note that when you use these picture passwords the order in which you make the gesture and their direction matters. So each gesture must be followed in the same order and in the same direction when you use it to login. In this tutorial, I am going to create three easy gestures of circling two of the cars and then drawing a line from the truck to the minivan.

To do this, I would use my finger or drag my mouse to draw a circle around two of the cars and then create a line between the truck and the minivan. Each time I create a gesture it will briefly show on the screen like in the images below. You can see the three gestures that were created in the series of images below.

Gesture 1: Circle a car in a clockwise motion

Gesture 2: Circle the second car in a counterclockwise motion

Gesture 3: Line from the truck to the car

When you are done creating your three gestures, Windows 8 will then prompt you to confirm all three gestures again to make sure you remember it.

At the above screen you need to perform the gestures just like you previously made them. If you wish to create new gestures, please click on the Start over button. Once you complete all three properly, you will be presented with a screen that states you have successfully created a picture password.

You can then click the Finish button to get out of this setup wizard.

Now when you login to your account you will be shown your selected picture where you need to perform the exact gestures that you setup previously.

Once you complete all three gestures in the proper direction, Windows will log you into your account. If at any time you forget your gestures or are having problems, you can click on the Switch to password button to go back to using your normal text password.

To disable the picture password feature, you simply need to back into the Users settings and click on the Remove button as shown in the image below.

Accessing Remote Computer

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:58:00 +0000

Remotely accessing a computer via the Internet has been possible for a long time, but the process usually involved static IP addresses or live Internet IP addresses. LogMeIn Hamachi and TeamViewer are two of the most powerful applications and they're also free to use for personal and non-commercial environments. The process involves downloading a simple utility on both the host and client computers and connecting them over a reasonably fast Internet connection. In this simple workshop, we’ll show you how to install and use TeamViewer for non-commercial use. Corporate users can create presentations, transfer important files or conduct video conferences, and service engineers can offer online help using the licensed version meant for commercial usage.

Firstly, download the 3.4 MB free application from www.teamviewer.com on the host and client computers, which need to be controlled (Fig 1). After the download is complete, you can choose to either run the application as a standalone or install it on your PC. Don’t choose the install option if you don't own the computer (for instance, if you are running the application from a public PC (cybercafé) or a friend’s home). Once done with the installation, TeamViewer will access the Internet and allot your computer with a unique ID and password, which will be displayed on the screen (Fig 2). Now your machine is ready to either be a host PC or connect to a client PC. The computer on the other end will also have a unique ID and password, which needs to be passed on to you so that you can gain access to that computer. Key the details into the ‘Create Session’ fields (Fig 3) on the right side of the window.

Finally, select the type of activity you need the connection for - remote control, file transfer, or VPN.Click on the ‘Connect to partner’ icon and TeamViewer will connect your system to the host and ask you for the password (Fig 4).

Remote control will show you the entire screen of the other PC on your monitor, which you can control and use as you like (Fig 5). You have options such as switching sides with the host, sending crucial commands such as locking, rebooting, etc. You can also view or send video feeds if webcams are installed on either side. Voice chat is also possible.

Blind Juggler

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:20:00 +0000

These blind robot jugglers, as seen in the video below, are cool inventions.

Imagine bouncing a ball on your head while walking around a room. Now imagine doing that blind folded.

That's exactly what this flying juggling robot does.

Developed at the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control in Switzerland, the blind juggler bounces a ping-pong ball without seeing it.

The robot accomplishes this feat without using any sensors to track the ball. Instead the robot is designed to carry out a sequence of mathematical and logical calculations to predict what the ball will do after it is bounced.

These calculations allow the robot to move and strike the ball repetitively without using any visual or motion sensors.

Neodymium magnets

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:02:00 +0000

One of the great inventions of the 20th century was the creation of neodymium magnets.

Neodymium magnets are permanent dense magnets that produce powerful magnetic fields and are highly resistant to being demagnetized.

This makes them ideal for use in electronics or any electromagnetic application requiring a reduction in size but an increase in power (power to weight ratio).

These magnets are used in a wide range of products - from computer hard drives, headphones, audio speakers, cordless tools, magnetic resonance imaging equipment (MRI), electric motors, hybrid and electric vehicles, airplanes and trains, to self-powered flashlights, fasteners and toys.

Neodymium magnets were invented in the early 1980's by two groups of physicists working independently from one another.

