Kinect Effect. Touchscreen Braille Writer Lets the Blind Type on a Tablet. One group of people has traditionally been left out of our modern tablet revolution: the visually impaired.
Our slick, button-less touchscreens are essentially useless to those who rely on touch to navigate around a computer interface, unless voice-control features are built in to the device and its OS. But a Stanford team of three has helped change that. Tasked to create a character-recognition program that would turn pages of Braille into readable text on an Android tablet, student Adam Duran, with the help of two mentor-professors, ended up creating something even more useful than his original assignment: a touchscreen-based Braille writer. Currently a senior at New Mexico State University, Duran arrived at Stanford in June to take part in a two-month program offered by the Army High-Performance Computing Research Center (AHPCRC).
6 Realities of Teleportation Star Trek Didn't Warn Us About. With most technologies, we can only guess what they will look like 1,000 years from now.
This insect eye will one day be built into your smart phone. Imagine feeling texture on your touchscreen. 3D Printing - MakerBot Replicator Prints a Plastic Bust of Stephen Colbert. I just stopped by MakerBot's far-flung booth somewhere in the back caverns of CES (I believe it may technically be in Arizona) to check out their new Replicator 3-D printer.
Check out the video below--pretty sure that's a bust of Stephen Colbert being slowly brought to life with swirling circles of molten plastic. The Replicator is the newest MakerBot, a relatively inexpensive 3-D printer that can print in either ABS (the same plastic LEGO uses) or PLA (a corn-based bio-material). This version is much bigger, capable of printing objects 9 x 6 x 6 inches in size, and has a "dual extrusion" mode to print two-colored objects, a first for MakerBot. Augmented Reality and the power of imagination. The incredible world of Diminished Reality. Hoverboard from Back to the Future. Soon Your TV Will Watch You, Too. iPhone 5 will have rubber bezel, aluminum back? Smartphone Booklet by Ilshat Garipov. Not a Pamphlet, It’s a Smartphone Clutch your pearls because I’m about to say something amazing – nanoparticles!
Yes these tiny, near invisible objects can revolutionize the bio medical, optical and electronic fields so designer Ilshat Garipov put pen to paper and came up with the Smartphone Booklet – a disposable phone as thin as a cardboard made possible by switching from traditional silicon to nanoparticles. The Booklet unfolds like a pamphlet with each side representing a commonly used application or function. Try On Clothes Without Getting Undressed. While perusing the newest releases at CES yesterday, I have to admit the main reason this software came to my attention was because of the name of the company that created it: “FaceCake.”
Immediately, the image of a printer that created “face cakes” came to mind, but after I did some research, the real thing, Swivel, was almost as cool. Swivel (not to be confused with Swivl) uses the Microsoft Kinect to let users try on clothing without getting down to their skivvies. Once the user is the right distance from the Kinect, a menu of different items pop up that can be selected with the wave of a hand and overlaid on the body. A Sneak Peek At The TVs Of The Future. Each year begins for technologists and geeks with the annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas for CES.
It's easy to write off this massive technology trade show as an outdated, overrated, and overhyped gizmo-fest. But I think it's incredibly valuable, and often results in real marketplace knowledge ahead of the curve. That said, I go into CES each year with some insights and some crystal ball gazing that often helps me focus on what I'm expecting to see. This year, 2012 CES has a handful of trends that will impact media, content creators, and devices. Here are FIVE CES PREDICTIONS you can expect to see come true in Las Vegas this year. Is Video The New Software? Editor’s note: Contributor Ashkan Karbasfrooshan is the founder and CEO of WatchMojo.
Follow him @ashkan. VC (TechCrunch contributor) Mark Suster published an article on his personal blog about one of his portfolio companies, Maker Studios. Other players in that space include The Collective and Fullscreen. GOAB. A TV Experience Concept. Surface. Control a PC with body motions. LAS VEGAS – Don't trash your keyboard and mouse just yet.
But three companies at the International Consumer Electronics Show demonstrated depth-sensing cameras that let you to control your computer by moving your hands or body. Microsoft's Kinect add-on for the Xbox 360 console has already popularized these cameras for gaming. Now, the technology is being set loose for use on other devices.
However, like many gadgets shown at the annual Las Vegas-based extravaganza of phones, PCs and TVs, the cameras aren't quite ready for the mass market. The companies showed off their cameras to give software developers and gadget makers a chance to work with the technology and incorporate it in their products. Corning and Samsung to marry Lotus Glass with OLED displays in new joint venture.