Crave privacy? New tech knocks out digital cameras | Tech News on ZDNet

Crave privacy? New tech knocks out digital cameras | Tech News on ZDNet: "Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have come up with an inexpensive way to prevent digital cameras and digital video cameras from capturing that secret shot.
The technology they've devised detects the presence of a digital camera up to 33 feet away and can then shoot a targeted beam of light at the lens, according to Shwetak Patel, a grad student at the university and one of the lead researchers on the project."

LED-Backlight LCD Desktop Display - 9/1/2005 - ECN

LED-Backlight LCD Desktop Display - 9/1/2005 - ECN - CA6254771: "NEC Display Solutions has announced the NEC SpectraView� LCD2180WG LED monitor. What is said to be the first desktop display in the market to feature a light emitting diode (LED) backlight. Using a combination of red, green and blue LEDs to produce the white-light backlight source for the display, the NEC SpectraView LCD2180WG LED monitor produces a broad color gamut without loss of luminance. NEC's TFT technology, in combination with the new LED backlight system, creates an ultra-wide color gamut, reaching over 100% of the Adobe RGB and NTSC color scales, and it reduces color/contrast shift problems that occur due to changes in viewpoints allowing for a very stable, ultra-wide viewing angle. NEC Display Solutions "

Hype Cycle for Collaboration and Communication, 2005

Hype Cycle for Collaboration and Communication, 2005: "Two key trends are shaping collaboration and communication technologies: the maturation of technologies, which are becoming more user-friendly and flexibly deployable, and the more disruptive ubiquity of Internet connectivity, through which individuals can collaborate without constraints."

Steve's Commentary
This may require a Gartner account to read. Let me know if you need assistance.

New Scientist Breaking News - Camera phones will be high-precision scanners

New Scientist Breaking News - Camera phones will be high-precision scanners: "New software that transforms a camera phone into a portable, high-precision scanner is threatening to throw the publishing industry into turmoil.
The software, developed by NEC and the Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) in Japan, goes further than existing cellphone camera technology by allowing entire documents to be scanned simply by sweeping the phone across the page."

Steve's Commentary
This would be a great asset for researchers, students, and anybody who wants to reference the article they read in their dentist's waiting room. There are a lot of ways to abuse this kind of technology, but when isn't that the case?

The Oculas at Hammacher Schlemmer

The Oculas at Hammacher Schlemmer: "Developed over four years by renowned British designer Lee McCormack, the McLaren Formula One� racing team, computer interface designers, and yacht builders, this is the most complete and distinctly personalized lounging oasis in the world, allowing you to safely and serenely shut out the world with the perfect levels of lighting, sound, seating, and privacy you select. This private relaxation theater is handmade of fiberglass and integrates advanced audio, visual, seating, and environment technologies, as well as your choice of Macintosh or PC computer, to create a space that allows you to relax completely."

Steve's Commentary
Is this the office of the future? Probably not at that cost, but mass production may ensue! ;)

Rensselaer Research Quarterly Magazine: Smart Lighting

Rensselaer Research Quarterly Magazine: Smart Lighting (page 1): "As one example, Schubert predicts that revolutionary lighting systems will provide an entirely new means of sensing and broadcasting information. By blinking far too rapidly for any human to notice, the light will pick up data from sensors and carry it from room to room, reporting such information as the location of every person within a high-security building."

Steve's Commentary
Here is a more detailed story on the lighting research of E. Fred Schubert at Rensselaer's Polytechnic Institute.

