| Emerging Technologies Page JohnKalpus.com Interesting and Provocative Techno Ideas Last updated: Thursday, July 16, 2009 |
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From
the desk, er, deck of: John Kalpus Introducing cutting-edge and fascinating changes in the world of technology to help keep you informed. Please submit
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New Items: Segway Human Transporter Digital Angel Moller Skycar DataPlay CDs CookSack eFilm Electronic Noses! Digital Panoramas Personal Robot Body Parts from Laser Fab Nanobots RFID tags X-Ray Vision
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| Segway is
here! The Segway™ Human Transporter (HT) is the first of its kind—a self-balancing, personal transportation device that's designed to operate in any pedestrian environment. It makes businesses more productive by providing them with a tool to more effectively manage time, space, and resources. |
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Whoa!
One "Giant, er, leap for mankind!" This could be a major force in decongesting pedestrian traffic. Of course we'll need to resolve the concomitant issues around sidewalk rights of way.
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Digital
Angel locating device
More information: www.digitalangel.net |
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Interpretation: The parent company, Applied Digital Solutions offers wrist-watch and pager-enabled locating devices, there will soon be microchips implant-able in pets, children, aging parents, etc. While another useful futuristic tool this one
could also be a huge burden on our right to be anonymous and... |
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| It's (almost) here! SKYCAR! From:www.moller.com/skycar/ Moller International has developed the first and only feasible, personally affordable personal vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle the world has ever seen. You've always known it was just a matter of time before the world demanded some kind of flying machine which would replace the automobile. Of course, this machine would have to be capable of VTOL, be easy to maintain, cost effective and reliable. Well, we at Moller International believe we have come up with the solution. That solution is the Volantor named M400 Skycar. Moller International homepage: |
Moller
Skycar, ca.2000 Supercar, ca. 1960 |
Interpretation: Hmmm, once again life imitates art. Notice any resemblance from the '60's animated series, Supercar? What's next, a real-life Gort, the robot, from "The Day the Earth Stood Still"? Of course! Just repeat after me: "Klaatu Barada Nikto!"
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| DataPlay CD These tiny recordable CDs can hold from 250-500MB of data! They are projected to be available this fall in blank as well as pre-recorded versions. There are literally hundreds of new digital devices being readied to use DataPlay media -- everything from digital cameras, recorders, PDAs, etc. Check this out! Additional info: |
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Interpretation: These tiny recordable media can significantly decrease the size of many digital devices -- and, they're removable so you can transfer huge quantities of data between devices easily. This tiny device is going to be REALLY big!: |
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| Satellite
Photography for the Masses! Seems
those venerable folks at MapQuest have befriended the folks at GlobeExplorer and created a
fabulous website to view and download color satellite photos of virtually the entire US. |
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Interpretation: Want to see what the neighbor's building behind that 16 foot fence??? I "stitched" the picture to the left from 18 consecutive satellite photos. Can you see me waving in the photo? (-; |
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| Forward into the past! CookSack® is
here! Info from: http://soltac.safeshopper.com/?347 The CookSack® is a solar device that is used to capture the heat energy of the sun and focus it’s power on a heat absorbent, lightweight, highly thermally conductive pot filled with water to be used for purification, cooking or washing. Other uses include melting snow or ice for water, warming batteries, signaling and radar locating. CookSack® will heat water to 190 degrees Fahrenheit / 88 degrees Celsius at sea level. |
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Interpretation: What, are you kidding? This is a terrific idea for overcoming the inevitable shortsightedness of burning off all available petro-chemicals. Imagine laughing this summer when the electric utilities turn off the electricity, again! It's a start at looking at using renewable and unlimited solar energy. |
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| eFilm is coming! A company called Silicon Film Technologies has developed a high-resolution CMOS image sensor (1280 x 1024 pixels) cassette that replaces the traditional 35mm film cassette in your standard SLR. The so-called eFilm stores up to 24 high resolution images in its on-board flash ROM. Remove the sensor from the camera and drop it into an ePort and upload the images to your computer. Or, simply insert the eFilm cassette into an open PCMCIA slot on your laptop! .
