Hasta La Gadget!

Creating a truly multi-user, multi-touch display is a tricky prospect. How do you know who’s who short of turning the screen into one giant fingerprint reader? Chris Harrison, Ivan Poupyrev and Munehiko Sato at Disney Research have suggested in a paper that fingerprinting on a capacitive touchscreen isn’t far off — it’s just what we need to fingerprint that matters. Rather than look for physical ridges, the scientists’ method sweeps through AC frequencies to find the exact electrical impedances of fingertips in contact with the screen. Different bodies, different clothes and even different shoes give everyone a unique signature that lets the screen identify specific people, even when they each have multiple fingers in play. The researchers propose that the technique would work well in collaborative workspaces, personalized devices and security, but let’s not forget that this is Disney we’re talking about: it’s placing a strong emphasis on the prospects for shared screen gaming without the limitations we know today. While any practical use is still some distance away, it’s easy to see future tablets and tables that are designed from the start to encourage a little socializing.

Continue reading Disney Research develops capacitive touch that detects multiple users through their fingertips (video)

Filed under: Gaming, Tablets, Science, Alt

Disney Research develops capacitive touch that detects multiple users through their fingertips (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A team led by researchers at Microsoft’s UK-based R&D lab has crafted a system that tracks the full 3D pose of a user’s hand without the need for a pesky glove. Dubbed Digits, the Kinect-inspired rig latches onto a user’s wrist and utilizes a diffuse infrared light, IR laser, camera and inertial measurement unit to track fingertips and just five key points of a hand. Leveraging a pair of mathematical models developed in-house after studying the mechanics of the human hand, the group uses the captured data to extrapolate the position of a user’s paw. The team envisions the solution as a supplement to touch-based interfaces, a method for eyes-free control of mobile devices and as a gaming controller that could work in conjunction with Kinect or similar systems. In its current state, the device is composed of off-the-shelf parts and needs to be tethered to a laptop, but the ultimate goal is to create a mobile, self contained unit the size of a wrist watch. Hit the break to catch a video of the setup in action or tap the second source link below for more details in the group’s academic paper.

Continue reading Microsoft Research crafts wrist-worn device that tracks hand gestures in 3D space (video)

Filed under: Misc

Microsoft Research crafts wrist-worn device that tracks hand gestures in 3D space (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 09:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Over the last few years, there has been a significant uptick in the number of products for tracking hand motion for controlling video games and computers. Almost all the technology we’ve seen for motion tracking so far has relied on external devices that are placed away from the user, such as the Microsoft Kinect. Researchers from Microsoft, Newcastle University’s Culture Lab, and the Greek Foundation for Research & Technology have teamed up to create a device that’s able to accurately track hand motions while being worn on the wrist.

A wrist-worn device is interesting because it eliminates the need to be able to place an external sensor at a distance far enough from the user to be able to accurately track hand and body movements. For instance, the Kinect sensor needs a relatively large room for accurate tracking. The wrist-worn device that the researchers created attaches to the user’s wrist like a bracelet.

The device has a number of components, including an array of infrared sensors and more directly attached to the user’s wrist. The sensor is able to track precise hand motions. As the demonstration video below shows, the device allows users to move their hand through the air to control a computer or other system with precision.

The researchers say that their ultimate goal is to be able to reduce the systems size down to that of a wristwatch. The researchers hope when the device is sized like a watch, users will be able to wear it at all times allowing them to interact with computers and other systems without having to reach for controllers or keyboards. There’s no indication at this time of when this technology might come to market.

[via Geekwire]

Microsoft creates Digits bracelet to track hand motion is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week two scientists have received the Nobel Prize for their work on a study which has adult cells transformed back into embryo-like stem cells. This work may one day have us able to continue the work currently being done on stem cells (regrowing tissue in damaged organs, for example), with cells from adults rather than from embryos. John Gurdon, 79, of the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge, Britain and Shinya Yamanaka, 50, of Kyoto University in Japan will be sharing the $1.2 million included with the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

This work was started 50 years ago by Gurdon and was complimented by a 2006 experiment by Yamanaka which searched for ways to cure disease by growing healthy tissue. With “regenerative medicine” we’ll be able to cure ourselves with ourselves, so to speak. The Nobel Assembly at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute noted that “these groundbreaking discoveries have completely changed our view of the development and specialization of cells.”

Stem cell research has been marred by the controversial necessity for the cells to come from embryos – or what’s known as a fetus inside a woman’s womb. If the studies conducted by the scientists here are able to turn adult cells back into cells that regenerate like stem cells, the research would blossom at a rate that’s yet unknown.

Gurdon was the first scientist to clone an animal back in 1962 with the DNA from a tadpoles intestinal cell. In 2006, Yamanaka was able to produce mouse stem cells from an adult mouse’s skin cells with an insertion of a set of genes. Stem cells that come from adult cells such as these are known as “induced pluripotency stem cells” – aka iPS cells – and will quite likely be able to be both taken from and given back to the same adult. If this process is perfected, the body will be able to repair itself – so to speak – with just a bit of help from third party processes.