CNN.com - New era of 'smart' lighting - Aug 30, 2005

CNN.com - New era of 'smart' lighting - Aug 30, 2005: "'Light isn't just for vision any more,' says Figueiro, program director at Rensselaer's Lighting Research Center and head of a committee on light and human health for the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America.
The 24-hour internal body clock is best known for governing cycles of alertness and sleep, and for producing jet lag when people travel across time zones. Light cues, especially blue light, help keep the clock on its daily cycle. 'We're pretty much blue-sky detectors' whose clocks count on bright days and dark nights, said Figueiro.
But that's not necessarily what modern life delivers. During the winter in the northeast, for example, a person can commute roundtrip in the dark and sit all day in electric light that's fine for vision, but may be too dim to stimulate the body clock. That's called biological darkness.
'We don't have this sharp signal of a bright light during the day and a dark night,' Figuerio said.
How that affects people has been hard to document in the general population, she said, but studies suggest such possibilities as seasonal depression, fatigue, sleep disturbances and maybe even cancer, especially breast cancer. Some studies suggest reduced productivity on the job.
To counter that, architects and lighting engineers might someday take body clocks into account when they design lighting schemes, she said. They may be encouraged to take steps like providing plenty of natural light through windows and skylights, and installing bright blue LEDs near computer screens to give a dose of clock-adjusting light, she said.
David Sliney, a medical physicist who studies light-related issues at the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, said research into how room lighting affects health is "

Steve's Commentary
Lighting isn't just to help you see... Not only does this article discuss health related benefits of lighting, it also discusses using LED lights to transmit data just like a fiber optic cable does today.

Internet 0

Internet 0: "Internet 0 is an experiment at networking at the ultra-lightweight scale. Instead of relying on the architectural notions of Internet 1 with its routing, its servers, and its layered network stacks -- we are toying with very small, cheap, and simple ways to bring Internet Protocols all the way to the physical interface."

Steve's Commentary
This MIT research project is extending the Internet down to the ligth-bulb level. The possibilities are endless for "smart environments".

Automation World Article: Of Mice and MEMS (Features)

Automation World Article: Of Mice and MEMS (Features): "Ahmed envisions buildings in the future that will be able to �sense� the comfort level of occupants and instantly adjust settings for temperature, humidity and other environmental parameters automatically. For example, thousands of tiny MEMS sensors could be embedded in a building�s carpet or in the paint on the walls to measure temperature, or the amount of CO2 in the air, and then transmit data to the control system for action. The result would be enhanced worker comfort, as well as improved energy efficiency, perhaps in the neighborhood of 30 percent to 50 percent in some cases, Ahmed says."

Steve's Commentary
Rounding out some areas for completeness. Siemens is doing some interesting work with MEMS technology by applying it to "smart environments". MEMS is a key technology that is actually here today.

NCEF Resource List: Classroom Design

NCEF Resource List: Classroom Design: "NCEF's resource list of links, books, and journal articles on the design and planning of classrooms for early childhood centers, K-12 school buildings, and college and universities. "

Steve's Commentary
There are a boat load of articles and papers on designing a classroom of the future.

FUTURE COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS

FUTURE COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS: "The Future Computing Environments (FCE) Group is a collection of students and researchers across various units of Georgia Tech who are interested in developing a culture and infrastructure on campus for the investigation, prototyping, and construction of computing environments now that we believe will be commonplace in 10-15 years. "

Steve's Commentary
This site looks dated as well, but there appeared to be a big effort to understand future environments and the technology in them.

An installation of interactive furniture

An installation of interactive furniture: "We report on a project that explored emerging technologies for intuitive and unobtrusive information interfaces in a compelling setting. An installation at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, was part of a public exhibit and included an interactive table that presented information associated with the exhibit to the gallery visitors without visible conventional computing elements. The enabling devices included noncontact sensing of low-cost tags in physical icons, electrostatic detection of hand location in three dimensions, and sensor fusion through lightweight Internet Protocol access."

Steve's Commentary
Okay, so this isn't exactly breaking news as it is from the year 2000, but it is still interesting.