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Interpretation: This is a GREAT idea! Bring out that trusty Nikon SLR our of the closer and slap on that megazoom lens and go for it! |
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| Your own R100 "Personal Robot." NEC Corporation has developed a prototype mobile personal robot designed to be a partner for people in their homes with its ability to recognize people, understand voice commands and talk with users. The R100, as the robot is code-named, provides a much more natural, button-less interface for people to a variety of electronic appliances while supporting communication between people, and is seen by NEC as the future of computing in the home. Additional information: |
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Interpretation: Here's another example of electronic devices mimicking human behavior -- and very convincingly at that! Will these types of mechanisms encourage or discourage interpersonal development? E-mail me and let me know your thoughts. Put "R100" in the subject line. |
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| It's coming -- an electronic NOSE! There is a great deal of research being done on devices which can "smell" adequately to detect everything from rotten food, explosives to Chanel #5! An Italian university team claims to have
invented an "electronic nose," so sensitive that it can detect early forms of
tumors and other illnesses, |
 Can scratch and sniff computing be far behind? See the SONY AIBO "entertainment" robot dog below and imagine AIBO with one of these things in his face. We could have electronic tracking devices with amazing capabilities. Put a GPS receiver on the back side and let 'er go!
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Interpretation: With the advent of specialized and consistent smell monitoring equipment, manufacturing and medical process which once required a finely tuned human proboscis can soon rely on a much more sensitive electronic version. Imagine coupling am extremely sensitive electronic nose with a SONY AIBO Robot Dog! See below! |
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| New megapixel technology comes to digital cameras --
rivaling the resolution of traditional film techniques. Sony's DSC-F55 is a marvel of engineering, creativity and usefulness. Sony uses their Memory Stick media to store pictures. Sticks come in 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and now 128 MB capacities -- capable of storing hundreds of high-resolution images as clear as 1600 x 1200 pixels. The DSC-F55 can also render MPEG movies and has a swiveling Carl Zeiss lens, hybrid LCD viewer (actually usable in direct sunlight!) and an InfoLithium battery which can intelligently communicate it's charge state to the camera. Built-in sound recording rounds out the DSC-F55 features. It's a hoot! Using the new QuickStitch software, you can create amazing panorama pictures very easily. Click on the link to the right and see for yourself! |
 Sony DSC P1
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Interpretation: Finally, we've got the resolution to replace existing film technology. Expect to see amazing numbers of digital cameras entering the marketplace, with the attendant fall of prices. Yeah! |
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| Digital
picture editing software... Among other software developers, SONY makes terrific picture-stitching software, called PictureGear. More information http://www.sonystyle.com/ http://www.arcsoft.com/ reat website for additional information about creating
panoramic images:
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 Portage Glacier Bay, Alaska (2 images) Click on image for full screen.
Kayaking on the Peñasquitos Lagoon
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Interpretation: Personally, I've been "Scotch" taping overlapping photos together for a looooong time now. This new idea is a fun, easy, and very interesting way to produce wide-angle photographs when the situation doesn't easily present itself - or is altogether downright impossible! |
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| Nanoscale Technology Shrinks the World: Scientists and manufacturers have been working for decades on reducing the size and cost of goods but nowhere has this concept been taken to such an extreme as in the world or nanoscale technology. This technology allows us to manipulate individual atoms and molecules and construct extremely small motors, gears, electronic devices on a microscopic scale. Since physicists at IBM Research in Zurich invented the Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) in 1980, researchers now have the capability to view and manipulate matter on an atomic scale. This exciting field has spawned micro-electro-mechanical machines (MEMs) which can act as everything from microphones to miniature rockets. Electronic chips can benefit greatly from the
reduction in size of individual semiconductors. Traditional manufacturing techniques
require a photo-chemical reduction technique using high energy light New techniques developed by Lucent enable
researchers to use individual electrons to "sculpt" electronic wafers. This is
like switching to a garden trowel after using a backhoe to turn your soil. Yikes -- the
difference is a fantastically greater ability to manipulate smaller and smaller material. Web-sites for nano-technology info: STM images: Information on nanorobots: NanoNews... AI - Artificial Intelligence SONY AIBO Robots: |
Iron
molecules on a copper substrate: Click on thumbnail image for enlargements Intrigued with the possibility of observing
"Quantum Chaos", the artists constructed a stadium shaped structure in the hopes
of observing so-called "scarring" of the density distribution of the surface
state electron density. No scarring was observed. The reason is that the electrons don't
bounce around in the corral before they escape beyond it borders. The corrals are leaky.
