Friday, October 21, 2011

SixthSense Technology


Yes, this TED talk was given back in November 2009! The TED Talk was given by Pranav Mistry who is a PhD student in the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT's Media Lab.

SixthSense is comprised of several well established technologies. It includes: a pocket projector, a mirror and a camera contained in a pendant like, wearable device.  
   
Components of SixthSense

Both the projector and the camera are connected to a mobile computing device in the user’s pocket. The projector projects images of information allowing any surface to be used as the interface. The camera recognizes and tracks user's hand gestures and physical objects using computer-vision based techniques. The software program processes the video stream data captured by the camera and tracks the locations of the colored markers which are on the tips of your fingers. The movements and arrangements are these markers are interpreted into gestures that act as instructions for the projected application interfaces. SixthSense supports multi-touch and multi-user interaction.

Take time to watch the TED talk. You'll find it really amazing!
  

Camera recognizes book, looks up information on the internet, and then
the projector displays the book was awarded 4 Stars!






Camera recognizes your ticket information, looks up the information on the internet, and then
displays the status of your flight. Delayed: 20 Minutes



Friday, October 7, 2011

Cars that park themselves is old technology - - How about a car that can drive itself?

We have cars that tell us if the air pressure is low in the tires using a technology called the Tire Pressure Monitoring System(TPMS). I know, the name isn’t very original, but it is easy to remember. Then we had cars that could park themselves using a technology called Intelligent Parking Assist System (IPAS) or a.k.a. Advanced Parking Guidance System (APGS), which was brought to the US in 2004 by Toyota. There are several other new innovations that have enhanced our driving experience over the past decade, but none will come close to what’s just around the corner…

How about having a car that can drive itself?

This cutting edge technology consists of a variety of well-established technologies including: lasers, radar and GPS. Companies have been developing and tuning the technologies to create an autonomous vehicle for years and based on some of the latest road tests, the technology doesn't have far to go before it starts to makes it way to the open market. 

General Motors:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C6JRIQmPsg&noredirect=1

Audi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEL1B6VpQ8k&feature=relmfu

Google: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Atmk07Otu9U

Monday, September 26, 2011

There's more to know in that Double Helix of yours... Would you want to know?

There is an effort underway at the National Institutes of Health to decrease the cost of producing a report of your DNA sequence to $1,000 by the year 2014. Imagine a DNA report that could help Doctor's predict a patient’s diseases years before symptoms occur. There are definitely positives to be had with this type of emerging technology, but what about the negatives?

Health Insurance companies might start requiring DNA sequencing reports from all applicants, even newborns before they are covered under your family plan. The Health Insurance Companies could still cover you, but identify all findings from the DNA sequence report as "pre-existing conditions" that are not covered on your plan. Preventive medicine would become the norm and from the overuse of medications, who can know what mutations/resistances will develop from the disease's we face today.

Use the below provided link to read more details.



http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0307_060307_dna.html

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Wow - 3D phones without the glasses. What's Next? 3D TV Without The Glasses?? Sure, why not..

Like we didn't have enough to consider when we wanted to go and see a movie at the theater.. Sure, I feel like going to see a movie tonight, but do I want to see an IMAX 3D movie, 3D, or just the old cheaper 2D? Hmm... Let me think, which one sounds more entertaining...

Now we have 3D televisions, of course with glasses, but before you know it there will be 3D TV's available that do not require the glasses. This shouldn't come as a surprise to those of us that have already seen the 3D phones that have hit the street here recently. The technology behind 3D phones is called Autostereoscopic Parallax Barrier (APB). For APB there's a mask that lays over the LCD display and the display directs light from alternate pixel columns to each eye. "Parallax barrier displays allow instant switching between 2D and 3D modes as the light barrier is constructed from a layer of liquid crystal which can become completely transparent when current is passed across, allowing the LCD to function as a conventional 2D display."
APB 3D Forum. For additional details on this technology clike the APB link.


So, I'm sure you're asking yourself, "Why is she going on and on about the 3D phones when I want to know about the technology behind 3D TV's without the glasses." Well, no big surprise here, 3D TV's without the glasses use the same technology as the 3D phones. :-)  You can find more detailed information by accessing this link - 3D TV Without The Glasses

Stay Tuned for more emerging technologies on the horizon to watch out for... Are you ready to strap a flight suit on and fly to work?? Sure, why not.