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Posts with tag future

3D Holographic TVs Could Turn Living Rooms Into Movie Sets

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Oct 9th 2008 at 10:56AM

3D Holographic TVs Could Turn Your Living Room into a Movie Set

We've seen a myriad of display technologies come and go: CRT, LCD, SED, OLED, Plasma, Laser, and more. They've all had their respective day in the sun, even if they never really came to have an impact on the consumer market. Trying to figure out the next big thing is always a bit of a crap shoot, but Japanese researchers are expecting that by 2020 we could see holographic displays that could turn your living room into a movie set.

The technology has been around since the 1990s, but only recently have scientists made advances that could potentially bring these visions to life. Displays are now possible that create the immersive environments promised, but they take several minutes to refresh and display the next image. The 3D holographic projectors must refresh at least 24 times a second to create a seamless moving image.

The displays are currently still relegated to the world of science fiction, but it sounds like it's not too far off before watching a movie could turn your couch into a bunker that you take cover in next to the film's star during a battle sequence. [From: Sony Insider]

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7 Cool TVs From the Future
Engadget

Eco-Friendly Dubai Pyramid Concept Could House 1.1 Million

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 26th 2008 at 2:16PM


As we learned from 'Wall-E,' people with half a mind for themselves probably won't be kosher with living with 1.1 million or so other inhabitants within a pyramid. That being said, there's always the brainwash approach to getting 'em in there, and if hordes of people were ever filed into the conceptual Ziggurat, Mother Earth would surely appreciate it.

The 2.3-square kilometer building would be able to house over 1 million people and be "almost totally self-sufficient energy-wise." By tapping into the planet's renewable resources, designers assert that it could practically be carbon-neutral, and given that transport within the machine would be connected by an "integrated 360-degree network," fuel-burning cars would be pointless. As with most things in Dubai, this one seems larger than life, but if the Burj Al Arab is any indication, there's at least a minuscule chance this thing comes to fruition. [From: World Architecture News via Inhabitat]


Fingernail Timex Will Be All the Rage in 2154

by Christine Whitney, posted Jul 23rd 2008 at 10:56AM


By the year 2154, robots will give us haircuts, cell phones will be implanted in our brains and wristwatches will be worn on fingernails. The future is really scary!

Thankfully, we won't be around to witness the phasing out of Hair Jordan and the iPhone, but the idea for the fingernail watch is already on the table. And who is behind it but Timex, the company that manufactured our wristwatches in the '90s. For big T's 150 year anniversary, the watchmaker joined forces with design site Core77 to announce an Orwellian competition entitled 'Timex 2154: The Future of Time."

The competition's runner-up concept watch, the TX54 evolved from press-on nails and contact lenses, like birds from dinosaurs. Humanoids wear it on their thumbnails, and can activate glow-in-the-dark features by touching the nail-tip. It's disposable, and available in an array of colors.

Call us old-fashioned, but we're still not ready to ditch our Casios. Maybe in 150 years... [Source: Crave]

Inventors Use Hand Gestures To Kill the Mouse (and Keyboard)

by Tom Conlon, posted Sep 19th 2007 at 5:39PM


When Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise's 'Minority Report' conquered theaters in 2002, the tech community went wild, not over the special effects used to make Cruise seem less like a stark-raving looney tune, but over the futuristic, motion-controlled computer interface he used in a few of the movie's key scenes.

Now, it seems were on the verge of making a million nerd dreams come true. At this week's TechCrunch40 expo, an exclusive, invite-only gathering of 40 technology startups, a company named Extreme Reality showed off its 3-D Human Interface product. The software uses a simple everyday Web cam to translate your movements into on-screen controls such as zooming, tilting, panning and cursor movement.

The above video shows the technology being used to play video games and move windows around in Windows XP. Though not shown, the demo at TechCrunch40 also showed the software navigating Google Maps.

While the thought of flailing our arms around to control a Windows computer is definitely less than appealing, we're salivating over the future that this technology promises to usher in.

From Crunch Gear

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Say Goodbye to Dirty Dishes

by Tom Conlon, posted Sep 17th 2007 at 12:22PM

Say Goodbye to Dirty Dishes

Some people believe Hell is a kitchen sink and a never-ending pile of dirty dishes, and for those people salvation lies at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts. That's where grad student Leonardo Bonanni has developed the DishMaker, a machine that creates dishware on demand, and will someday be able to recycle dirty dishes into the raw material needed to make new ones.

The machine is the latest development in a movement to bring rapid prototyping into the American home. In recent months, we've seen a machine that can print and bind any book in less than 15 minutes. We've also seen advances in affordable 3-D printers, which will someday be able to fabricate objects -- such as a toothbrush – much in the same way today's printers fabricate documents.