One group was led by John J. Croat of the General Motors Physics Laboratory, and the other was led by Massato Sagawa of Sumitomo Special Metals in Japan.

Both groups invented different manufacturing processes to produce neodymium magnets, which are made from rare earth elements.

Rare earth elements have chemical properties that make them very easy to magnetize with a high magnetic field strength.

Despite the name "rare earth", these elements (metals) are not scarce but widely dispersed in the earth. The reason they're called "rare" is because it is rare to find them in any concentration that is cost effective for mining and extraction.

Dangers

Neodymium magnets emit powerful magnetic fields relative to their size and can cause damage to credit cards, hard disks, or electronic devices.The magnets should not be placed in direct contact or near anything that uses magnetism.
They're also potentially fatal if swallowed, so for these reasons neodymium magnets are not recommended for children's use.
Sources: jap.aip.org; theneocube.com

Maglev Train

If you don't like flying or want to avoid airport congestion, delays, restrictions and cancellations, there isn't an alternative for long distance travelling.Every other means of transportation is just too slow. But that may change.
Magnetic Levitation Trains (Maglev Trains) use electromagnetic propulsion and suspension to reach speeds over 310 mph (500 km/h).
At that speed, a trip from Rome to Paris on a Maglev would take 2 hours but engineers believe the trains will get faster.
Maglev train systems are being built or are planned for construction on most continents. Currently, the fastest Maglev train in the world is in Shanghai, China.

How It Works

Magnets underneath the track levitate and float the train.Along the sides of the track is a guideway with magnetic coils that alternate polarity to interact with magnets on the train.
Opposite poles attract and like poles repel. So the magnets on the guideway alternate to repel (push) and attract (pull) the train along the track.
Since nothing is actually touching the train other than an electromagnetic field - there is no friction, which means less resistance and greater acceleration. There is also no engine, which means less weight.
The main impediment to speed is air resistance, which is why engineers are excited about sending Maglev trains through vacuum tunnel-tubes. If this was to occur then Maglevs could potentially reach super-sonic speeds.

What is CAPTCHA and How it Works?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 07:33:00 +0000

CAPTCHA or Captcha (pronounced as cap-ch-uh) which stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart” is a type of challenge-response test to ensure that the response is only generated by humans and not by a computer. In simple words, CAPTCHA is the word verification test that you will come across the end of a sign-up form while signing up for Gmail or Yahoo account. The following image shows the typical samples of CAPTCHA.

Almost every Internet user will have an experience of CAPTCHA in their daily Internet usage, but only a few are aware of what it is and why they are used. So in this post you will find a detailed information on how CAPTCHA works and why they are used.

What Purpose does CAPTCHA Exactly Serve?

CAPTCPA is mainly used to prevent automated software (bots) from performing actions on behalf of actual humans. For example while signing up for a new email account, you will come across a CAPTCHA at the end of the sign-up form so as to ensure that the form is filled out only by a legitimate human and not by any of the automated software or a computer bot. The main goal of CAPTCHA is to put forth a test which is simple and straight forward for any human to answer but for a computer, it is almost impossible to solve.

What is the Need to Create a Test that Can Tell Computers and Humans Apart?

For many the CAPTCHA may seem to be silly and annoying, but in fact it has the ability to protect systems from malicious attacks where people try to game the system. Attackers can make use of automated softwares to generate a huge quantity of requests thereby causing a high load on the target server which would degrade the quality of service of a given system, whether due to abuse or resource expenditure. This can affect millions of legitimate users and their requests. CAPTCHAs can be deployed to protect systems that are vulnerable to email spam, such as the services from Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail.

Who Uses CAPTCHA?

CAPTCHAs are mainly used by websites that offer services like online polls and registration forms. For example, Web-based email services like Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail offer free email accounts for their users. However upon each sign-up process, CAPTCHAs are used to prevent spammers from using a bot to generate hundreds of spam mail accounts.

Designing a CAPTCHA System

CAPTCHAs are designed on the fact that computers lack the ability that human beings have when it comes to processing visual data. It is more easily possible for humans to look at an image and pick out the patterns than a computer. This is because computers lack the real intelligence that humans have by default. CAPTCHAs are implemented by presenting users with an image which contains distorted or randomly stretched characters which only humans should be able to identify. Sometimes characters are striked out or presented with a noisy background to make it even more harder for computers to figure out the patterns.

