Boston-based Parlee Cycles is working on a
concept bicycle which will reportedly feature thought-controlled gear
shifting. Under development as part of the Toyota Prius Projects, the
PXP as it's officially known, sits somewhere between a time trial
bicycle and a road bike in terms of geometry and would use
neurotransmitters in the helmet to operate an electronic gear shift.
Read More
Dubbed CAT (City Aquatic Transport), this
personal water service concept from Irish industrial design studio Curve
Creative is aimed at providing an alternative to battling traffic on
congested inner-city roads. Read More
The trouble with setting up the suspension on a
motorcycle is that you're constantly compromising. If you want a nice
firm ride that's suitable for hard cornering on fast, smooth roads,
you're sacrificing comfort on the highway and optimal roadholding on a
bumpy surface. Electronic suspension adjustment goes some way towards
addressing these concerns - at least you can change your suspension
settings without having to get down under the bike with a c-spanner and a
screwdriver. Now, BMW is looking to eliminate this fundamental
compromise using automated, active suspension adjustment - a system that
works out exactly how you're riding the bike at a given moment, what
the road surface is like, and automatically adjusts the suspension to
make sure you've got the perfect ride at all times. The BMW Dynamic
Damping Control (DDC) system is said to be hitting the market "in the
near future." Read More
The easiest place to pass everyone else on a
motocross circuit is in the run to the first corner and should you grab
the hole-shot, the race is yours to lose. All of which makes Kawasaki's
latest addition to its 2012 KX450F a killer app for a race bike - it
will be the ONLY bike on the grid in 2011/12 with "Launch Control".
Activated by the push of a button, the Launch Control Mode map monitors
wheel spin and retards the engine ignition timing to enable the rear
tire to gain grip. Of course the fruit of the pudding will be measured
by who gets to the first corner first, but if green bikes do it often
enough, Kawasaki has a killer app. Read More
Nissan has announced it will begin global proving
tests of an electric vehicle based on its NV200 compact commercial van
this month. Since going on sale is Europe and Japan in 2009, the
combustion engine-powered NV200 compact commercial van has picked up
numerous awards. It was also also recently chosen as the next generation
New York taxi, so the announcement of an electric version offers up the
possibility that at least some of New York’s iconic yellow cabs may
soon be getting a green tinge. Read More
While a lot of people may be doing their part for
the environment by sending their discarded plastic items off for
recycling, the fact is that much of the plastic currently in use is
non-recyclable. In a not particularly eco-friendly process, some of this
plastic is burned to generate electricity, while much of it simply ends
up in landfills. Canadian company JBI, however, has developed a process
that uses those plastics as a feedstock, and turns them into fuel. Read More
The U.S. Navy has announced that construction has
begun on the first of a new class of ship known as the Mobile Landing
Platform (MLP). The MLP is designed to serve as a transfer point between
large ships and small landing craft and act as a floating base for
amphibious operations to allow for equipment and cargo to be delivered
from ship to shore when there are no friendly bases available. Read More
South Korean ministry of education has announced a
ground-breaking plan to digitize all textbooks in Korean schools and
thus completely phase out printed materials by 2015. This opens a huge
market for manufacturers of tablet PCs or smartphones as the Korean
education ministry has revealed it will spend US$2.4 billion on buying
appropriate devices and digitizing content for them. Read More
One of the challenges faced by serious
videographers is the ability to “land” the camera’s focus ring on the
right spot when shifting focus between two onscreen objects. If you’re
shifting between a person in the background and a flower in the
foreground, for instance, it can often take several tries before getting
a take where you don’t focus right past the flower, or overcompensate
by slowly creeping up to it. Professionals use a device called a follow
focus to avoid this problem, but they can often be prohibitively
expensive for amateurs and low-budget film-makers. Fortunately, however,
those people now have an alternative – the DSLR Follow Focus. Read More
Victorinox has opened a public online vote to
choose the best sustainable design submission to its "Time to Care"
competition. The call for entries has been open since January 2011, and
the seven best were chosen by jury in May. Throughout June, July, and
August, the top seven designs are open to a public vote. The ultimate
winner will be awarded prize money at a ceremony in October, and work
with Victorinox to bring the design project to fruition. Read More
Pawz rubber footwear for your pooch
June 30, 2011
Pawz, one of the latest fashion statements for
dogs, are designed to give Fido some serious paw protection. More like a
sock than a shoe, they are made from biodegradable natural rubber and
fit securely without fasteners or straps. Available in a range of colors
and sizes, they promise comfort and safety for a much loved pooch. Read More
Although LaCie was quick to follow Apple's unveiling
of Thunderbolt in February with a new HDD supporting the technology,
