Watch your day in 2020 [ Future Technology ]

Brain-Scanning Headphones Match Songs to Your Mood Compiling the perfect song playlist has a well-known reputation for being a transcending, yet agonizing, form of art. But what if we could could delete the agony of finding the perfect song and tap into the ecstasy of having it chosen for us? NEWS: Brain Scanner Customizes Web Surfing That’s where Mico headphones enter the picture. Developed by Neurowear, the headphones feature a protruding electroencephalograph (EEG) sensor that scans brain patterns to match a person’s mood with an appropriate song. When plugged in to a smart device running Mico’s app, the headphones detect the wearer’s state of mind and select a “neuro-tagged,” mood-fitting song from Neurowear’s database. While the headphones are definitely an intriguing concept, they do seem to ignore the possibility that a person might not want to listen to a song that reflects their mood. BLOG: First Electronic Tattoo Printed Onto Skin via Gizmag Credit: Neurowear

Disruptive Innovation Some examples of disruptive innovation include: As companies tend to innovate faster than their customers’ needs evolve, most organizations eventually end up producing products or services that are actually too sophisticated, too expensive, and too complicated for many customers in their market. Companies pursue these “sustaining innovations” at the higher tiers of their markets because this is what has historically helped them succeed: by charging the highest prices to their most demanding and sophisticated customers at the top of the market, companies will achieve the greatest profitability. However, by doing so, companies unwittingly open the door to “disruptive innovations” at the bottom of the market. An innovation that is disruptive allows a whole new population of consumers at the bottom of a market access to a product or service that was historically only accessible to consumers with a lot of money or a lot of skill.

Slow TV Blog 1: MIT's Orbs | 16 Of The Year's Best Ideas In UI Design Half the world hasn’t even realized it yet, but we’re facing one of the greatest design challenges in humanity’s history: How do we connect this cloud-based digital world we’ve so quickly inhabited with the analog world we’ve inhabited for so long? It’s a problem greater than any one microchip, wireless standard, or ingenious gadget: It’s a problem of melding meat and bits. It’s a problem of interface. Already, we’re seeing the best and brightest repositioning themselves for this murkier hybrid world. Indeed, 2012 was a very big year for the future of UI. 3D Printers in Education Why have 3D printers in the classroom? It is evident that 3D Printing has a place in the classroom and will continue to have a significant impact in education. The question one needs to ask, is how does one determine which printer is best suited to learning and teaching. When children use 3D printers, they have a mindset for better learning, one where it was okay to make mistakes. The ability to solve real problems in the physical world is one of the key strengths of 3D printing. Give your students the power to challenge the world Across Australia and New Zealand education institutions depend on our affordable and easy to use 3D printers. 3D printing in education is unique compared to other technologies. Combine students limitless potential with 3D printing and the result is a powerful combination Create powerful learning environments in your school. 3D Printing empowers students to embrace innovative technology and allows them to reach new levels of thinking. STEM applications Engineering

Slow TV Is Here “I was in my early 20s, working as a stockbroker,” John Giorno, a poet and the star of Andy Warhol’s 1964 film “Sleep,” once told a British newspaper. “The stock market opened at 10 and closed at three. By quarter to three I would be waiting at the door, dying to get home so I could have a nap before I met Andy. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. The movie camera has been called both an eye and a pen, but in truth it’s neither; a motion-picture lens can render what transcription and human consciousness can’t record, which is the full visual experience of being in time. The term is deceptive. Given these numbers, it is tempting to diagnose slow TV as a symptom of Scandinavian enlightenment—something, like public health care or the metric system, that our restless, striving culture would never abide. We aren’t really used to that exchange onscreen. There’s a growing notion that this is a good thing.

2: Twine | 16 Of The Year's Best Ideas In UI Design Half the world hasn’t even realized it yet, but we’re facing one of the greatest design challenges in humanity’s history: How do we connect this cloud-based digital world we’ve so quickly inhabited with the analog world we’ve inhabited for so long? It’s a problem greater than any one microchip, wireless standard, or ingenious gadget: It’s a problem of melding meat and bits. It’s a problem of interface. Already, we’re seeing the best and brightest repositioning themselves for this murkier hybrid world. Indeed, 2012 was a very big year for the future of UI. 33 Graphic Design Tools To Publish Visual Content 33 Graphic Design Tools To Publish Visual Content by TeachThought Staff Digital literacy is, in part, about digital publishing. Digital publishing is, in part, about the writing process–choosing an audience and purpose, drafting content, revising and editing that content, and then sharing it with the world. But digital publishing is also about the right tools for the right platform and the right device. Education is no different; digital publishers in your classroom need the right tools to do amazing things. If you think this isn’t true, sit down to create a book cover with Microsoft Word instead of Adobe InDesign. In an era of digital literacy and digital publishing comes a new genre–visual content. So this list of graphic resources from Kimberly Reynolds for visual content fits right in this context–for you as a teacher, or your students as creators. 33 Graphic Design Tools For Digital Publishing; 33 Graphic Design Tools To Publish Visual Content

Behold the human-free, fully-automated hotel stay Many of the individual elements of the tech-led hotel are in place, but a hotel in Norway has joined all the dots together, creating a completely human-free experience. Combining check-in/out and guest management software from France-based Ariane Systems with room door technology from OpenWays, visitors to the Comfort Xpress Hotel in Oslo will soon be able to complete their entire stay without ever speaking to a member of staff. Once a customer has booked their stay over the web or call centre they can use their reference details to carry out a number of processes which effectively automate the entire process. Before arrival at the hotel, similar to an airline check-in service, guests can notify the property of their arrival and complete passport registration for overseas guests, select a room and other services through Ariane’s system – a platform which is integrated with the hotel or chain’s back-end reservation platform.

Are we too dependent on Technology in the Classroom? Technology And The Classroom Technology has become an increasingly important part of the teaching armory. Children now learn to use computers and other educational technology from a very early age, and most teachers incorporate technology in some form into their learning and teaching resources too. There can be no doubt that technology in the classroom has many benefits. [1] Utilizing different forms of technology in the classroom can help to hold children’s attention and keep their focus for longer periods of time. It can also make them more excited to learn, by introducing an extra aspect to their learning, and enable them to learn at their own pace. Too Much Dependency on Technology? Children gravitate towards all forms of technology:[2] they love playing computer games and checking their Facebook statuses. Leaving Underprivileged Children Behind? Additional Reading [2] “Technology in the classroom: Helpful or harmful?” About the author

5 Gadgets That Will Transform Your Home I live in a somewhat futuristic home. I have robots to help me with chores, computers to control my environment and entertainment, and a large and growing number of glowing screens that serve me an infinite variety of content. Most of the gadgets that make for truly transformative modern living are surprisingly affordable, and they're changing our homes month by month and year by year into something that resembles our fantastic visions of "the future." Here are five gadgets you can buy now (or a couple months from now) that will change the way you live, work and play. And be sure to let us know your favorite futuristic, time-saving gadgets in the comments. 1. Home automation is hardly new, but it will change the way you use and control your home environment more than any other kind of gadget setup. Named for the spaceship computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL is one such product on the market today. 2. 3. Remember Rosie from the Jetsons? 4. 5. Google TV arrived a scant month ago.