Smart-label chip makes RFID affordable - Electronic Products

Smart-label chip makes RFID affordable - Electronic Products:


"Enables fast deployment of a wide range of datalogging and tracking systems
Claimed by the company to be priced up to 10 times lower than existing RFID temperature-sensing modules, the IDS-SL13A smart-active-label chip can automatically track, monitor, time-stamp, and record information about any goods in any supply chain or cold chain transport — from expensive fragile components, medical goods, and pharmaceuticals, to bags of bananas — on land, sea, or sky. The chip enables fast deployment of a wide range of datalogging and tracking systems and can check on and record unseen changes such as extreme temperatures that can impact goods."

The future, reusable paper | Videos on ZDNet

The future, reusable paper Videos on ZDNet: "Xerox demonstrates disappearing ink
At the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Las Vegas, Steve Hoover, vice president with Xerox Research Center Webster, shows off a technology being developed in the company's labs that enables people to reuse a piece of paper. The paper contains a photochromic compound that makes ink disappear when hit by direct heat."

For Segways new RMP, its all about the wheels - R & D

For Segway’s new RMP, it’s all about the wheels - R & D:

"Segway's new RMP recently debuted at RoboBusiness in Pittsburgh this week, but there isn't much information available about it at this time other than it 'might' cost up to $50k and it can move in any direction on its Mecanum wheels.

It uses the same parts that a Segway uses but just doubled, it can haul up to 400 lbs. According to showgoers, plenty of odd robot wonders like this showed up pretty much unannounced."

Total Recall: Storing every life memory in a surrogate brain

Total Recall: Storing every life memory in a surrogate brain: "April 2, 2008 (Computerworld) Remember walking in to start your first job out of college? Or that diner you stopped in when you were on a road trip with your friends? The way the sky looked when you made that one perfect ski run, or the song that was playing when your daughter took her first step?
Gordon Bell, a longtime veteran of the IT industry and now principal researcher at Microsoft Corp.'s research arm, is developing a way for everyone to remember those special moments.
Actually, Bell himself wants to remember -- well, everything.
With memories piling up and continually slipping away, Bell is working to capture every moment of his life, so he can store it on his computer -- a Dell laptop with a dual-core processor. He wants the ability to pull up any picture, phone call, e-mail or conversation any time he wants."

In Pictures: Take a tour of Microsoft's robotics efforts

In Pictures: Take a tour of Microsoft's robotics efforts:

"April 7, 2008 (Computerworld) The members of the Microsoft Robotics Group are betting that the robotics industry is about to take off.
Tandy Trower, general manager of the group, predicted that his 3-year-old department, which operates like a start-up inside Microsoft Corp., will go from a quiet unit to a major revenue source within five years.
That will happen, he said, because the industry is quickly moving from one that mostly supplies giant robotic machines to factories and manufacturing plants to an industry that is creating robotic aids and companions in our homes."

UMass Amherst Office of News & Information

UMass Amherst Office of News & Information: "AMHERST, Mass. – Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are developing interactive computerized tutors that sense a student’s emotional and motivational state of mind at the same time it presents information designed to appeal to a person’s intellectual curiosity. Special sensors are used to help make the computer tutor respond when students become angry, frustrated or bored, based on body language, attention and other indicators.

Beverly Woolf, a research professor of computer science, says the introduction of the emotion sensors helps the scientists respond to how people actually learn. “Emotion and cognitive functions are strongly correlated,” Woolf says. “So if you improve the social intelligence of the computer, students respond the way they would to another person. Sensors allow the computer to identify students who pay attention and those too tired or bored to learn. Using these cues, the computer provides individualized instruction. ”"

Hello, gorgeous! Meet the laptop you'll use in 2015

Hello, gorgeous! Meet the laptop you'll use in 2015

: "March 26, 2008 (Computerworld) A lot has changed in the 20 years since the first laptop computers appeared, including gigahertz processors, color screens, optical drives and wireless data. However, one thing that has stubbornly stayed the same is the conventional clamshell format with its hinged display lid that opens to reveal a mechanical keyboard.
That's about to change. The rules of notebook design and the components that go inside are being rewritten to make the road a better place to work and play."

Calibre Macro*World

Calibre Macro*World: "You could one day be marching your way to fitness without ever having to leave your office desk thanks to the revolutionary Walkstation concept.
Steelcase, the global leader in office furniture and design, has pioneered the idea of the Walkstation concept in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic in the United States."

GT | Sensor Necklace Aims to Increase Drug Compliance

GT Sensor Necklace Aims to Increase Drug Compliance: "Atlanta (March 5, 2008) —Researchers now have a possible solution for the one in three adults who fail to take their medicines as prescribed by their doctors, as well as for everyone else who occasionally forgets: a sensor necklace that records the exact time and date when specially-designed pills are swallowed, and reminds the user if any doses are being missed.Atlanta (March 5, 2008) —Researchers now have a possible solution for the one in three adults who fail to take their medicines as prescribed by their doctors, as well as for everyone else who occasionally forgets: a sensor necklace that records the exact time and date when specially-designed pills are swallowed, and reminds the user if any doses are being missed."

Robot dinosaur wows at CeBIT - R & D

Robot dinosaur wows at CeBIT - R & D

"So how does a toy like Pleo make all the right responses? Well, Pleo has over two dozen sensors all over her body that are sensitive to light, touch and sound. She even knows when to back off when she's at the edge of a table to avoid falling off. At the heart this dinosaur is a custom platform of tools and technologies dubbed the Life OS that gives Pleo her life-like behavior. She's still a 1.0 version, so while we can expect future developments, her rubber skin reminds us that she's a toy, like many others on the market right now. That said, we can see where the manufacturer is coming from. Pleo has to be able to withstand lots of hands-on play and yet not tear at the slightest stress."