Bonanni's machine can create acrylic dishes, bowls and cups as the user needs them. What's different about the DishMaker is that it will someday be able to recycle dirty dishes into new ones. Not only would this eliminate a dreaded household chore, but it would also eliminate the need for most of your cabinets.

Yes, paper plates have afforded us this same convenience for many years now, and yes, if the DishMaker ever comes to market you can bet it'll cost an arm and a leg. But, sometimes you just need to ask yourself, W.W.A.G.D.? ("What Would Al Gore Do?")

From Gizmag

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The Future According to 1967

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Sep 10th 2007 at 1:23PM

Its always fun to look back on what we thought the future would be like. Creepily enough this short film by Philco-Ford from 1967 is pretty spot on. The gadgets may look like '60s stereo equipment, but somehow they all provide many of the tech conveniences we have come to know and love, including shopping at home via computer, e-mail (or 'electronic 'correspondence,' as it is called in the video), and online bill payment and records -- all glowingly presented in a 1960s-style suburban utopia setting.

As fun as it is to watch the dated visions of a computer run future, some of the sexist overtone make for uncomfortable viewing -- "What the wife selects on her console, will be payed for by the husband at his counterpart console."

Also, don't miss the segment -- starring the same idealized 1960s family unit -- about the kitchen of the future. According to 1960s futurists, all homes would have hand-and-face dryers in the washrooms to replace towels. They also predicted that all food would be frozen and automatically inventoried and moved to ovens and such by a computer. Guess they didn't consider today's backlash against processed foods and the move towards organic and sustainable ingredients.

We're wondering, though, why there was no place for the ridiculous LG HDTV refrigerator?


From Retro Thing

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Robot Plays MC at Wedding

by Evan Shamoon, posted Jun 21st 2007 at 8:32AM

Robot Plays MC at Wedding

Yet another sure sign that the apocalypse is just around the corner, a robot named "Tiro" recently emceed a wedding in South Korea. The robot spoke in "female mode" at the ceremony and was accompanied by some other robots that took care of the guests and gave live performances. The creators of Tiro claim that this is the first time robots have run a wedding, and we'll bet our AIBO (no relation) it won't be the last.

How does one get a robot to perform your wedding ceremony? It seems the groom, Seok Gyeong-Jae, is an engineer who helped designed Tiro, which is valued at 200 million won ($215,053 US dollars). At this time, Tiro appears to have no functions or capabilities other than attaching a ball and chain, though its human keeps claim, "Tiro will be upgraded so that it can be used for various purposes."

From GeekSugar

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Smart Clothing Monitors Health

by Evan Shamoon, posted Jun 13th 2007 at 9:01AM

Smart Clothing Monitors Health
Thanks to a consortium of European scientists, "dressing smart" may no longer mean having to know when it is and when it's not OK to wear white.

The Biotex Program, a group of researchers hailing from eight separate institutions and backed by the EU, is developing clothing that monitors its wearer's health. The "intelligent textiles" contain embedded sensors designed to monitor body fluids such as blood and sweat, which doctors can use to remotely check on the health of recovering hospital patients and those with chronic illnesses.

Eventually, it is hoped the technology will be developed further to monitor vital signs, the progress of wound healing and early-stage infections by looking for abnormalities in the wearer's metabolism.

The technology is not meant to replace visits to the doctor's office, but rather allow doctors to more effectively monitor patients between visits.

At this time, a prototype patch of the fabric is near completion. Testing on volunteers will be next.

Bring it on. We'd wrap ourselves up like the Invisible Man in this stuff if it meant avoiding long waits in the doc's office.

From BBC

3-D Printers Come Home

by Tom Conlon, posted May 8th 2007 at 7:32AM

3-D Printers Come Home
Though it sounds like something straight out of 'The Jetsons,' this year the first consumer 3-D printers will begin making their way into homes.

Capable of creating three-dimensional plastic objects from scratch, the technology paves the way for a future in which consumers will go online to buy things like toys, replacement parts or even toothbrushes, then simply print them out instead of waiting for delivery.

Printers capable of 3-D output are commonplace in industrial design, but at more than $100,000, they're out of reach for the average consumer. Later this year, however, a company named IdeaLab is introducing a model that will sell for $4,995. Another company, 3D Systems, will hawk its version of the home 3-D printer for $9,900. Both say prices will fall dramatically within a few years.

The printers work by melting down nylon powder, then creating models from the material layer by microscopic layer. Heat, light and chemicals are applied when necessary to shape and harden. After several hours of layering, a three-dimensional object has taken form.

While the applications for this technology are seemingly limitless, toymakers are particularly interested in the prospect of allowing gamers to create figurines based on their avatars from such online worlds as 'World of WarCraft' and 'Second Life.' EA has expressed similar interest for its massive online game 'Spore,' which comes out later this year.

As for us, we just can't wait until next year's Oscars to see what kind of replacement parts Joan Rivers prints out for her face.

From AOL News and The New York Times

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