Most, but not all, CAPTCHAs rely on a visual test. Some Websites implement a totally different CAPTCHA system to tell humans and computers apart. For example, a user is presented with 4 images in which 3 contains picture of animals and one contain a flower. The user is asked to select only those images which contain animals in them. This Turing test can easily be solved by any human, but almost impossible for a computer.

Breaking the CAPTCHA

The challenge in breaking the CAPTCHA lies in real hard task of teaching a computer how to process information in a way similar to how humans think. Algorithms with artificial intelligence (AI) will have to be designed in order to make the computer think like humans when it comes to recognizing the patterns in images. However there is no universal algorithm that could pass through and break any CAPTCHA system and hence each CAPTCHA algorithm must have to be tackled individually. It might not work 100 percent of the time, but it can work often enough to be worthwhile to spammers.

How To Get Back Your LOST MOBILE PHONE in INDIA

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 15:51:00 +0000

How To Get Back Your LOST MOBILE PHONE in INDIA

The theft of mobile phones is emerging day by day. Mobile phone theft is a booming business. The Smartphone are being theft because the thieves are creating their own short term business. Smartphone stolen will make them highly profitable. Stolen Smartphone will provide them more bread and butter than the normal mobile phones. For an instance, if a mobile phone is being theft then the thief can either get half of the price or even less. If a Smartphone is being theft then in that case he will earn double than that of a normal mobile phone.

In case of Mobile Phone Theft, the user must follow the necessary steps below to gain lost mobile.

Here are the Steps:

1. Take your Mobile and just dial *#06# and you can see IMEI number of your mobile phone.
2. Now write down IMEI number of your mobile phone which will help you to get back your mobile phone.
3. Now if your mobile is stolen or lost then kindly send an email containing following details to cop@vsnl.net

Your name:
Your Address:
Phone model:
Company:
Last used Number:
Your E-mail for communication:
Missed date:
IMEI Number:

With all above details kindly send an Email to cop@vsnl.net and within 24 hours they will tell you where your mobile phone is.

Invisible cloak - Metamaterial

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 15:21:00 +0000

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have for the first time engineered 3-D materials that can reverse the natural direction of visible and near-infrared light, a development that could help form the basis for higher resolution optical imaging, nanocircuits for high-powered computers, and, to the delight of science-fiction and fantasy buffs, cloaking devices that could render objects invisible to the human eye.
Two breakthroughs in the development of metamaterials - composite materials with extraordinary capabilities to bend electromagnetic waves - are reported separately this week in the Aug. 13 advanced online issue of Nature, and in the Aug. 15 issue of Science.

On the left is a schematic of the first 3-D "fishnet" metamaterial that can achieve a negative index of refraction at optical frequencies. On the right is a scanning electron microscope image of the fabricated structure, developed by UC Berkeley researchers. The alternating layers form small circuits that can bend light backwards. (Credit: Image by Jason Valentine, UC Berkeley)

Applications for a metamaterial entail altering how light normally behaves. In the case of invisibility cloaks or shields, the material would need to curve light waves completely around the object like a river flowing around a rock. For optical microscopes to discern individual, living viruses or DNA molecules, the resolution of the microscope must be smaller than the wavelength of light.
The common thread in such metamaterials is negative refraction. In contrast, all materials found in nature have a positive refractive index, a measure of how much electromagnetic waves are bent when moving from one medium to another.
In a classic illustration of how refraction works, the submerged part of a pole inserted into water will appear as if it is bent up towards the water's surface. If water exhibited negative refraction, the submerged portion of the pole would instead appear to jut out from the water's surface. Or, to give another example, a fish swimming underwater would instead appear to be moving in the air above the water's surface.
Other research teams have previously developed metamaterials that function at optical frequencies, but those 2-D materials have been limited to a single monolayer of artificial atoms whose light-bending properties cannot be defined. Thicker, 3-D metamaterials with negative refraction have only been reported at longer microwave wavelengths.

