Hasta La Gadget!

Remember those “Fortaleza” AR glasses we saw in a leaked Microsoft document back when the Xbox One was still the Xbox 720? It looks like those might actually be a thing, if a patent application from Redmond is any indication. It touts the idea of “multiplayer gaming with a head-mounted display,” claiming the device could receive voice commands, track your eyes, calculate depth and recognize the faces of fellow players. All that would be in the rather narrow service of letting you invite others and accept invitations to a game through strictly visual means, though. That makes it similar to another recent Microsoft patent we saw for augmenting live events with AR, since the emphasis is on a specific usage rather than the eyewear itself. We might even see an application some day for actual gaming on such a device, but meanwhile, check after the break for more images.

Filed under: Gaming, Wearables, Microsoft

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Via: NeoGAF

Source: USPTO

A team of researchers at the California Institute of Technology, led by Professor Changhuei Yang, have figured out a way to crank their microscopy up to 11. Usually, scientists are forced between a rock and a hard place: they can have high res images of small areas or low resolution pictures of larger fields. Using a strategy known as Fourier ptychographic microscopy, Yang’s team was able to computationally correct a standard microscope’s low res imagery, producing a billion-pixel picture. By adding an LED array to an existing microscope — the only hardware tweak their $200 system calls for — the researchers were able to stitch together a 20X quality image from a 2X optical lens. The information gleaned from the LED lights was corrected entirely on a computer, making it an exceptionally cost effective way to create high res microscopic images. The team’s report, published by the journal Nature Phototonics, can be read in full at the source link below.

Filed under: Science, Alt

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Via: California Institute of Technology

Source: Nature Phototonics

The city responsible for the first solar-powered family car and a building shaped like a UFO is no stranger to creativity. Eindhoven, Netherlands was recently named “most inventive city” by Forbes magazine, probably thanks to the High Tech Campus (HTC) research and development center located there. The HTC is the result of the Dutch government’s initiative to bolster high-tech innovation in the region after rounds of layoffs from companies like Philips. Scads of tech firms are holed up within HTC’s walls including IBM, Intel and Accenture, with a focus on open cooperation and sharing of ideas and resources. Apparently, this has paid off in spades. According to the HTC’s website, the campus is responsible for roughly 50 percent of the Netherlands’ almost 10,000 patents each year. Yowza.

[Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons]

Filed under: Science, Alt

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Via: Phys

Source: Forbes

Remember the names Martin Kaltenbrunner and Takao Someya — that way, you’ll have someone to blame when kids start pointing and laughing at gadgets we consider high-tech today. Leading a team of University of Tokyo researchers, they have recently developed a flexible, skin-like material that can detect pressure while also being virtually indestructible. Think of the possibilities: with a thickness of one nanometer, this could be used to create a second skin that can monitor your vital signs or medical implants that you can barely feel, if at all. Also, temperature sensors could be added to make life-like skin for prosthetics… or even robots! Like other similar studies, however, the researchers have a long journey ahead before we see this super-thin material in medicine. Since it could lead to bendy gadgets and wearable electronics first, don’t be surprised if your children call iPhones “so 2013″ in the not-too-distant future.

Filed under: Misc, Alt

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Via: iO9, ABC Science, New Scientist

Source: Nature

3D printing is becoming all the rage now, but so was smoking back in the roaring 20s, both of which are harmful to you, according to a new study by the Illinois Institute of Technology. Researchers have discovered that 3D printers can emit harmful ultrafine particles into the air, and they compare that to the harm of smoking a cigarette indoors.

If you’re wanting to get technical about it, the researchers revealed that emission rates of these particles were “high,” and they ranged from 20 billion particles per minute for a 3D printer utilizing a lower temperature for melting the plastic, to around 200 billion particles per minute utilizing a higher temperature. The researchers say this is comparable to cooking on a gas or electric stove, burning scented candles, operating laser printers, and even lighting a cigarette.

Of course, there’s also the factor of the toxicity of the materials used in 3D printing, such as the ABS plastic that most commercially-available 3D printers use. Obviously, it’s not something that humans can digest, and we would be surprised if there wasn’t harmful chemicals in the plastic.

Many of you may be asking how harmful is this on your body exactly, and the researchers say that the worst case scenario is obviously death, but asthma-like symptoms could form, with the potential for cardiac arrest and even a stroke, since the particles can get lodged in your lungs and brain, with the power to attract other harmful chemicals over time.

Of course, 3D printers are used all the time in factories and such, but they most-likely have good ventilation systems and the workers are probably wearing protective equipment. With 3D printers available for the home, there are most likely tons of users who aren’t aware of the emissions and may be setting themselves up for long-term trouble.

VIA: Phys.Org

3D printers shown to expel harmful particles, not healthy for home use is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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