Smart Architectural Surfaces - Object-Based Media Group, MIT Media Laboratory

Object-Based Media Group, MIT Media Laboratory: "Smart Architectural Surfaces
This collaboration with the Information and Communications University in Korea examines the creation of modular computational elements which can be used to build smart rooms, linked meeting rooms, and other sensor- and display-equipped intelligent spaces. These units tile the walls of a room, and act as a unified system. This is one of several platforms we have developed for exploring group-forming protocols for self-organized collaborative problem solving by intelligent sensing devices.
Read about smart sensors:
V. M. Bove, Jr. and J. Mallett, 'Collaborative Knowledge Building by Smart Sensors,' BT Technology Journal, 22:4, Oct. 2004.
Read how SAS tiles (and other devices like phones or PDAs) can figure out their locations using sound:
B. C. Dalton and V. M. Bove, Jr., 'Audio-Based Self-Localization for Ubiquitous Sensor Networks,' Proc. 118th Audio Engineering Society Convention, 2005."

Heliodisplay -- Desktop Engineering Magazine - August 2005

Desktop Engineering Magazine - August 2005: "Screen display commercializes free-air video projections

The Heliodisplay projector from IO2 Technology (San Francisco, CA) projects video onto air. The company, which creates and now commercializes this next-generation display technology, says that the Heliodisplay displays any video source in full, high-resolution color in free space, without need for a screen. Viewers can walk around or through the floating images.

Heliodisplays are available in projecting image sizes from 22 to 42 inches (diagonal), and they are available with interactive features. The interactive features enable you to move an image hanging mid-air with their finger. Instead of a mouse, you can use your hand-without a special glove-to move an image, or use your finger to move a cursor."

IFA 2005 Overview - Progress in rollable displays

IFA 2005 Overview: "Progress in rollable displays

At IFA 2005, Philips Polymer Vision, another emerging business in the Philips Technology Incubator, will unveil its latest mobile e-Reader concept Readius. Readius is a prototype of a connected consumer device for business professionals unwilling to sacrifice readability, mobility, performance, or weight in a pocket-sized, e-reader concept.

The Readius is the world�s first prototype of a functional electronic-document reader that can unroll its display to a scale larger than the device itself. With four gray levels, the monochrome, 5-inch QVGA (320 pixels x 240 pixels) display provides paper-like viewing comfort with a high contrast ratio for reading-intensive applications, including text, graphics, and electronic maps. Once the user has finished reading, the display can be rolled back into the pocket-size (100 mm x 60 mm x 20 mm) device.


Press information:
+ Philips unveils �Rollable Display� pocket e-Reader concept Readius at IFA 2005


Philips Concept READIUS� uses a display that can be unrolled for comfortable viewing.

More information:
+ Video on Rollable Displays
+ www.polymervision.com
Download high-resolution pictures:
+ www.polymervision.com/New-Center/Downloads/Index.html"

IFA 2005 - Photonic textiles turn fabric into intelligent displays

IFA 2005 Overview: "Photonic textiles turn fabric into intelligent displays

Another demonstration shows photonic textiles fabrics that contain lighting systems and can therefore serve as displays. By integrating flexible arrays of multicolored light-emitting diodes (LEDs) into fabrics and doing so without compromising the softness of the cloth Philips Research is bringing these inert objects to life. Photonic textiles open up a wide range of applications in the fields of ambient lighting, communication, and personal health care.

To meet the challenge of creating light-emitting cloth objects that retain their softness, Philips Research and textile institute TITV Greiz have developed an interconnecting substrate made entirely of cloth. On these substrates, they have placed passive matrixes of 10 x 10 red, green and blue LED packages. The pixelated luminaries have been embedded in such everyday objects as pillows, backpacks, and floor mats, and prototype samples will be shown at the IFA.

Applied in soft fabric, the light from the small pixels diffuses, resulting in more or less continuous light-emitting soft surface.

Press information:
+ Video on Photonic Textiles
+ Philips demonstrates photonic textiles that turn fabric into intelligent displays
Download high-resolution pictures:
+ Pictures on Photonic Textiles"