"What we have done is take two very different approaches to the challenge of creating bulk metamaterials that can exhibit negative refraction in optical frequencies," said Xiang Zhang, professor at UC Berkeley's Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and head of the research teams that developed the two new metamaterials. "Both bring us a major step closer to the development of practical applications for metamaterials."
Zhang is also a faculty scientist in the Material Sciences Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Humans view the world through the narrow band of electromagnetic radiation known as visible light, with wavelengths ranging from 400 nanometers (violet and purple light), to 700 nanometers (deep red light). Infrared light wavelengths are longer, measuring from about 750 nanometers to 1 millimeter. (A human hair is about 100,000 nanometers in diameter.)
For a metamaterial to achieve negative refraction, its structural array must be smaller than the electromagnetic wavelength being used. Not surprisingly, there has been more success in manipulating wavelengths in the longer microwave band, which can measure 1 millimeter up to 30 centimeters long.
In the Nature paper, the UC Berkeley researchers stacked together alternating layers of silver and non-conducting magnesium fluoride, and cut nanoscale-sized fishnet patterns into the layers to create a bulk optical metamaterial. At wavelengths as short as 1500 nanometers, the near-infrared light range, researchers measured a negative index of refraction.
Jason Valentine, UC Berkeley graduate student and co-lead author of the Nature paper, explained that each pair of conducting and non-conducting layers forms a circuit, or current loop. Stacking the alternating layers together creates a series of circuits that respond together in opposition to that of the magnetic field from the incoming light.
Valentine also noted that both materials achieve negative refraction while minimizing the amount of energy that is absorbed or "lost" as light passes through them. In the case of the "fishnet" material described in Nature, the strongly interacting nanocircuits allow the light to pass through the material and expend less energy moving through the metal layers.
"Natural materials do not respond to the magnetic field of light, but the metamaterial we created here does," said Valentine. "It is the first bulk material that can be described as having optical magnetism, so both the electrical and magnetic fields in a light wave move backward in the material."
The metamaterial described in the Science paper takes another approach to the goal of bending light backwards. It is composed of silver nanowires grown inside porous aluminum oxide. Although the structure is about 10 times thinner than a piece of paper - a wayward sneeze could blow it away - it is considered a bulk metamaterial because it is more than 10 times the size of a wavelength of light.
The authors of the Science paper observed negative refraction from red light wavelengths as short as 660 nanometers. It is the first demonstration of bulk media bending visible light backwards.
"The geometry of the vertical nanowires, which were equidistant and parallel to each other, were designed to only respond to the electrical field in light waves," said Jie Yao, a student in UC Berkeley's Graduate Program in Applied Science and Technology and co-lead author of the study in Science. "The magnetic field, which oscillates at a perpendicular angle to the electrical field in a light wave, is essentially blind to the upright nanowires, a feature which significantly reduces energy loss."
The innovation of this nanowire material, researchers said, is that it finds a new way to bend light backwards without technically achieving a negative index of refraction. For there to be a negative index of refraction in a metamaterial, its values for permittivity - the ability to transmit an electric field - and permeability - how it responds to a magnetic field - must both be negative.
The benefits of having a true negative index of refraction, such as the one achieved by the fishnet metamaterial in the Nature paper, is that it can dramatically improve the performance of antennas by reducing interference. Negative index materials are also able to reverse the Doppler effect - the phenomenon used in police radar guns to monitor the speed of passing vehicles - so that the frequency of waves decreases instead of increases upon approach.
But for most of the applications touted for metamaterials, such as nanoscale optical imaging or cloaking devices, both the nanowire and fishnet metamaterials can potentially play a key role, the researchers said.
"What makes both these materials stand out is that they are able to function in a broad spectrum of optical wavelengths with lower energy loss," said Zhang. "We've also opened up a new approach to developing metamaterials by moving away from previous designs that were based upon the physics of resonance. Previous metamaterials in the optical range would need to vibrate at certain frequencies to achieve negative refraction, leading to strong energy absorption. Resonance is not a factor in both the nanowire and fishnet metamaterials."
While the researchers welcome these new developments in metamaterials at optical wavelengths, they also caution that they are still far off from invisibility cloaks and other applications that may capture the imagination. For instance, unlike the cloak made famous in the Harry Potter novels, the metamaterials described here are made of metal and are fragile. Developing a way to manufacture these materials on a large scale will also be a challenge, they said.
Nevertheless, the researchers said achieving negative refraction in an optical wavelength with bulk metamaterials is an important milestone in the quest for such devices.
Co-lead authors of the Science paper are Zhaowei Liu, postdoctoral researcher; and Yongmin Liu, Ph.D. student, both members of Zhang's Lab at UC Berkeley.
The Nature paper's co-lead authors are Shuang Zhang and Thomas Zentgraf, postdoctoral researchers, who are also members of Zhang's Lab at UC Berkeley.
The NSF helped support research into both metamaterials. Additionally, the U.S. Army Research Office helped support the work reported in Nature, and the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research helped fund the project described in Science.