there have been few ripples in the new I/O pond since. Now, after a brief false start,
some new Thunderbolt-equipped RAID storage systems from Promise and a
Thunderbolt cable from Apple have appeared in the Apple store. Read More
The old adage says “a picture is worth a thousand
words,” but just exactly which words is the question. While facial
recognition and GPS-enabled cameras have made tagging digital snapshots
with names and locations much easier, a team of students from Duke
University and the University of South Carolina has developed a
smartphone app called TagSense that takes advantage of the range of
multiple sensors on a mobile phone to automatically apply a greater
variety of tags to photos. Read More
Hexagonal plate skin gives robots sense of touch
By Darren Quick
June 29, 2011
Providing robots with sensory inputs is one of
the keys to the development of more capable and useful machines. Sight
and hearing are the most common senses bestowed upon our mechanical
friends (perhaps soon to be foes?), but even taste
and smell have got a look in. With the sense of touch so important to
human beings, there have also been a number of efforts to give robots
the sense of touch so they can better navigate and interact with their
environments. The latest attempt to create a touchy feely robot comes
from the Technical University Munich (TUM) where researchers have
produced small hexagonal plates, which when joined together, form a
sensitive skin. Read More
Quadrocopters like the AR.Drone and Datron Scout
may have been hogging the UAS limelight lately but Dutch unmanned
rotorcraft system manufacturer Geocopter has shown there’s still life in
the traditional helicopter design yet with the official delivery of its
first light unmanned helicopter called the GC-201. Designed and built
just like a normal helicopter, the GC-201 features a twin gas turbine
engine propulsion system, lightweight carbon fiber fuselage and full
automatic takeoff, mission and landing capabilities. Read More
There are approximately 1.5 million people
worldwide who require regular hemodialysis treatments, due to the fact
that their kidneys are no longer able to clean their blood. Clinicians
generally reuse the same access point on each patient's body, for
routing their bloodstream to the dialysis machine. Unfortunately, over
time this can cause infections, blood clots or narrowing of the arteries
at that access point. This can result in the need for a
blood-vessel-opening procedure, or sometimes even in death. Now,
however, a group of five biomedical engineering graduate students from
Johns Hopkins University have created an implantable device, that could
act as a safe, easy access point for dialysis. Read More
Hardcore mobile gaming fans have a powerful new
graphics processing option in the form of NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 580M.
Billed as the world's fastest notebook GPU and capable of playing the
latest games at 1080p in 3D, the new chip can be found under the bonnet
of the Alienware M18x and is soon to be featured in the Alienware M17x. Read More
Because they are sturdy, waterproof,
transportable, and perhaps only a little bit smaller than some low-rent
apartments, disused shipping containers have become very popular for
conversion into low-impact buildings. Past efforts have included using
them as emergency housing, trendy relocatable bachelor pads, and portable restaurants.
Now, Los Angeles design group APHIDoIDEA has proposed putting 65 of the
things together, to create an environmental education center for the
city of Long Beach. Read More
This March, we reported on the Kinetic Photovoltaic Vehicle
(KPV), a one-of-a-kind solar-electric scooter that fits inside a
suitcase. Well, it seems that Terry Hope, the Canadian inventor who
created the KPV, wasn't content to stop there. He recently contacted us
about his latest creation, the Solar Cross ebike. As its name suggests,
it's a pedal-electric bicycle that receives its power from the Sun ...
and the rider, of course. Read More
With a top speed of just 15 mph (24 kph), Thomas
Young's Bug-E electric vehicle concept is not likely to be a contender
for the next must-have personal transport solution on our roads, but
that's not what it's really about anyway. This multi-purpose
four-wheeler is more suited to trundling around public parks and
gardens, theme parks or the golf course - and it sports four rear
storage options to help it fit into numerous usage scenarios. Users
would also be able to slide the steering wheel into a left- or
right-hand drive position, to share the responsibility of driving
without having to swap seats, or to fit in with local conditions. Read More
Tokyo's Showa University has unveiled its latest
robotic dental patient. The University engaged robotics company Tmsuk to
manufacture the realistic bot which is designed to simulate a number of
typical patient gestures and responses, allowing dental students to
experience what it's like to work with a real patient. Read More
In an effort to educate the masses about its new
portable computing platform, Google has struck a deal with Virgin
America that will see Chromebooks trialled by passengers on selected flights in the U.S. Read More
Some readers may remember the incredible-looking biodiesel-powered Earthrace
trimaran. Originally designed to circumnavigate the world, it ended up
being donated to the Sea Shepherd Society, and was promptly rammed and sunk
by a Japanese whaling ship. Well, while we may no longer have it to
gawk at, a one-off watercraft that could almost be considered its
gigantic, luxurious sibling is currently being constructed in China.
