nano carpet

OCZ's Neural Impulse Actuator

OCZ's site

"Translate electrical biosignals of your body directly into computer commands and take advantage of total immersion into game play"


from Techreport.com review:

"The NIA software lists eight different inputs in total. The bulk of those inputs are made up by a "muscle" input that tracks facial muscle tension (largely from jaw and eyebrow muscles) and a "glance" control that tracks lateral eye movement. Six brain-wave inputs—three for alpha waves and three for beta waves—fill out the neural control aspect of the NIA. This post by Dr. Schuette suggests alpha waves correspond to aggression and that beta waves can correspond to pain management. For instance, one can trigger the Alpha 2 meter by thinking of an expletive. Schuette told us he successfully used this method to get his character to jump in a game, but I could never get this to work myself."

This reminds me of voice recognition, it sounds like a little bit of a rocky start, but in the future, it should be able to recognize more and more.

Novint Falcon

"After all, the Falcon is the natural predator of the mouse."



Check out the video at this link for a new controller that could be better then the standard mouse. Force feedback and full 3d control, it has all the specs but will the finicky PC crowd go after it? We are, after all, still using qwerty keyboards when they were designed to keep typewriter parts from smashing in to each other. Converting the PC crowd is tricky business.

Nokia 888: the bendy phone

Nokia isn't letting Apple take over their industry, that's for sure. They have some of the best and brightest rushing new technologies and bringing them in to the forefront. Case in point: The Nokia 888

This little puppy can change shape, bending to the contours of your face, wrapping around your wrist, or even custom shapes you can program in to it.

Very cool stuff, I can't wait for my new cell phone, I hope by the time my contract runs out there will be something like this available.

magnetic fields

Magnetic Movie from Semiconductor on Vimeo.

flat plastic reader

Found this interesting video about the J-dome, a device that projects your screen on to a dome allowing for a much more realistic experience. With the amount of screen space it provides, it doesn't seem that expensive.

I picked up this video from smashing magazine, click the link to see 9 more futuristic user interfaces



I had to put this quick on in here too. Just like Johnny Lee's head tracking trick with the wii mote, here is the same thing, except all you need is a webcam.

So, who will be the first company to jump on this level of immersion?

Nokia s60

I'm one of those guys that got really excited about the iPhone but never bothered to get one. Over-hyped and over-priced, average joe's like me will hold on to their current phone. At least until the contract runs out.

The iPhone 3g has some very cool features, but I've been saying that I'll wait until Nokia or Samsung comes out with something equivalent.

Stumbling on this video, It's obvious that I'm part of Nokia's target market:



Mid-range

"Well with Nokia the biggest player in the mobile world, they reckon they can turn average Joe's onto touchscreen tech and build from the bottom. And there's a good chance it'll work."

"Being your regular mid–level Nok, the Tube will almost certainly come free on contract. And we’re not talking an iPhone 3G–style deal, where you have to pony up £45 every month for the privilege of having the phone in your pocket. Plus, it won’t be shackled to one network, giving Nokia the chance to work their magic and get it into every mobile–loving mitt in the country."

SkyHook JHL-40

SkyHook JHL-40

SkyHook International Inc., a privately owned company located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is receiving a lot of attention as they team up with Boeing to develop the SkyHook JHL-40.

The driving force behind this new twist on an old design is the limited amount of payload a regular heavy-lift helicopter can carry in to such places like the remote oil sands of Alberta. By utilizing the buoyant effect of the blimp, the heavy rotors are only used for cargo, as they carry up to 80,000 lbs. That's around twice as much as the MI-26 helicopter! (currently the largest vertical lift helicopter).

Two production prototypes are under development at its Rotorcraft Systems facility in Ridley Park, PA

Airship's have been getting a little bit more attention lately. Check out the Manned Cloud, a tourist dirigible in the shape of a whale.