Hasta La Gadget!

Unless you have memory problems, I’ve never understood why someone would want to wear a camera or camcorder on their body to record whatever they’re doing all of the time. I’ve yet to see anybody that’s interesting enough for me to want to know what they’re doing every second of every day. If you are the sort who thinks you need to chronicle everything you do, a new camera has turned up on Kickstarter called the Memoto.

While its image capturing algorithm isn’t as sophisticated as the similar, but more expensive Autographer, this might be an interesting little wearable camera for use if you’re on vacation for instance. It’s very small and designed to be worn on the clothing, and takes a still photo automatically every 30 seconds. There are no controls or buttons to press – the camera does its thing with no input from the wearer. It automatically shuts off when you remove it or place it in your pocket.

The camera charges via USB and promises enough battery life and data storage for two days of use. When the camera is connected to a computer to charge up, the photographs are automatically uploaded to Memoto servers and organized using GPS information and time and date stamps for easy searching and cataloging. Companion web, iOS and Android apps provide easy access to your images.

The Memoto will retail for $279(USD), but early Kickstarter supporters can get one for as little as $199. The project is seeking $50,000 and has already raised nearly double that amount with over a month to go.

Scientists at the Tufts School of Engineering and at the University of Illinois have created simple electronic devices that harmlessly dissolve after a set period of time. The scientists call their invention transient electronics, devices which could have a huge impact on medical devices and on the environment in general. Future computers could melt in your mouth and in your hand. Or anywhere else for that matter.

The devices were made using silicon components that are only “tens of nanometers thick.” These components are then encased in sheets of silk protein. This silk casing can be tweaked to determine the lifespan of the device, and the scientists say the range could be anywhere from minutes to years. Here’s a short video showing how these circuits could dissolve in water.

This breakthrough could lead to medical devices that can be safely left in a patient’s body (and eventually decompose) as well as consumer devices that eventually dissolve instead of piling up in landfills.

[via Tufts Now via Inhabitat]

A lot of the technology we enjoy here on Earth started out as tech created for the space program. NASA has a very cool robot working on the International Space Station right now called Robonaut 2. New technology that has spun off from the Robonaut 2 program has been unveiled that could help astronauts exercise while in the weightlessness of space – and could possibly help paraplegics on Earth to walk again.

The technology is called the X1 robotic exoskeleton and was developed in cooperation with NASA and the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. The exoskeleton weighs 57 pounds and can be worn by humans to help assist or inhibit the movement of leg joints. By inhibiting movement, the exoskeleton could also provide resistive exercise.

The exoskeleton is worn over the legs with a harness that reaches up the back and around the shoulders. It offers 10° of freedom in the joints with four motorized joints at the hips and knees along with six passive joints that allow for sidestepping, turning, pointing, and flexing the foot. The system offers multiple adjustment points allowing the X1 to be used in a variety of ways. For instance, the exoskeleton could be used to help astronauts carry heavy gear on the surface of other planets and could possibly be adapted to military transport use here on Earth.

Over the last few years, we haven’t seen the kind of gains in computing speed that one might expect if you’re strictly following Moore’s Law. We’re beginning to run into limits on the frequency of any single CPU or GPU, and one of the modern ways to get past this limitation is through the use of parallel computing architectures.

However, programming for parallel chips hasn’t been an easy transition for traditional programmers, and the technology has largely remained the domain of high-end engineering projects. However, one company is pushing an initiative to bring parallel computing to everyone.

Adapteva has been producing multicore chips with 16 cores for a little over a year now, and is now testing a 64-core chip. The plan now is to produce a low-cost parallel processing kit for as little as $99. The hope is by providing fully open source hardware and software, development for and adoption of parallel processing would increase dramatically. As this takes hold, the plan is to launch a computing platform called “Parallella.” According to Adapteva: “Once completed, the Parallella computer should deliver up to 45 GHz of equivalent CPU performance on a board the size of a credit card while consuming only 5 Watts under typical work loads. Counting GHz, this is more horsepower than a high end server costing thousands of dollars and consuming 400W.”

By launching its first kits on Kickstarter, the company aims to drive production costs down dramatically, and in exchange will open source the chipset as well as all documentation and software. The $99 kit will put an Epiphany-III based Parallella board in your hands, including a dual-core ARM A9 CPU, as well as 16 Epiphany cores on board and development software.

A pledge of $199 or more will get you the upcoming 64-core Epiphany-IV board – if the project is able to reach a stretch goal of $3 million. With 17 days left to go, the project has raised nearly $300,000 of its $750,000 goal, so there’s a way to go. If you’re into tinkering with the latest in technology, and want to see what you can do with an extremely powerful chip, then you might want to get in on the project and pledge.

To be honest, I’m never satisfied with my workstation. Most of the time, I say to myself that it will do for now, but there’s always room for improvement. Check out the BendDesk, which merges a desk with a computer workstation in a most efficient manner.

The BendDesk is a working prototype that was designed and created as part of a research project by by Malte Weiss, Simon Voelker, Jan Borchers from the Media Computing Group, and Christine Sutter from the Department of Work and Cognitive Psychology of the RWTH Aachen University in Germany. The whole setup is multi-touch, and allows users to interact with the entire surface. It  merges two separate vertical and horizontal work surfaces, enabling continuous interaction between both of them.

This is still a concept, and if you’ve got the money, you can get yourself a Microsoft Surface (PixelSense) Table, but honestly I’d rather like to have a functional touchscreen on a desk than on a coffee or dining table.

[via GadgetOse]