Behold, the Adastra. Read More
Although the number of Wi-Fi hotspots has
increased dramatically in most places over the past few years, the
explosion in the number of smartphones and laptops attempting to make
use of such connections means that getting decent download speeds is as
difficult as it always was. Not only is this frustrating, it can also be
a major drain on the batteries of mobile devices. In an effort to
address one of these problems, a Duke University graduate student has
developed software called SleepWell that allows mobile devices to take a
nap to save power while they wait for their turn to download. Read More
As small, ultra fuel-efficient or electric cars
become more popular as urban runabouts, automotive designers are looking
for more ways to maximize their interior space. One possibility: get
rid of the steering wheel. Of course, you need a steering wheel
for driving, but the engineers at Michigan’s TRW Automotive are working
on one that folds up and retracts into the dashboard when the vehicle
is parked. They claim it would making getting in and out of the car
considerably easier, particularly for elderly or disabled drivers. Read More
The more ways in which you can engage yourself
with what you're reading, the more likely you are to understand and
remember it. It's a practice known as active reading, and it can involve
taking notes, highlighting passages, setting aside snippets of
important information, or even reading text aloud. While some programs
already exist that facilitate the active reading of digital documents, a
team from the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed what they
believe is a better approach. It's called LiquidText, and it was
developed around touchscreen technology. Read More
If you've ever watched your Parrot AR Drone
power through the air and wondered what it would be like to be inside
such a craft, the announcement of the Air Car project could be the
answer you are looking for. The folks behind the development of the SoloTrek/Springtail Exoskeleton Flying Vehicle have revealed plans to create the world's first fuel-electric hybrid flying car. Read More
It seems that those of us who haven't bought a glasses-free 3D gadget
yet may have the opportunity to try one anyway. Announced at the
Virtual Reality Exhibition in Tokyo, Pic3D is a thin sheet of
transparent film, which enables a glasses-free 3D effect after being
applied to any screen. Global Wave, the Japanese company that makes the
product, claims that it utilizes a lenticular lens system instead of
parallax barrier, achieves 90 percent of light transmission, and has a
120-degree of field view. Read More
Scientists from IBM Research – Zurich are
claiming a world-first, for their recent demonstration of “reliable
multi-bit phase-change memory [PCM] technology.” PCM
involves the use of materials that change between crystalline and
amorphous states, the two states having different levels of electrical
resistance – data is stored in a binary fashion, using one level to
represent a 0, and the other to represent a 1. By applying new
techniques to existing PCM technology, the researchers were reportedly
able to write and retrieve data 100 times faster than is possible with
Flash. Read More
A European Union project known as myCopter has
set aside funds of €4.2 million (US$6.2m) to investigate the possibility
of introducing Personal Aerial Vehicles (PAVs) into the skyways of many
congested European cities. This coming age of the "flying car"
where vehicles leave the roads and launch into the skies promises to
solve problems like dramatically rising urban traffic congestion, but it
also throws up some formidable challenges - it's these challenges that
the myCopter project aims to address. Read More
We've seen a number of prototype and concept devices aimed at upgrading or even replacing
the low-tech white cane and this latest example from Hebrew University -
the Virtual Cane - appears close to becoming a commercial product.