“The eventual aim is to provide replacement cells of all kinds. We would like to be able to find a way of obtaining spare heart or brain cells from skin or blood cells. The important point is that the replacement cells need to be from the same individual, to avoid problems of rejection and hence of the need for immunosuppression.” – Gurdon Institute

This work will continue on the part of both scientists and their teams while groups around the world use this situation as hope for the future. Nobel Committee member and professor of Molecular Development Biology at the Karolinska Institute Thomas Perlmann said Thanks to these two scientists, we know now that development is not strictly a one-way street. There is lot of promise and excitement, and difficult disorders such as neurodegenerative disorders, like perhaps Alzheimer’s and, more likely, Parkinson’s disease, are very interesting targets.”

[via Reuters]

Nobel Prize awarded for adult stem cell discovery is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

With Apple and Samsung still duking it out in the patent courtroom, a survey of U.S. consumers conducted by Morpace has taken a look at how the dispute is playing out among the gadget-buying public. Apple, it found, comes out pretty rosy, but ultimately the survey delivers some discouraging conclusions about where cases like these are taking the mobile industry overall.

Last week, a study from Localytics noted that sales of Samsung’s latest device, the Galaxy S3, have actually being doing quite well since Samsung lost a $1 billion patent verdict to Apple in August — growing on average about 9 percent every week, including the one where the iPhone 5 was launched. So it is a little surprising to see that according to Morpace’s results, general consumers are now showing more skepticism about the Samsung brand as a whole.

According to responses from 1,000 adult consumers — Morpace says that it matched these to U.S. Census demographics data to get a complete snapshot — Samsung had a 12 percent net decline among consumers “likely” to consider buying a Samsung smartphone or tablet, a decline that was softened to 6 percent when looking only at people considering purchases.

Respondents also believed that the patent ruling had a mostly-negative (47 percent) impact on Samsung’s long-term competitive position in smartphones and tablets, as well as its long-term viability as a mobile device maker (48 percent of respondents called the patent ruling impact “negative”).

Apple, meanwhile, got the reverse treatment. It had a 9 percent net increase in the number of consumers “likely” to buy an Apple smartphone or tablet, with that number increasing to 22 percent among those preparing to buy a device.

Apple also had a mostly positive response for being perceived as a leader in technology and design as a result of the $1 billion patent verdict, with 42 percent of respondents deeming the verdict had a positive impact on Apple’s leadership in these areas.  Morpace notes that when looking only at those who intend to purchase smartphones or tablets, or have influence on purchasing decisions, 48 percent thought of Apple as a technology and design leader.

The two caveats here are that the conclusions in the survey are opinions rather than fact, and that these are responses given relatively soon after the $1 billion patent verdict. Samsung at the moment is the world’s largest handset maker and the world’s largest smartphone maker. So questioning its longer-term viability based on the negative outcome of one patent case may be just a little out of proportion. And consumers may be likely to change their opinions with new product launches.

On the other hand, consumer perception counts for a lot when looking at what drives sales to one handset maker or another — sometimes even despite the quality of the handsets in question (just ask Nokia, which has found it hard to reach any kind of critical mass with its new Lumia devices, despite some positive reviews).

And it is striking to me how much of an impact a patent case can have in this regard. Some 70 percent of respondents had heard of the Samsung/Apple patent disputes, with that number increasing to 77 percent among those who are planning to buy a smartphone or tablet in the next six months.

Whether the public has it right with Samsung’s market position under threat or Apple as the true technology and design leader, another set of issues to consider is how the patent issue has impacted consumers’ view of the smartphone market in general.

When considering the range of devices on the market, 42 percent said this would be impacted negatively by the Apple/Samsung patent case, and 35 percent thought that the number of handset makers was also going to be reduced. In other words, consumers think we will be seeing fewer handsets as a result of the verdict; not more.

Specifically, only 14 percent had a positive view of consumer confidence in BlackBerry or Android. And only 16 percent had a positive view of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5.

When considering price, 38 percent thought this too would be impacted negatively, meaning they believe phones and tablets are going to get more expensive as a result of all of this.

And — as you might expect with fewer devices, fewer players and higher prices — consumers also believe that we will enter a period of less innovation in devices. Some 27 percent think new features will be impacted, with only 17 percent thinking this will have a positive effect on innovation.

Coming from another angle, the patent industry’s negative impact on innovation already appears to be well in place. Last year, both Apple and Google actually spent more on patent litigation and patent purchases than they did on R&D, according to this article from the New York Times.

Again, these are just opinions — not facts as such — but when buyers have such a negative take on the overall landscape, at a time when mobile sales are seeing an overall slowdown, you have to wonder whether the net effect of these cases is a loss for the market as a whole. That’s something all of them — including the so-called winners and losers — need to consider.