FlyViz puts eyes in the back of your head

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 14:52:00 +0000

Those just as concerned about where they’ve been as where they’re going might be keen to give the “FlyViz” a go. Created by a team of French researchers to expand the scope of human vision, the prototype system captures vision on a 360-degree camera attached to the top of a helmet that is processed in real time and displayed on Sony’s HMZ-TD Personal 3D Viewer, giving the wearer a 360-view of their surroundings.

The camera on the current prototype, which is the result of two years work by the research team, captures video at 640 x 480 pixel resolution. However, the plan is to up this to 720p with a scan rate of 60 Hz and a latency of 83 ms for the final prototype that is set to be unveiled at the ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST) currently underway in Toronto.

To make it suitable for display on the HMZ-T2’s twin 0.7-inch OLED displays, the video is processed on a laptop carried in a backpack. The center of the display shows the view directly in front of the user, with the view stretching out either side to give a full 360-degree panoramic view. The team is also looking at implementing augmented reality capabilities to the system in the future.

FlyViz project manager Jerome Ardouin told MaxiSciences that the device takes a bit of getting used to, with recalibrating one’s movements based on what they are seeing with their eyes being one of the biggest challenges. However, users do get used to it, as evidenced by tests involving someone driving a car while wearing the device.

The team anticipates the FlyViz would offer advantages for the army and police, or rescue teams in potentially dangerous situation, such as fighting fires.

The FlyViz and the 360-degree view it gives its wearer can be seen in the video below.

Source: Inria (Google Translation) via MaxiSciences (Google Translation)

Magic Finger turns any surface into a touch interface

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 12:56:00 +0000

The Magic Finger proof-of-concept prototype

A trip on public transport or to the local coffee shop might give the impression that touchscreens are everywhere, but scientists at Autodesk Research of the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto are looking to take the ubiquity of touch interfaces to the next level. They are developing a “Magic Finger” that allows any surface to detect touch input by shifting the touch technology from the surface to the wearer’s finger.

Magic Finger doesn't look like much at the moment. In fact, with its LED light it looks a bit like a child’s attempt at an ET costume prop. It’s a proof-of-concept prototype made up of a little Velcro ring that straps to the wearer’s fingertip with a trail of wires leading to a box of electronics. But what it does blurs the line between the digital and real world.

On the ring there are a pair of optical sensors. One is a low resolution, high-speed sensor for tracking movement, which wouldn't be very impressive because it makes the device just a mouse you strap to your finger. However, Magic Finger adds a new dimension with a high-resolution camera, which is able to detect 32 different surface textures with 98 percent accuracy. This allows Magic Finger to recognize what it touches, such as leather bag or a table or a magazine page, and with this information turn various surfaces into interfaces for devices or a way of passing information.

Programmed to the wearer’s personal preferences, the Magic Finger can make non-digital objects into digital interfaces. An annoying smartphone ringing can be muted by touching the bag that it’s in. The wearer can start an app or send a saved text message by touching a logo on their shirt. Pinch commands and other gestures can be used for tablet or computer control without actually touching the device, and information can be passed to a receiving device by touching it.

Another twist on the Magic Finger concept is its ability to detect “artificial” textures. That is, material textures or patterns that act like QR codes. With this, the wearer can download information from a magazine page by touching it or disposable stickers could be made into remote controls for devices. As a particularly geeky touch, the fingertip camera can even be used as an impromptu periscope.

The Autodesk team hopes one day to make the Magic Finger into a self-contained device with appropriate miniaturization. Once reduced in size, the device might be attached to a ring or embedded under a fingernail or in the fingertip itself so that it is invisible and dormant until required.

The video below is a presentation of Magic Finger by Autodesk Research.

Source: Autodesk research via Dvice

airmouse-wearable-mouse

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:00:00 +0000

It’s no secret... Studies have shown that excessive mouse usage can cause repetitive stress injuries. Unfortunately for most of us, “excessive” can mean anything more than a few hours a day. Fortunately, however, there are alternative styles of mice out there designed to be easier on the hands and arms. One of the more interesting ones to come along in a while is the AirMouse, made by Canadian firm Deanmark Ltd. What makes it unique is the fact that you wear it like a glove.

