Posts by Category: future tech

It’s coming WHEN?

future tech October 28, 2006 posted by

Alltunes MP3 Knob

The Alltunes MP3 Knob is an interesting design concept from Plusminus Design. The player is the volume knob. No more, no less. Attach it with a Velcro fastener or magnetic catch and you can turn anything into an MP3 player. Convinced? Yeah….  You have always been aware that your bag can play music, as well as your kettle. They just lacked a volume control and a Play button. Just attach to them our knob-view device via velcro strap or magnet…


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future tech September 25, 2006 posted by

Motiva reality show healthcare.

Motiva Remote Patient Management System. So while most people will be watching Lost VIII on their slick new HHD flat screens in the future, a goodly chunk of the aging baby boomer generation will probably be more interested in keeping themselves alive using interactive broadband television systems like this one from Philips. The service will let ‘care givers’ (lovely term that, eh?) provide educational material (e.g if you get this rash, call NOW), reminders (take your medicine dufus) and clinical monitoring. It…


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future tech September 21, 2006 posted by

3G Doctor.

3G Doctor. This new service promises to offer people video consultations with registered doctors via their 3G video phones. With payment up front (just in case you croak on the call eh?). Considering that this ‘inexpensive’ telemedicine service is due to start in Q4 of this year, the web site is pretty disgusting. Lots of hospital green and zero bedside manner. Tsk. (Oh and the image above is actually from a pretty cool remote monitoring tech demo developed by Loughborough University which aims to use credit card sized…


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future tech September 18, 2006 posted by

Biofeedback games.

The Science Museum in London is about to open a new fairground ride exhibit called Thrill Laboratory which will monitor biofeedback from users to see how they are reacting to the experience. The idea seems to be that one day video games and arcade rides will alter the experience they give us based on the physical and emotional feedback they receive from the players. Mmm….Check out the ‘Ere be Dragons game prototype for more on this stuff.  Future video games could routinely monitor…


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cool tech August 23, 2006 posted by

The Odor Recorder.

The Odor Recorder. It may not look like much now, but this machine is probably the first smell recorder in the world. Now close your eyes and imagine a world where we routinely transmit smells from place to place. Where restaurants can send you the smell of their menu while you’re ordering a take-out online. The trick apparently lies in digitizing the components of the smell and recreating them at the other end.  The principle of the odor recorder peroformance is as follows….


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cool tech August 18, 2006 posted by

Compressed air car.

The MDI MiniCat Compressed Air Car runs on…ah…air. Well strictly speaking there will be two versions, one which runs on air alone and a hybrid which will use air for urban about town stuff, and an eco fuel for longer distance, more high speed journeys. Priced at around €6,860 and at €1.5 for a three minute refill, a pretty cool option as long as you don’t mind driving atop a compressed tank. 150 km range, 110 km top speed. The Koreans are…


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future tech August 18, 2006 posted by

Big Dog Robot.

This Big Dog Robot Mule  has got to be one of the weirdest things I’ve seen in a long time. It’s spooky in too many ways to mention, especially when someone gives it a kick and it recovers its balance. Check it out. You must.  A nimble, four-legged robot is so surefooted it can recover its balance even … all » after being given a hefty kick. The machine, which moves like a cross between a goat and a pantomime…


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future tech August 11, 2006 posted by

A photo cannot lie. Much.

There’s no question that some interesting technology is coming down the pipe to help produce the perfect photo. First off is the Israeli ‘beauty button’ which makes faces in digital images appear more attractive quickly and easily. Weird stuff? You bet. I fully expect to see an ‘instant Photoshop’ button appear on cameras and/or image editing software before the decade is out. It’s inevitable really, isn’t it? Slightly less controversial is the ‘blur remover’ tech, which was demonstrated recently at…


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cool tech July 18, 2006 posted by

Warm water power plant.

Jeff Sterling and his colleagues at Matteran Energy claim to have designed and built a working power plant which generates electricity and refrigeration from nothing more than water warmed up by hot plates on a roof. No fancy expensive solar panels needed. The implications, if true, are astonishing, but it’s hard not be cynical in this day and age. Maybe some thermo-knowledgeable readers can tell more from the animated demos on the site. There’s apparently a working plant down in Florida…


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future tech July 12, 2006 posted by

The 330 mpg Aptera.

The 330 mpg Aptera Concept Vehicle. Yeah right. Hot on the heels of a supposed expose of the reason why GM really shelved its EV-1 electric car, what we need is yet another pie in the sky, three wheeler, futuristic, space age, hog wash concept car that will do a zillion miles on a gallon of gas. Am I sounding a tad cynical here? What we really need is a major manufacturer to stop pussy-footing around and produce a family car in…


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cool tech July 11, 2006 posted by

Skystream Personal Wind Generator.

The Skystream 3.7 Residential Wind Generator. At last, a way to stick it to those utility company blowhards. The press release talks of $80,000 $8,000 purchase price, to supply 40–90% of an average home’s energy needs. Waddya think, true or a lot of hot air? Stick one of these on your rose garden, add a glob of solar panels on the roof and you’ll soon be bigger than Enron. And twice as rich.  Skystream’s low cost and low profile provides homeowners an affordable energy supplement…


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cool tech July 6, 2006 posted by

Smart Retina.

The Smart Retina project is pretty cool. Basically a gesture based computer interface, but one that actually seems to work, at least in lab type environments. Not sure how long it would last in an office full of idiots all flailing around like Kermit the Frog. Check the video with the Google Earth demo.  The above video demonstrate how Smartretina can be used as a navigating tool combined with Google earth. SmartRetina (working on the black laptop on the right)…


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Bookmark This! June 29, 2006 posted by

Crowdsourcing comes of age?

CambrianHouse.com. OK, so they’re Canadian, they’re trying very hard, and they appear to be full of the kind of earnest integrity that is missing from many other current start-ups. What’s the beef? It’s basically an ideas incubator a la Open Source with cash prizes, and there are a couple of very cool twists. First the community decides on whether an idea goes forward, and then, if it gets to market, everyone who has helped out along the way (i.e. inventor, copywriter, coder, logo designer etc) gets a…


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future tech May 26, 2006 posted by

The X1.

The X1 Electric Concept Car. What happens when you take one Arial Atom chassis, and combine it with a 3 phase AC induction electric motor? Er…you get 0–60 in 3 seconds, 170 mpg equivalent, a top speed of 112 mph and 100 mile range. Now that’s what we call ‘lean, mean and green.’   The X1 prototype is a concept car, and a test platform. It is not a production car, and never will be. It’s a proof-of-concept vehicle that will…


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future tech May 15, 2006 posted by

Road warrior.

The Baal All Terrain Off Road Bike Concept. Finalist in this year’s Michelin Challenge design contest, features hands and feet steering, a 500 ccm ATV engine and a big rubber track instead of sniffy things like wheels. Aren’t concept designs fun?   It is based on a bendable rubber track that guarantees maximum traction as well as freely changeable directions. To make the handling more comfortable and interesting, the vehicle is steered by hands and feet. Being intelligent and ground adopting…


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