Virtual Cane is a handheld device that uses a type of sonar to recognize
physical objects up to 10 m (39 ft) from the user. It emits invisible
focused beams towards objects it is pointed at and determines how far
away they are. The information is then relayed to the user via a series
of vibrations which vary in intensity depending on the distance. Read More
Concrete may be one of the toughest buildings
materials in common use but it does develop cracks over time, and in the
case of structures such as buildings or bridges, it is imperative that
those cracks are noticed before they lead to a collapse. While visual
inspections are useful, they are also time-consuming, and may miss tiny
but structurally-significant cracks. Some technologies have been developed to automate the process, such as rust sensors
for steel-reinforced concrete. Now, an international team of scientists
is proposing a system of flexible crack-detecting skins, that could be
applied to the surfaces of concrete surfaces. Read More
Despite the current proliferation of 3D movies, cameras, televisions and mobile devices,
there are those of us who still question whether 3D is here to stay, or
if it’s just a marketing gimmick that will eventually peter out. One
thing’s for sure: with current technology, the viewing of 3D movies
gives some people headaches, or makes them feel dizzy. If you’re one of
those people, but you don’t want to be left out when your friends go off
to see My 3D Dinner With Andre, this might be just what you need – De-3D glasses. Read More
General Electric says that over 100 products have
been brought to market since launching its Ecomagination project in
2005. Phase I of its latest Challenge has already resulted in 12
commercial partnerships aimed at developing the next generation of power
grid technologies (including the outright acquisition of smart grid
technology company FMC-Tech), and now the winners of Phase II: Powering Your Home
have just been announced. GE has awarded five innovators US$100,000
each to further develop their technologies and also partnered with ten
Home Energy technology companies. Read More
It's often during those early stages of learning
to play a new instrument that many people give up in despair. Even
though you swear that you're hitting the right notes, everything still
sounds like an old gramophone recording played at the wrong speed. If
only you could let someone take control of your hands to fast forward
through the arduous repetition phase before muscle memory kicks in and
the piece you're trying to play begins to sound more like it should.
That's precisely the kind of potential offered by the PossessedHand
project. Electrode-packing armbands placed on a user's forearm send
electrical pulses through the muscles to take control of the movement of
the hand - with fledgling Koto players testing the system having
demonstrated greater accuracy and speedier progress. Read More
At its annual U.S. national dealer meeting held
in Las Vegas at the end of June, Toyota confirmed the launch dates for
its Prius family
are still on track despite complications arising following the
disasters that hit Japan on March 11, saying production is expected to
return to normal levels in Japan after July. The company also raised a
few eyebrows with the announcement that the all-electric Scion iQ EV microcar that was on show in Geneva earlier this year is set to arrive in the U.S. sometime in 2012 Read More
Hair extensions are already big business in the
world of fashion – or so I’m reliably informed by those with more
fashion sense and hair than yours truly. Now two graduates from London’s
Royal College of Art have found another use for people’s jettisoned
locks by creating a collection of fashion glasses made from human hair.
Read More
With marine biofouling on ship hulls increasing
drag, which results in an increase in fuel consumption and therefore
cost and pollution, the search has been on for a way to prevent fouling
that is better than the environmentally damaging, toxic marine paints
currently used. Taking inspiration from floating seeds, scientists from
the Biomimetics-Innovation-Centre (B-I-C) in Germany have developed a
promising new anti-fouling surface that is toxin-free. Read More
Following lab evaluation tests, Lockheed Martin’s ruggedized HULC
(Human Universal Load Carrier) robotic exoskeleton is now undergoing
biomechanical testing at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research,
Development and Engineering Center in Natick, Massachusetts. The
biomechanical testing will assess the effectiveness of the HULC in
improving the endurance and reducing the risk of injury to soldiers by
comparing the performance of soldiers carrying identical loads, both
with and without the device. Read More
Electric vehicles
have been a reality for more than 100 years, but it's only in the last
decade or so that the world has truly woken up to their potential as a
viable, cleaner urban transport alternative to their combustion engined
cousins. During this EV renaissance much of the focus has been on
developing improved power sources like batteries and fuel cells in order
to deliver the range and performance consumers have become accustomed
to during the age of oil. Transmissions on the other hand, despite being
so important in the ICE space, hardly rate a mention because the wide
torque curve of electric motors makes them largely irrelevant. It could
be time to rethink that approach according to U.K. based engineering
firm Antonov. The company has produced a 3-speed transmission designed
specifically for electric vehicles that promises to bring significant
efficiency gains and a better driver experience. The company's Business
Development Manager Dave Paul outlined these benefits in a presentation
at the IDTechEX Electric vehicles conference this week in Stuttgart.