Deanmark founders Mark Bajramovic and Oren Tessler met in university, where Mark learned first-hand (no pun intended) what it’s like to OD on mousing. “Half way through our first year, I developed a computer mouse related RSI (Repetitive Stress Injury) and lost the use of my right hand and arm for several weeks,” he tells us. “Numbness, pain, most things that you hear about with RSI’s, I had it.” Later that semester, Mark and Oren heard about an ergonomic mouse being marketed in Europe. While they thought that particular product wasn’t perfect, it got them thinking about designing their own. The AirMouse is the result.

The wireless mouse utilizes an optical laser, and can run for a week without recharging. According to the company website, the clinically-tested product works by aligning itself with the ligaments of your hand and wrist. This lets you keep your hand in a neutral position, and transmits more of your vector force than would be possible with a regular mouse. Not only does this make it easier on your hand, but it increases your mousing speed and accuracy as well. The mouse is also designed to remain inactive until your hand is placed in a neutral, flat position, so you can easily go back and forth between typing and mousing. Other ergonomic designs have strayed from the AirMouse’s style of traditional flat, one-dimensional mousing, but Mark and Oren’s market research indicated that consumers tend to reject such products.

The AirMouse should be available for purchase within the next 6 to 12 months, at a price of $US129.

EXOdesk: 40-inch multitouch desk set for CES debut

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:41:00 +0000

ExoPC has posted a video of its new 40-inch multi-touch desk on YouTube

The teaser video (below) doesn't offer a ton of information about the computer, but does show off a widget hub in the corner of the desk you can use to launch applications on the screen, and the ability to pull down a timeline populated with news information, tweets, or other alerts from the top corner of the table. Both the widgets and the timeline can be casually swiped away when you're done with them, and the screen and location of the widgets can be customized to meet your own personal needs. The ExoPC also supports full-screen applications, showing off in the video an app that instantly turns the computer into an electronic piano.Could multi-touch desks be the wave of the future? ExoPC thinks so, and has posted a video of its new 40-inch multitouch desk on YouTube - a desk it plans on officially announcing at the Consumer Electronics Show at the beginning of January.

Multi-touch desk computers aren't really anything new. Samsung for instance recently announced the Samsung SUR40, a 40-inch, 1080p multitouch table running Microsoft's Surface software. Where the ExoPC stands out, however, is in its price tag. While the SUR40 and other table computers are designed for businesses (and priced that way, the SUR40 is US$8,400!), the ExoPC is instead priced at a modest $1,299 making it affordable for average consumers.

The Samsung SUR40 is expected to be a computer replacement, however, the ExoPC also appears to be something you would use as a replacement for a traditional desk, and a supplement for your actual computer.

We'll certainly be keeping an eye out for the ExoPC in January. If you have to get your hands on a table PC now, Samsung has already opened up pre-orders for the SUR40.

Watch Live TV on your Airtel Mobile for Free

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:57:00 +0000

After our last post - Watch Top News Channels Live on your Airtel Mobile for Free, we have come up with new channels which you can stream live and free anytime, anywhere on your GPRS (Edge) enabled Airtel mobile for free. No subscription charges apply. Your operator would charge you if you watch these channels on other mobiles like BSNL, Aircel, !dea et cetera. In such case, please subscribe to a data plan provided by your service operator before watching live tv on your mobile;

·【STAR PLUS】
·【STAR ONE】
·【SONY TV】
·【SAB TV】
·【UTV BINDASS】
·【UTV MOVIES】
·【TLC】
·【ZOOM TV】
·【FASHION TV】
*Science & Technology*
·【DISCOVERY CHANNEL】
·【DISCOVERY SCIENCE】
·【DISCOVERY TURBO】
·【ANIMAL PLANET】
*Kids' Entertainment*
·【CARTOON NETWORK】
·【DISNEY ENGLISH】
·【DISNEY HINDI】
·【DISNEY XD HINDI】
*Music*
·【CHANNEL V】
·【MAA MUSIC】
·【KUBER MUSIC】
·【RAJ MUSIX】
·【RAJ MUSIX KANNADA】
*Religion / Faith*
·【GURBANI】
·【GOD TV】
·【DHARAM TV】
·【SRISANKARA TV】
*Regional Channels*
·【ETV】
·【ETV 2】
·【ETV URDU】
·【ETV BIHAR】
·【ETV BANGLA】
·【ETV ORIYA】
·【ETV MARATHI】
·【ETV RAJASTHAN】
·【RAJ TV】
·【RAJ DIGITAL PLUS】
·【STAR JALSA】
·【STAR MAJHA】
·【STAR PRAVAH】
·【STAR ANANDA】
·【STAR VIJAY】
·【JAYA TV】
·【JAYA PLUS】
·【TV9】
·【TV9 MUMBAI】
·【TV9 KANNADA】
·【NE TV】
·【NE HIFI】
·【NE BANGLA】
·【ASIA NET】
·【MAKKAL TV】
·【MAA TV】
·【TV1】
·【SVBC】
·【VASANTH TV】
·【SAKSHI TV】
·【FOCUS TV】
·【TIME TV】
·【KAIRALI TV】
·【INDIA VISION】
·【HAMAR TV】
·【HY TV】
·【VISSA TV】

