Posts by Category: future tech

It’s coming WHEN?

future tech May 23, 2007 posted by

SeeReal Hologram Television – rocket packs and flying cars too

The boffins at SeeReal are today unveiling their new electro-holography technology which they claim will deliver a real 3D television display without special glasses or the like. It all sounds a bit off planet, especially since there appear to be no better images of the tech than this rather obvious illustration, so we’ll hold our judgement, if not breath, until something concrete arrives.  SeeReal’s new breakthrough approach to electro-holography overcomes these two challenges through Tracked Viewing Window technology and real-time encoding of…


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cool tech May 11, 2007 posted by

The Baufritz Carbon Positive Home – a truly green dwelling

The designers at housebuilders Baufritz have apparently come up with a ‘carbon positive’  home. Yep, that’s a house which will store more CO2 than it emits during its lifetime. It will also be 100% biodegradable, which is an interesting concept in itself.  The house, on display at this year’s [Grand Designs Live] show, is carbon positive to the extent that each house stores at least 50 tonnes more CO2 than is emitted during its lifecycle – the equivalent of a…


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future tech May 10, 2007 posted by

SeaPhantom – whoosh, 5 seater, 85 mph, 4 foot lift

The SeaPhantom. Gyroscopes, computers and an aerodynamic lifting system make this one fast and stable sea craft. And it’s supposed to be economical too, which will please the eco-lobby. Mind you, whichever way you slice the onion, moving fast across water is going to cost money. Lots of…  Imagine comfortable speed at sea. Traveling at 85 knots (100 mph) without bone jarring wave impacts. Using a fraction of the horsepower of today’s so called fast boats. Speed nearly as fast…


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future tech May 4, 2007 posted by

ZAP-X Electric Car – prototype the world

The ZAP-X Crossover Electric Car. Mmm…if I had a dollar for every ‘coming soon’ whizzy-fied sports wagon electric car that appeared and disappeared without trace or funding, I’d be a very wealthy ferret. Oh yes I would. OK, so at least the company has a track record, but even so, allow me to be a little cynical when I read about recharging the batteries ‘in as little as 10 minutes…’  Sheesh! [Via Metafilter]  The drive system alone is enough to excite driving fanatics, featuring…


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future tech April 13, 2007 posted by

SUNN Solar Car Kit – ugly, slow, green but with infinity mileage

The SUNN Solar Car Kit offers unlimited miles per…ah…gallon of sunshine. It also offers a max speed of 25 mph and a range of 20 miles, so you’re not going to do the daily i5 commute on it. But it’s a start. Isn’t it? Price unknown, but take a look at the video.  You can design and build a car that makes you happy when you drive and makes you smile when you look at it. We are offering plans and…


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cool tech April 12, 2007 posted by

Organic Solar technology – plant power rockz

The boffins at Massey University’s Nanomaterials Research Centre in New Zealand have come up with an organic form of solar power generating technology that will produce electricity from sunlight at a fraction of the cost of current technologies. The new tech – which uses photo-sensitive natural dyes to create solar cells instead of silicon – are also more useful in cloudy conditions, which is pretty neat. Green tech from down under. Now that’s progress for you.  Dr Campbell says that…


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cool tech April 10, 2007 posted by

Flying Saucers are coming – fly low, fly safe, fly by

Geoff Hatton is currently developing a real live working flying saucer. And it’s actually quite a cool bit of tech, no sign of aluminium beanie hats anywhere. His company GFS Projects has just grabbed some headlines because the US military visited his factory to see what he’s up to. Doesn’t mean a thing in the long run of course, but hey, the videos are still pretty neat.  The GFS UAV Our UAV is capable of vertical take off, fully controlled flight,…


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cool tech March 19, 2007 posted by

Off grid electricity gets real – (at a price)

The Stuart Island Energy Initiative proves that you can manufacture electricity enough to power your home along with some spare Hydrogen if you’re prepared to work for it. And spend around $50,000. Which is way better than spending $500,000 of course. And here’s a useful link if you want to learn more about domestic Hydrogen and fuel cell tech.   What are our goals? We were tired of hauling banks of 120 lb batteries to our remote, off-the-grid island home. We were tired…


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future tech December 22, 2006 posted by

Kleer Headsets – totally wireless stereo sound

The boffins at the Kleer audio chip company are threatening to introduce a totally wireless stereo headset for some truly portable listening pleasure. That’s right, two earpieces untethered and delivering 10 hours of CD quality sound over a 16 channel wireless link. Pretty cool if you don’t mind toasting your brain nicely from both sides with the EMF, eh? Just kidding (I think).  This reference design is for small form factor wireless earphones that achieve at least 10 hours playtime of…


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cool tech December 20, 2006 posted by

Potenco Pull Cord Power – pull for power without batteries

The Potenco Pull Cord Power System uses good old arm muscles to generate electricity for small devices. It’s sort of like Trevor Baylis’ wind up tech, but instead of cranking, you pull on a cord. It’s apparently been selected for the famous $100 Laptop project, so who knows where this tech might end up. A pull and play iPod, maybe? [Via Gizmag]  Potenco has developed a patent-pending portable power generator that is always powered wherever you go. Simply pull a…


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future tech November 29, 2006 posted by

BluScreen – the real Minority Report

BluScreen is a real life Minority Report type concept application which will beam advertising at us based on preferences stored in our Bluetooth enabled mobile phones. The idea is that we set a preference saying that we like, say, MP3 players and receive a ‘reward’ of a discount if we accept a personalised advert beamed at us any time we pass a relevant shop window display. It’s quite interesting actually, and takes targeted advertising to a whole new level.  Within a ubiquitous environment, market-based approaches can…


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cool tech November 27, 2006 posted by

Electric cars on a charge in China?

Western manufacturers may be dragging their feet over electric cars, or EVs as they’re known in polite circles, but it looks as though the Chinese are taking the whole thing rather more seriously. The rather squat looking thing above is the TEGO from JPJ Consulting, which is just one of a number of Chinese EV products that you can find online. The Smart Elcetric (sic) Motor Car from Jinan Allied Trading has a max speed of 40 km, and a range…


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future tech November 15, 2006 posted by

The Cup Communicator – string & cans redux

The Cup Communicator. Duncan Wilson’s wireless communication device is a modern walkie talkie twist on an old staple – two tin cans and a bit of string. Actually it looks like it could be an OK product, although you’d have to question its portability. Gotta love these designers though!  Tug the cord to activate, squeeze to talk and hold to the mouth and ear. The design of the Cup Communicator is focused around a series of physical actions and gestures…


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cool tech October 30, 2006 posted by

Yamaha FC-me Fuel Cell Scooter

The Yamaha FC-me Fuel Cell Scooter. Yamaha has a commercially available fuel cell scooter available? Really? Who would have thought? It sounds as if it’s in private beta, but still…  The “Yamaha Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) System” uses a liquid methanol-water solution as its fuel, which eliminates the need for a converter and a pressurized (fuel) tank and thus makes it possible to create a lightweight system for a small vehicle requiring power in the 1 kW range without…


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future tech October 30, 2006 posted by

Z-Agon Video Cube – WiFi meets tiny cool

The Z-Agon Video Cube is strictly prototype level at the moment, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Each face of the cube sports a high resolution display, and it hooks up to the content via WiFi. The Japanese developers are working on a 2.5 inch screen prototype, but no idea of time frames. And no, we’re not really sure why you’d want video displayed on all six faces, maybe it’s a multi-tasking kinda thing?   Z-agon is a revolutionary video player in…


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