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Luminous wallpaper on the way?
2008-04-17 22:51:00
What if you could have an entire room wallpapered in flexible, paper-thin light? Maybe you could even control that light’s color and intensity in different areas. That's the goal of General Electric researchers, who just achieved a breakthrough toward making that possible. The key to making this affordable is roll-to-roll processing, a method of manufacturing organic LEDs (OLEDs) that works a whole lot like a printing press. - DVICE
More About: Wallpaper

Toward a Quantum Internet
2008-04-16 20:40:00
Researchers have built a quantum logic gate in an optical fiber, laying the foundation for a quantum computer network.The promise of quantum computers is tantalizingly great: near-instantaneous problem solving, and perfectly secure data transmission. For the most part, however, small-scale demonstrations of quantum computation remain isolated in labs throughout the world. Now, Prem Kumar, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Northwestern University, has taken a step toward making quantum computing more practical. Kumar and his team have shown that they can build a quantum logic gate--a fundamental component of a quantum computer--within an optical fiber. The gate could be part of a circuit that relays information securely, over hundreds of kilometers of fiber, from one quantum computer to another. It could also be used on its own to find solutions to complicated mathematical problems. - Technology Review
More About: Internet , Quantum

Google Earth 4.3
2008-04-16 18:26:00
The Google Earth team is proud to announce the latest version of Google Earth is available today at http://earth.google.com. The release of Google Earth 4 .3 (beta) greatly advances our vision of offering a realistic, 3D model of the world by giving users a higher quality, more immersive experience. - Google Lat Long BlogWebsite: earth.google.com

Viewfinder: How to Seamlessly "Flickrize" Google Earth
2008-04-15 23:22:00
“Viewfinder” is a novel method for users to spatially situate, or “find the pose,” of their photographs, and then to view these photographs, along with others, as perfectly aligned overlays in a 3D world model such as Google Earth . Our objective is to provide a straightforward procedure for geo-locating photos of any kind, and our approach is to engage a community of users for a certain amount of human help. - ViewfinderGoogle Tech Talk: youtube.com/watch?v=LRAj21y23r8
More About: Google Earth

The Grid: 10,000 times faster than internet
2008-04-07 19:23:00
The birthplace of the Web, Cern, which is based near Geneva, is now busy working on "the grid" that boasts speeds nearly 10,000 times faster than a typical Broadband connection, and that may soon render the Web obsolete. [..]Doyle explained that that network, in effect a parallel Internet , is now built, using fibre optic cables that run from Cern to 11 centres in the United States, Canada, the Far East, Europe, and around the world. From each center, further connections radiate out to a host of other research institutions that use existing high-speed academic networks. Which means Britain alone has 8,000 servers on the grid system so that any student or academic will theoretically be able to hook up to the grid rather than the Internet from this autumn. - techtree.com
More About: Grid , Times

3D LED Cube
2008-04-07 12:27:00
This LED cube, consisting of a 16 x 16 x 16 grid of interconnected color LEDs, is capable of displaying animations at up to 30 frames per second and each dot can be individually addressed for both color and intensity. - Seekway
More About: Cube

inviDESK
2008-04-01 11:31:00
inviDESK-interactive virtual desk-is an innovative system that transforms your meeting table or any other working surface into a dynamic multimedia environment. inviDESK's innovative functionality makes it a powerful tool for interaction, collaboration and promotion. - inviDESK

Sensisphere
2008-04-01 11:23:00
Sensisphere is a hemispherical screen with an innovative user interface. It is integrated into the surrounding architecture. On this "porthole" with a diameter of about one meter many different interactive, multimedia-based contents can be experienced. - Lab Binaer

A glimpse ahead
2008-03-28 23:29:00
Microsoft's vision on the future of healthcare.
More About: Ahead , Glimpse

Holophonics - 3D Sound for relugar headphones
2008-03-26 10:12:00
Holophonics is a form of sound recording that employs a dummy head recording arrangement and is based on the hypothesis that the auditory system acts as an interferometer. As with binaural recordings, the sound characteristics are most clearly heard through headphones. Holophonics should not be confused with holophonic recording (or holophony), which is a system of sound recording over the surface of a sphere. - WikipediaYou'll need headphones for this to work. Make sure there is no noise around, close your eyes, turn the volume up a little bit, hold and press headphone on your ears for better hearing, play it and enjoy this impressive audio work.Example 2: holophonic.ch/archivio/testaudio/Cereni - Holophonic.mp3Example 3: holophonic.ch/archivio/testaudio/voce.mp3
More About: Sound , Headphones