NEWS:
·【Aaj Tak】

·【Star News】
·【IBN7】
·【CNN IBN】
·【India News】
·【India Tv】
·【CNBC TV18】
·【NDTV India】
·【NDTV 24X7】
·【Headlines Today】
·【TIMESNOW】
·【BBC World】
·【UTV Bloomberg】
·【NDTV Profit】

Prototype remote control is a twisted channel-changer

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 06:54:00 +0000

The Leaf Grip Remote Controller is an experimental device that users twist or bend to control their TV

Why change channels by clicking on buttons, when you could do the same thing by twisting your remote? Japan's Murata Manufacturing Company obviously sees advantages in this approach and has created a prototype dubbed the "Leaf Grip Remote Controller" to showcase the idea. Flexing the battery-less device not only changes TV channels, but it also switches inputs, controls the volume, and turns the power on and off.

When a material generates electricity through a change in temperature, it is known as a pyroelectric effect. This quality can be beneficial in some applications, as the mere touch of a finger can generate a current. The Murata researchers, however, went out of their way to keep such an effect out of their remote. This is because the device incorporates twin flexible piezoelectric films, which generate a current when subjected to mechanical stress. Such films are typically also subject to a pyroelectric effect, however, which gets in the way of their being able to clearly detect mechanical stresses - such as being twisted, flexed or shaken.

While Murata isn't disclosing how it eliminated the pyroelectric effect in its experimental remote, the company is at least showing us how it's used. Twisting the remote slowly changes channels, while twisting it rapidly switches inputs. Bending it, on the other hand, turns the volume up or down, while holding it by one end and shaking it turns the TV on or off.

One of the films detects bending, the other one detecting twisting, while a flexible photovoltaic cell sandwiched between the two transparent films uses ambient light to power the device.

It brings Queen's University's Paperphone to mind. The experimental thin-film mobile phone's menu is navigated by bending the entire device. Whether or not it or the Leaf Grip Remote Controller will ever take off with consumers is questionable, but the technology is certainly fascinating.

Dialing with Your Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 05:00:00 +0000

Think of a number: Numbers oscillate on a screen at different frequencies—an EEG headband picks up on these signals to enable mobile phone input using thought control.
Credit: University of California, San Diego

A new brain-control interface lets users make calls by thinking of the number—research that could prove useful for the severely disabled and beyond.