Iron molecules on a copper substrate:
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Interpretation: The ability to manipulate material on the sub-microscopic lever allows for the creation of minute devices - increasing our power of our own bodies and planet. Used wisely this innovation could help eradicate diseases and help feed the estimated 8 - 10 billion people by the year 2020. Used poorly, this could widen the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Technology can best benefit humankind when it is accessible to the whole of the world. |
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| RFID Tags Radio Frequency IDentification tags promise to
replace bar-codes for easier and faster identification and transmission or product data. A
simple, "printable" antenna and miniscule embedded electronic chip can be
mass-produced and glued on the side of most products. See the following link for more
information:
Don't think you've ever heard of an RFID tag? Think again! Texas Instruments Expands TIRIS Product Family with 13.56 MHz Keyring Tag CHICAGO Ill. - October 5, 1999 - Building on its experience in retail applications with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology for Point of Sale (POS) environments, Texas Instruments today unveiled the newest member of the TIRIS RFID product family, a 13.56 MHz keyring tag. New Flat Key Tag The new card format, which offers retailers a place to print logos or other advertising messages, is an effective vehicle for innovative marketing and loyalty programs. "The 13.56 MHz tag is part of our ongoing effort to extend RFID advantages into retail settings," said Tony Sabetti, TIRIS worldwide marketing manager of Texas Instruments. Unlike credit cards that can be easily read and fraudulently replicated, this RFID tag is inherently tamperproof. It features 256 bits of non-volatile user memory (divided into eight separate blocks) that can be customized with initial data or updated with new data. In addition, each block can be locked to protect against modification. The individually encoded number can also be used as a key for an encryption routine. Expect the Speedpass RFID technology to show up at McDonalds, EXXON, etc., in the very near future. More information on Mobil's Speedpass: |
 Actual size
Speedpass RFID keyring tag
Chicago-area McD's are offering the customer the ability to pay with your Speedpass! |
Interpretation: RFID tags have the ability to help automate the purchase of any consumable where we now need to physically purchase the commodity. New designs of refrigerators can scan what's in the fridge and what we'll need for tonight's dinner. Heck, why not automate the order process and connect the reefer directly to the grocery store! Winners: Scanner companies; Losers: Point of sale merchandisers. |
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| Ultra Wide Band Radar UWB - Pulse Radar Page UWB radar promises to be an astonishingly useful technology for broadcasting information without using traditional methods which are confined to specific frequencies. Instead, UWB devices transmit millions of pulses of coded energy timed at very specific intervals - 10 picoseconds (trillionths of a second). Receiving devices correlate the difference of the timing of the signals as specific bits of data - similar to how modern computers work. Uses include small, very small, hand-held radar units, wrist-watch cell-phones and amazingly accurate positioning devices. GPS receivers, military grade, are accurate to within 3 to 5 feet. UWB devices, worn on the wrist, could locate objects within inches. For more information:: |
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Interpretation: This one is going to make a huge impact in many different areas; communications, positioning systems, law enforcement, personal safety, travel, agriculture, etc. Expect to see litigation between several parties vested in claiming first rights: Lawrence Livermore Laboratories and Time Domain, Inc. |
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