Oct 24
If you’ve ever stepped foot in an intensive care unit, you’ll know that they can be pretty grim environments. That’s all changing, though, thanks to LED lighting systems that can actually be used to improve patient care.
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Oct 20
This might be the modern day equivalent of an “Eureka!” moment, as scientists from the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics claim to have discovered the ability of a microchip to emit Wi-Fi after being embedded with a one-watt LED bulb, where the signal strength is good enough to offer Internet connectivity to not one, two, or even a trio of computers, but four! This particular discovery has led to it being called “Li-Fi”, where it will rely on the use of a special LED light bulb which operates with light as the carrier of choice, ditching the traditional radio frequency bus instead. It has been said that data rates through this new medium would be able to be as fast as 150 megabits per second, which would mean that we could be looking at faster, cheaper and more energy efficient wireless signals down the road.
Li-Fi apparently sips a mere 5% of the energy that is required to power Wi-Fi-emitting devices, where the latter will also need a plethora of other systems to work together including energy cooling systems. This is one discovery that could very well revolutionize the way we make use of Internet connectivity. Li-Fi is still in its infancy, however, and would not be made a standard anytime soon. After all, it right now does not work if the light bulb is turned off, or if it is blocked, but I am quite sure that there will be advances made down the road which will overcome such obstacles!
China Introduces Li-Fi Bulb That Lets You Go Online original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Oct 19
Scientists at Fudan University have successfully transmitted data via “li-fi” at speeds up to 150 Mbps, reports Xinhua News. Li-fi, or “light fidelity”, is a theorized way to stream data via LED lighting instead of Wi-Fi. Although still under investigation, the technology could be used in high-speed, visible-path transmission applications. The scientists are scheduled to […]
Oct 04
Adafruit continues its wonderful marketing campaign with another fun and functional gadget that you can build using the company’s products. This time it’s a wristwatch that uses LEDs to display the time or point North or to a preset destination. The exposed circuitry serves as its detailing.
The main components of the watch are the FLORA Arduino-compatible platform and the NeoPixel Ring, which houses the LEDs. You can switch between watch, compass and GPS modes using a button that you’ll place behind the watch. To use the GPS, you’ll alter the code that Becky Stern wrote and save the coordinates to your desired location. You can only save one set of coordinates though.
Head to Adafruit for the full how-to and parts list. The parts cost about $110 (USD) in total, so you might want to make a protective case for the watch as well. The great thing about this watch – aside from the fact that you built it yourself! – is that you can recycle or repurpose its parts for your other projects.
[via Laughing Squid]
Oct 03
Walmart is trying to corner the LED light bulb market with the announcement of a wide range of LED light bulbs at very compelling prices. Walmart is selling its new line of Great Value LED light bulbs in all of its United States stores with pricing at under $9 to start. Walmart states the goal […]
Sep 26
Programmer and avid gamer Saar Drimer aka boldport wanted to make a special wedding gift for his friend Mike, who’s also a gamer and a computer scientist. Not only did he succeed in making a great gift with his own hands, the tool he used to design the gift was also his creation. Saar made a wall-mountable PCB that’s accented by 42 RGB LEDs behind it.
Saar calls this piece lifegame. To design the board, Saar used PCBmodE, a PCB design tool that he wrote. Saar made the program to make it easy to create PCBs that are functional, artistic and of varied shapes and sizes.
He used an ATtiny85 microcontroller to handle the LEDs. As a finishing touch, he installed an arcade button as a tittle and a missile launch switch to toggle the power.
It started out as a personal project, but Saar said that his lifegame has also won at a design competition and shown at a museum. Head to his blog for more on how he made lifegame.
[via Hack A Day]
Sep 13
Until Sony started shipping its Triluminos HDTVs, the future of quantum dot (QD) technology in real-world products was mostly theoretical. Now, a company called Quantum Materials has started shipping its “Tetrapod Quantum Dots” material to an unnamed Asian electronics manufacturer, hinting at the possibility of other QD-enhanced products on the market. The company didn’t mention any particular devices, but this tech has the potential to create displays that are brighter, more energy-efficient and have greater contrast than the competition.
This technology allows companies to create LED-backlit LCDs using a single material as opposed to several on traditional ones — this supposedly keeps costs low, although the aforementioned Sony HDTVs were anything but cheap. Quantum Materials CEO Stephen Squires specifically claims his company’s tetrapod technology works with fewer dots overall and better manufacturing tech to hit the lowest cost possible. Samsung and LG have shown off quantum dot tech in years past — we’ll eventually find out if either one is the anonymous manufacturer in line to mass produce it.
Source: Quantum Materials
Sep 10
Today, we got a look at the the future of the iPhone camera. Apple’s doubling down on its imaging tech in the hopes that it can catch the eye of the people who really care about the quality of their images. Here’s what you need to know about the future of your memory maker.
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Sep 08
Watchmaker Click is making a name for itself by incorporating mechanisms from gadgets or electronics into their wristwatches. We saw that with the Keypad, the Switch and the Wallswitch. The company’s newest watch is no different; it looks and works just like an arcade button.
Aptly named the Button, the watch cycles through the time, date and seconds each time you press its face.
I hope the watch isn’t as hard to press as it seemed in the video. Mash the left click button and head to Watchismo or Click’s website to buy the button.
[via Craziest Gadgets]
Sep 07
We all want our own personal interdimensional portal, but you can’t find real ones just anywhere. And even if you do, you might get trapped in another dimension. So this one is much safer. This infinity mirror has a series of Arduino controlled LEDs that can change their color.
It looks pretty amazing. I bet real-world portals don’t look this cool. They probably don’t look like anything. I would ask someone who has seen one, but they are all gone. Never to be seen again. They should have just made one of these. So shiny and pretty.
If you want to learn how to make one for yourself, check out the instructables page by the mirror’s creator, Ben Finio.
[via Obvious Winner]
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