Researchers in California have created a way to place a call on a cell phone using just your thoughts. Their new brain-computer interface is almost 100 percent accurate for most people after only a brief training period.
The system was developed by Tzyy-Ping Jung, a researcher at the Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues. Besides acting as an ultraportable aid for severely disabled people, the system might one day have broader uses, he says. For example, it could create the ultimate hands-free experience for cell-phone users, or be used to detect when drivers or air-traffic controllers are getting drowsy by sensing lapses in concentration.
Like many other such interfaces, Jung's system relies on electroencephalogram (EEG) electrodes on the scalp to analyze electrical activity in the brain. An EEG headband is hooked up to a Bluetooth module that wirelessly sends the signals to a Nokia N73 cell phone, which uses algorithms to process the signals.
Participants were trained on the system via a novel visual feedback system. They were shown images on a computer screen that flashed on and off almost imperceptibly at different speeds. These oscillations can be detected in a part of the brain called the midline occipital. Jung and his colleagues exploited this by displaying a keypad on a large screen with each number flashing at a slightly different frequency. For instance, "1" flashed at nine hertz, and "2" at 9.25 hertz, and so on. Jung says this frequency can be detected through the EEG, thus making it possible to tell which number the subject is looking at.
"From our experience, anyone can do it. Some people have a higher accuracy than others," says Jung, who himself can only reach around 85 percent accuracy. But in an experiment published in the Journal of Neural Engineering, 10 subjects were asked to input a 10-digit phone number, and seven of them achieved 100 percent accuracy.
In theory, the approach could be used to help severely disabled people communicate, says Jung. But he believes the technology doesn't have to be limited to such applications. "I want to target larger populations," he says.
"It's interesting work," says Rajeev Raizada, a cognitive neuroscientist at Dartmouth College who published work last year on a similar concept called the Neurophone. "People have used this sort of visually evoked response before, but the notion of making it small, cheap, and portable for a cell phone is attractive."
The Neurophone used a brain signal known as the P300. This signal is triggered by a range of different stimuli and is used by other brain-control interfaces to gauge when something has caught a person's attention. But this typically involves a longer training period.
However, Eric Leuthardt, director of the Center for Innovation and Neuroscience Technology at Washington University, is not convinced. "Reducing the size of the processors to a cell phone is a natural step," he says. He says the kind of visually evoked response used in Jung's research has been around for years, but it usually requires a large visual stimulus, which small cell phone displays are unlikely to elicit.

The Invisible iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 04:53:00 +0000

Point and click: The “imaginary phone” determines which iPhone app a person wants to use by matching his or her finger position to the position of the app on the screen.
Credit: Hasso Plattner Institute

A new interface lets you keep your phone in your pocket and use apps or answer calls by tapping your hand.

Over time, using your smart-phone touch screen becomes second nature, to the point where you can even do some tasks without looking. Researchers in Germany are now working on a system that would let you perform such actions without even holding the phone—instead you'd tap your palm, and the movements would be interpreted by an "imaginary phone" system that would relay the request to your actual phone.
The concept relies on a depth-sensitive camera to pick up the tapping and sliding interactions on a palm, software to analyze the video, and a wireless radio to send the instructions back to the iPhone. Patrick Baudisch, professor of computer science at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany, says the imaginary phone prototype "serves as a shortcut that frees users from the necessity to retrieve the actual physical device."
Baudisch and his team envision someone doing dishes when his smart phone rings. Instead of quickly drying his hands and fumbling to answer, the imaginary phone lets him simply slide a finger across his palm to answer it remotely.
The imaginary phone project, developed by Baudisch and his team, which includes Hasso Plattner Institute students Sean Gustafson and Christian Holz, is reminiscent of a gesture-based interface called SixthSense developed by Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry of MIT, but it differs in a couple of significant ways. First, there are no new gestures to learn—the invisible phone concept simply transfers the iPhone screen onto a hand. Second, there's no feedback, unlike SixthSense, which uses a projector to provide an interface on any surface. Lack of visual feedback limits the imaginary phone, but it isn't intended to completely replace the device, just to make certain interactions more convenient.
Last year, Baudisch and Gustafson developed an interface in which a wearable camera captures gestures that a person makes in the air and translates them to drawings on a screen.

For the current project, the researchers used a depth camera similar to the one used in Microsoft's Kinect for Xbox, but bulkier and positioned on a tripod. (Ultimately, a smaller, wearable depth camera could be used.) The camera "subtracts" the background and tracks the finger position on the palm. It works well in various lighting conditions, including direct sunlight. Software interprets finger positions and movements and correlates it to the position of icons on a person's iPhone. A Wi-Fi radio transmits these movements to the phone.
In a study that has been submitted to the User Interface Software and Technology conference in October, the researchers found that participants could accurately recall the position of about two-thirds of their iPhone apps on a blank phone and with similar accuracy on their palm. The position of apps used more frequently was recalled with up to 80 percent accuracy.

Finger mouse: A depth camera picks up finger position and subtracts the background images to correctly interpret interactions.
Credit: Hasso Plattner Institute

"It's a little bit like learning to touch type on a keyboard, but without any formal system or the benefit of the feel of the keys," says Daniel Vogel, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Waterloo. Vogel wasn't involved in the research. He notes that "it's possible that voice control could serve the same purpose, but the imaginary approach would work in noisy locations and is much more subtle than announcing, 'iPhone, open my e-mail.' "