Let there be light: German scientists test 'artificial sun' Scientists in Germany flipped the switch Thursday on what's being described as "the world's largest artificial sun," a device they hope will help shed light on new ways of making climate-friendly fuels. The giant honeycomb-like setup of 149 spotlights—officially known as "Synlight"—in Juelich, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of Cologne, uses xenon short-arc lamps normally found in cinemas to simulate natural sunlight that's often in short supply in Germany at this time of year. By focusing the entire array on a single 20-by-20 centimeter (8x8 inch) spot, scientists from the German Aerospace Center, or DLR , will be able to produce the equivalent of 10,000 times the amount of solar radiation that would normally shine on the same surface. Creating such furnace-like conditions—with temperatures of up to 3,000 degrees Celsius (5,432 Fahrenheit)—is key to testing novel ways of making hydrogen, according to Bernhard Hoffschmidt, the director of DLR's Institute for Solar Research.
Elon Musk Advocates ‘Neural Lace’ So We Can Become Cyborgs Elon Musk is never shy to share his concerns about artificial intelligence. In August 2014, he tweeted that the technology was “potentially more dangerous than nukes.” Speaking to students from MIT a few months later, Musk expanded on that view, calling AI “our biggest existential threat.” But Musk talks the talk and walks it. By December 2015 he co-founded the non-profit research company OpenAI in an effort to democratize AI development and advance the technology to humanity’s best benefit. Related: Elon Musk thinks we’re basically living in the Matrix (and be glad about it) This week, in a conversation at Recode’s annual Code Conference, Musk shared the tentative idea for something called a “neural lace,” which he imagines could mitigate the risk of humanity becoming something of a pet to superintelligence. “The solution that seems maybe the best one is to have an AI layer,” he said. Musk didn’t say he was working on neural laces yet, but he did insist that it be done.
This Sci-Fi Short About Augmented Reality Goes From Cool to Creepy Real Quick “Strange Beasts” is an augmented reality game. It allows you to create and grow your own virtual pet. How far can it go? Written, directed and produced by Magali Barbé. Co-produced by: Red Knuckles, Peanut. More info on IMDB Tangible Media Group Shape changing interfaces give physical shapes to digital data so that users can feel and manipulate data with their hands and bodies. However, physical objects in our daily life not only have shape but also various material properties. In this project, we propose “Materiable,” an interaction technique to represent material properties using shape changing interfaces. As a proof-of-concept prototype, we developed preliminary physics algorithms running on pin-based shape displays. Our research shows that shape changing interfaces can go beyond simply displaying shape allowing for rich embodied interaction and perceptions of rendered materials with the hands and body. Credits:Ken Nakagaki*, Luke Vink*, Jared Counts, Daniel Windham, Daniel Leithinger, Sean Follmer, Hiroshi Ishii* Contributed Equally
Stray Wi-Fi signals could let spies see inside closed rooms | Science | AAAS Your wireless router may be giving you away in manner you never dreamed of. For the first time, physicists have used radio waves from a Wi-Fi transmitter to encode a 3D image of a real object in a hologram similar to the image of Princess Leia projected by R2D2 in the movie Star Wars. In principle, the technique could enable outsiders to “see” the inside of a room using only the Wi-Fi signals leaking out of it, although some researchers say such spying may be easier said than done. The idea came about a few years ago, says Friedemann Reinhard, an expert on quantum sensors at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany. “At lunch we had a discussion about what the world would look through Wi-Fi eyes,” he says, “and it became clear that if you want to see the world through Wi-Fi, you could make a hologram.” A camera makes an image by collecting light reflected from an object and focusing it onto a screen to create a 2D pattern of greater or lesser intensity: the image.
Apple Discussing Support of AR Contact Lens With iOS Apple's iOS might be first to support an augmented reality contact lens system currently in development at EP Global Communications, as the two companies are scheduled to meet next week to discuss potential platform integrations. EPGL's smart contact lens proof of concept. According to a tweet posted to EPGL's official Twitter account late last month, the firm is slated to meet with Apple on Sept. 13 "to explore use of iOS for mobile in future augmented reality lenses." "We are having an introductory conversation with Apple about the iOS platform, being the chosen platform for our augmented lens development program," said Michael Hayes, President, EP Global Communications. While Hayes stressed EPGL is strictly in the preliminary stages of sounding out potential mobile OS integrations, the company's AR contact lens system — to which iOS devices might one day connect — appears to be advancing through the development process at a more rapid pace.