Head Tracking using FaceAPI
2008-03-21 00:03:00
This video shows Head tracking using the faceAPI and a web-camera, connected to Johnny Lee's desktop VR demo. By using the faceAPI and a webcam instead of a wiimote, the same 3D view-dependent rendering can be accomplished without having to wear anything on your head. The faceAPI automatically tracks head position and rotation in X, Y and Z. - FaceAPIJohnny Chung Lee's Head Tracking using the Wii Remote

Boston Dynamics Big Dog
2008-03-18 17:03:00
BigDog is the alpha male of the Boston Dynamics family of robots. It is a quadruped robot that walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads. - Boston Dynamics

"Voiceless" phone calls
2008-03-13 10:56:00
A neckband that translates thought into speech by picking up nerve signals has been used to demonstrate a "voiceless" phone call for the first time.With careful training a person can send nerve signals to their vocal cords without making a sound. These signals are picked up by the neckband and relayed wirelessly to a computer that converts them into words spoken by a computerised voice. - NewScientist
More About: Phone , Calls , Phone Calls

Gesture Based Interaction Screens image
2008-03-12 18:50:00
The Alternative has developed a gesture based interaction screen for Orange. According to The Alternative it’s the first time that a technology like this has been shown to the public. Via the large projected image and a touch-free interface, the installation provides users with a new way to activate news, film clips and music videos. - freshcreation.com
More About: Image , Interaction

Minority Report At Cebit 2008
2008-03-12 18:40:00
It seems that everyone is working on new interfaces. Using thought, gestures or real objects. This interface was filmed at CeBIT 2008 . It offers a very intuitive way of interacting with information and images. It resembles the interface that was used in Minority Report . To make sure that you see the resemblance I added a Minority Report scene as a bonus. - freshcreation.com

Hans Rosling: Debunking third-world myths with the best stats you've ever s
2008-03-08 23:40:00
You've never seen data presented like this. With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, Hans Rosling debunks myths about the so-called "developing world" using extraordinary animation software developed by his Gapminder Foundation. The Trendalyzer software (recently acquired by Google) turns complex global trends into lively animations, making decades of data pop. Asian countries, as colorful bubbles, float across the grid -- toward better national health and wealth. Animated bell curves representing national income distribution squish and flatten. In Rosling's hands, global trends -- life expectancy, child mortality, poverty rates -- become clear, intuitive and even playful. - TEDVideo: ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/92
More About: World , Myths , Stats , Third World

George Dyson: Let's take a nuclear-powered rocket to Saturn
2008-03-08 22:56:00
George Dyson tells the amazing story of Project Orion, a massive, nuclear-powered spacecraft that could have taken us to Saturn in five years. With a priceless insider's perspective and a cache of documents, photos and film, Dyson brings this dusty Atomic Age dream to vivid life. - TEDVideo: ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/221
More About: Nuclear , George , Rocket

Microsoft Research - WorldWide Telescope
2008-02-28 10:39:00
Science educator Roy Gould gives an astonishing sneak preview of Microsoft 's new WorldWide Telescope -- a technology that combines feds from satellites and telescopes all over the world and the heavens, and builds a comprehensive view of our universe. - TEDVideo: ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/224Offici al website: wwtelescope.com
More About: Research , Microsoft Research , Worldwide

VideoTrace: Rapid interactive scene modelling from video
2008-02-27 13:24:00
VideoTrace is a system for interactively generating realistic 3D models of objects from video—models that might be inserted into a video game, a simulation environment, or another video sequence. The user interacts with VideoTrace by tracing the shape of the object to be modelled over one or more frames of the video. By interpreting the sketch drawn by the user in light of 3D information obtained from computer vision techniques, a small number of simple 2D interactions can be used to generate a realistic 3D model. Each of the sketching operations in VideoTrace provides an intuitive and powerful means of modelling shape from video, and executes quickly enough to be used interactively. Immediate feedback allows the user to model rapidly those parts of the scene which are of interest and to the level of detail required. The combination of automated and manual reconstruction allows VideoTrace to model parts of the scene not visible, and to succeed in cases where purely automated appro...
More About: Video , Interactive , Scene , Rapid , Modelling

Make3D
2008-02-27 13:16:00
Make3D converts your single picture into a 3-D model, completely automatically.It takes a two-dimensional image and creates a three-dimensional "fly around" model, giving the viewers access to the scene's depth and a range of points of view. After uploading your image, you can "fly" in the 3-D scene, or watch a rendered 3-d movie.It uses powerful machine learning techniques, to learn the relation between small image patches and their depth and orientation. This allows it to model 3-d structures such as slopes of mountains or branches of trees. - Make3D