Read More
Although ultraviolet semiconductor diode lasers
are widely used in data processing, information storage and biology,
their applications have been limited by the lasers’ size, cost and
power. Now researchers at the University of California, Riverside Bourns
College of Engineering have overcome these problems by developing a new
semiconductor nanowire laser technology that could be used to provide
denser optical disc storage, superfast data processing and transmission
and even to change the function of a living cell. Read More
It’s widely recognized that asthma rates have
increased significantly since the 1960’s and continue to rise. With
increases in asthma and other allergic diseases centered on
industrialized nations, a recent hypothesis suggested that the
disappearance of specific microorganisms that populate the human body
due to modern hygiene practices might be to blame. Now researchers claim
they have confirmed this hypothesis by proving that a certain gastric
bacterium provides reliable protection against allergy-induced asthma.
Read More
Lo-fi photography focuses on creative experiments
with the use of inexpensive film cameras - like the Holga Twin Image
Maker (TIM). This US$60 camera features double lenses to shoot either 3D
images or half frames, allows for multiple exposure of a single frame
and comes with a detachable flash with color filters. Read More
The World Health Organization has projected that
by 2020, major depression will be the second-most significant cause for
disability in the world, after heart disease. Along with psychotherapy,
the disorder is usually treated using antidepressant drugs. There is
often a frustrating trial-and-error period involved in finding the right
drug for the right person, however, while side effects can include
obesity, sexual dysfunction, and fatigue ... to name a few. Los
Angeles-based company NeuroSigma is now looking into an alternative
drug-free therapy, that could ultimately incorporate electrodes
implanted under the patient’s skin. Read More
Smartphones, tablets and media players have
helped to make our mobile existence so much more tolerable - but they
all suffer from varying degrees of the same problem. Battery life is
always a nagging concern for regular travelers, leading many to carry
some form of external portable power source like the Juice Pack Powerstation
we reviewed recently. Even though Mophie's external battery pack proved
its worth in our tests, we may just have to trade it in for the New
Trent iCruiser IMP1000 - which offers over three times the battery
capacity in a similar-sized format and claims compatibility with almost
every device in the market. Read More
Valuable a conditioning tool as stationary bikes
are, any avid cyclist will tell you that they’re nowhere near as good as
being out on the open road. One of the differences between real cycling
and indoor training is the fact that when riders are on the road, the
topography of the area determines the pedaling effort required. By
contrast, when on a stationary bike, riders usually just vary their
output as they feel like it. In an attempt to make indoor training more
like the real thing, Pro-Form’s Le Tour de France Indoor Cycle lets
users choose or create real-world routes using Google Maps, then adjusts
the angle of the riding platform to replicate the experience of riding
up and down those roads. Read More
Since we first brought you news
of the installation of the world's first permanent gold-dispensing ATM
in the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, the company behind the
innovation has rolled out the machines throughout the United Arab
Emirates and Germany, and broke into Italy and the U.S. Luxurious venues
chosen for the Gold-to-go machines have so far included the Golden
Nugget Casino in Las Vegas and the 124th floor of Dubai's Burj Khalifa.
For London, though, the new home for the UK's first vending machine is
... a shopping center. Read More
Personal radiation dosimeter badges are the
things that you may have seen people wearing in nuclear power plants,
that measure how much radiation is in the immediate environment.
Unfortunately, the devices don’t provide real-time feedback – instead,
they must be sent off to a processing lab, which determines the wearer’s
radiation exposure after the fact. Now, however, the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is
working on a wallet-sized card that would serve the same purpose, but
that could also be read on the spot using a handheld reading device.
Called the Citizen's Dosimeter, it could be used to detect the presence
of ionizing radiation caused by nuclear accidents or dirty bombs. Read More
If you’re trying to woo that special someone,
instead of just bringing them a box of ordinary chocolates, how about a
box of chocolates that look like you? You’re right, that would
just be creepy, but chocolates formed into user-defined shapes are
nonetheless now a possibility, thanks to a 3D chocolate printer
developed at the University of Exeter. Read More
A safer motorcycle. To some people, the concept
completely misses the point. If it was safe, it would be boring, and
we'd go find something else to do. Still, safety technology is a very
high priority for many manufacturers, and arguably it's BMW that's
leading the way in rider assist electronics. So it's interesting to take
a glimpse at the Advanced Safety Concept (ASC). Similar to the fascinating Experimental Safety Vehicle that Mercedes-Benz showed us in 2009,
the ASC gives us a glimpse at the next-generation technologies BMW is
dreaming up to help keep riders from becoming "road crayons," as a
friend of mine so eloquently puts it. Read More
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