AIAI University of Edinburgh - Home page With AR, You Can Use Your Arm As A Keypad Say hi to ARmKeypad Air, which uses ‘smart’ glasses to turn the arm of a wearer into a virtual keyboard, allowing for contact-free use. Asian Scientist Newsroom | July 13, 2016 | Technology AsianScientist (Jul. 13, 2016) - Say hi to ARmKeypad Air, which uses ‘smart’ glasses to turn the arm of a wearer into a virtual keyboard, allowing for contact-free use. NEC Corporation, which developed the technology, first introduced a trial model of ARmKeypad in November 2015. That version used smart glasses together with a modified watch to turn the arm of the wearer into a virtual keyboard. Its readout, vibrations from the watch, requires contact with the device. The newer ARmKeypad Air, however, has two key improvements in its design. “Moving forward, NEC will use the ARmKeypad and ARmKeypad Air to help improve workplace efficiency in sectors where hands-free operation is required, such as manufacturing, medicine, security, and distribution,” said Mr. Source: NEC Corporation.
New plastics 'bleed' when cut or scratched — and then heal like human skin A new genre of plastics that mimic the human skin's ability to heal scratches and cuts offers the promise of endowing cell phones, laptops, cars and other products with self-repairing surfaces, scientists reported today. The team's lead researcher described the plastics, which change color to warn of wounds and heal themselves when exposed to light, here today at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society. "Mother Nature has endowed all kinds of biological systems with the ability to repair themselves," explained Professor Marek W. Urban, Ph.D., who reported on the research. "Some we can see, like the skin healing and new bark forming in cuts on a tree trunk. Some are invisible, but help keep us alive and healthy, like the self-repair system that DNA uses to fix genetic damage to genes. Self-healing plastics have become a Holy Grail of materials science. Urban cited other advantages of the new plastic.
Unlocking Computers With Brain Signals Instead of Passwords System authentication could one day be widely achieved through brainwaves, scientists say. Simply thinking of certain things, such as a person's face, or a rotating displayed cube would be enough to unlock a device. Electro-encephalography (EEC) sensors are behind the technique. That’s where electrical activity in certain parts of the brain is recorded. We know it as the wavy, graphical lines on charts created from wired electrodes placed on the scalp, as seen in hospitals and TV shows. + Also on Network World: 5 things you should know about two-factor authentication + In this case, though, one wouldn’t need to be fitted with a cumbersome apparatus—or even a headset, which is used already in some current non-muscular EEC computer controls. “This research could provide hands-free interaction, authentication, and a seamless and comfortable user experience, all in the form-factor of a typical earbud,” says University of California Berkeley on its website.
Plugging In Your Brain and Body - The Future Of Implanted Computers Advertisement Imagine a world where people buy products at the store by waving a hand near a sensor, where people “think” up a business report at work rather than typing one up, and where an augmented-reality gets projected in front of our eyes with specialty contact lenses. These ideas are closer to reality than you may realize. It was only the 1980s and 1990s when science fiction movies portrayed people using handheld devices to navigate city streets or pinpoint one’s own location on Earth. These movies had characters who would state questions to a disembodied computer, which would intelligently provide the answers. They showed families having video-chat calls using flat-panel displays that made the tech geeks of the 1980’s drool. In barely three decades, many of the things that science fiction writers could only imagine have become reality. Implanted Microchip ID In fact, the backlash was tremendous. Still – the technology and it’s use is moving forward. Electronic Hearing Implants
Profusa Awarded $7.5M To Develop Implantable Biosensors Profusa has been awarded a $7.5 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Army Research Office. The grant will be used toward efforts to develop implantable biosensors that can continuously monitor multiple body chemistries. The initial aim of the tech is to have continuous monitoring capabilities for combat soldiers’ health status with the end goal of improving mission efficiency. The grant also supports further development of the biosensor tech for real-time detection of a body’s chemical constituents. "Profusa's vision is to replace a point-in-time chemistry panel that measures multiple biomarkers, such as oxygen, glucose, lactate, urea, and ions with a biosensor that provides a continuous stream of wireless data," said Profusa Chairman and CEO Ben Hwang in a statement. These sensors are created using a bioengineered “smart hydrogel,” which Profusa describes as a material similar to a contact lens. - here is the press release
Giant lenses in the sky Scientists at BAE Systems are researching future technology which would enable aircraft to use lasers to create ‘virtual lenses’ in the sky which could be used for long-distance reconnaissance and for deflecting attacks from high-energy laser beams. However, the potential uses for the system are not limited to defence, as BILL READ FRAeS reports Scientists at BAE Systems are working on research to develop a military airborne system which could be used to greatly increase over the horizon surveillance range and to deflect enemy laser attacks. Called the Laser Developed Atmospheric Lens (LDAL) concept, the system has been developed by technologists at the BAE’s military aircraft facility in Warton, Lancashire. The system works by simulating naturally occurring phenomena and temporarily - and reversibly - changing the Earth’s atmosphere into a lens-like structures to magnify or change the path of electromagnetic waves such as light and radio signals. Artificial refraction Hard to focus