Hyposurface
2008-02-21 23:25:00
Reaction to the Hyposurface usually evolves quickly from "What could this be used for?" to "What couldn't this be used for?" It is mesmerizing and full of potential. The Hyposurface allows the participant to connect and interact with a massive, powerful force - it's like controlling a waterfall. - hyposurface.org

Stanford camera chip can see in 3D
2008-02-21 20:24:00
Instead of devoting the entire sensor for one big representation of the image, Fife's 3-megapixel sensor prototype breaks the scene up into many small, slightly overlapping 16x16-pixel patches called subarrays. Each subarray has its own lens to view the world--thus the term multi-aperture.After a photo is taken, image-processing software then analyzes the slight location differences for the same element appearing in different patches--for example, where a spot on a subject's shirt is relative to the wallpaper behind it. These differences from one subarray to the next can be used to deduce the distance of the shirt and the wall. - news.com
More About: Camera , Stanford , Chip

Head Tracking for Desktop VR Displays using the Wii Remote
2008-02-05 12:42:00
Using the infrared camera in the Wii remote and a head mounted sensor bar (two IR LEDs), you can accurately track the location of your head and render view dependent images on the screen. This effectively transforms your display into a portal to a virtual environment. The display properly reacts to head and body movement as if it were a real window creating a realistic illusion of depth and space. - Johnny Chung Lee
More About: Desktop , Head , Displays , Tracking , Remote

360° Light Field Display
2008-02-05 12:35:00
We describe a set of rendering techniques for an autostereoscopic light field display able to present interactive 3D graphics to multiple simultaneous viewers 360 degrees around the display. The display consists of a high-speed video projector, a spinning mirror covered by a holographic diffuser, and FPGA circuitry to decode specially rendered DVI video signals. The display uses a standard programmable graphics card to render over 5,000 images per second of interactive 3D graphics, projecting 360-degree views with 1.25 degree separation up to 20 updates per second. We describe the system's projection geometry and its calibration process, and we present a multiple-center-of-projection rendering technique for creating perspective-correct images from arbitrary viewpoints around the display. Our projection technique allows correct vertical perspective and parallax to be rendered for any height and distance when these parameters are known, and we demonstrate this effect with interactive...
More About: Display , Light , Field

Physics and Augmented Reality
2008-02-05 12:32:00
Real-time 3D tracking in action. An example of use of live video imagery which is digitally processed and "augmented" by the addition of computer-generated graphics.
More About: Reality , Physics

touchless human / machine user interface for 3D navigation
2008-02-03 22:21:00
Elliptic Labs is paving the way for use of computers and screens without touching, simply with the finger or hand in the air. Manipulate images, play computer games, control robotics or use touch screens without touching or without holding a hardware control unit. - Elliptic Labs
More About: Machine , Human , Navigation , User , Interface

Adobe: focus images with computational photography
2008-01-19 16:03:00
Today, if you want to trim all the distracting background out of a picture--say, the crowd behind your daughter playing soccer--you have to do a lot of artful selection with high-powered software such as Photoshop. But what if your computer understood the depth of the image, just as you did when you took the picture, and could be told to just erase everything that's a certain distance behind your kid? - news.comImage from audioblog.fr
More About: Photography , Adobe , Images , Focus , Ages

RepRap "Wealth without money"
2008-01-08 17:18:00
A machine that builds itself? Adrian Bowyer, leading researcher at the University of Bath, shows us that this seemingly fantastic idea is not far from becoming reality. The self-replicating rapid prototyper, or “RepRap,” could have dramatic effects on people in developing countries. - poptech.comVideo: poptech.com/popcasts/popcasts.aspx?lang=& amp;viewcastid=154Website: reprap.org
More About: Wealth , Money

Camera Array Video Matting
2008-01-07 17:37:00
We present an algorithm and a system for high-quality natural video matting using a camera array. Our current system runs at several frames per second, and we believe that it is the first system capable of computing high-quality alpha mattes at near real-time rates without the use of active illumination or special backgrounds. - people.csail.mit.edu/wojciech
More About: Video , Camera , Array

Image-Based 3D Photography using Opacity Hulls
2008-01-07 17:25:00
We have built a system for acquiring and displaying high quality graphical models of objects that are impossible to scan with traditional scanners. Our system can acquire highly specular and fuzzy materials, such as fur and feathers. - people.csail.mit.edu/wojciech
More About: Photography , Image