Curved LCD paves way for augmented reality contact lenses
The Centre of Microsystems Technology announced that it has developed a curved LCD that is able to be embedded into a contact lens, bringing us even closer to full-time, glasses-less augmented reality.
If you’re wondering why a curved LCD was chosen rather than embeddable LEDs, it’s because the LCD option allows the use of the entire display, whereas an LED array can only use a small area of the surface. Jelle De Smet, the main researcher on the project, explains that even flexible liquid crystal displays are normally not designed to withstand the shaping process however, by using new kinds of conductive polymers they were able to create a spherical shape.
Along with the larger display area, the team can change the pattern, number, and size of the pixels in the LCD. For example, if the team creates lenses using one large pixel per lens, they could change the pixels’ shade, effectively creating lens-based sunglasses. If they instead decide to stuff as many pixels into the LCD as possible, then the lens could act as a detailed display.
(via Curved LCD paves way for augmented reality contact lenses | ExtremeTech)
Engineered Synaesthesia: Smart Glasses Help Deaf People See Sounds
a group of researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon built a pair of glasses which allows the wearer to “see” when a loud sound is made, and gives an indication of where it came from. An array of seven microphones, mounted on the frame of the glasses, pinpoints the location of such sounds and relays that directional information to the wearer through a set of LEDs embedded inside the frame.
The glasses will only flash alerts on sounds louder than a threshold level, which is defined by the wearer. Previous attempts at devices which could alert deaf users to surrounding noises have been ungainly. For example, research in 2003 at the University of California, Berkeley, used a computer monitor to provide users with a visual aid to pinpoint the location of a sound. The Korean team have not beaten this problem quite yet - the prototype requires a user to carry a laptop around in a backpack to process the signal. But lead researcher Yang-Hann Kim stresses that the device is a first iteration that will be miniaturised over the next few years.
(via Sharp-eared glasses let deaf people ‘see’ sounds - tech - 05 September 2012 - New Scientist)
"The best VR demo probably the world has ever seen": Oculus to Commercialize Virtual Reality Headset
Three months ago, the Oculus Rift was the pet project of a virtual reality enthusiast, literally held together with duct tape and hot glue. Yet as of today, it’s raised over $1.6 million on Kickstarter due to thousands of similar virtual reality enthusiasts who want one too.
Next year, though, you may not have to be a hobbyist or fund a grassroots project to experience what gaming luminaries like John Carmack are calling “the best VR demo probably the world has ever seen.” That’s because founder Palmer Luckey just handed over the reins to executives which plan to turn Oculus into a real, profitable company that sells VR headsets commercially.
(ht singularitarian)
MIT Researchers Develop “Eye Ring,” a Wearable Augmented Reality Peripheral To help the Blind Read, Identify Objects
The finger-worn device allows you to point at an object, take a photo, and hear feedback about what it is you just focused on.
…Initially conceived as a potential aid for the visually impaired, the EyeRing could also work as a navigation or translation aid, or help children learn to read, say the researchers involved. The group is interested in eventually turning it into a commercial product.
As smartphones become increasingly common, the use of augmented reality—the blending of digital content with the real world—has also risen, mainly in the form of apps that harness the phone’s camera and sensors and use its screen as a window to a more data-rich world.
The EyeRing takes this a step further by offering aural feedback via a wearable device. And while it’s still just a research project, some experts believe wearable electronics will eventually become common—an idea Google recently put in the spotlight by confirming it’s working on glasses that can show the wearer maps, messages, and more.
(via Augmented Reality, Wrapped Around Your Finger - Technology Review)
![Real-Life Italian Robotic Exoskeleton Increases Wearer’s Strength 20x
Once the preserve of science fiction, increasingly sophisticated robotic devices are vying for a place side by side with humans in the real world. Researchers are currently working on a Body Extender robot at the Perceptual Robotics Laboratory at Sant’Anna University in Pisa, Italy. The exoskeleton or “body extender”, a prototype costing millions is a armour suit weighing 160 kilos which multiplies the strength of its human user 20 times.
[read more] [Sant’Anna University] [video (embedding is disabled)]
(via Researchers Develop Body Extender Suit ht futurescope ht 33rdsquare)](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m813zkX0zf1r08k60o1_500.jpg)
Real-Life Italian Robotic Exoskeleton Increases Wearer’s Strength 20x
Once the preserve of science fiction, increasingly sophisticated robotic devices are vying for a place side by side with humans in the real world. Researchers are currently working on a Body Extender robot at the Perceptual Robotics Laboratory at Sant’Anna University in Pisa, Italy. The exoskeleton or “body extender”, a prototype costing millions is a armour suit weighing 160 kilos which multiplies the strength of its human user 20 times.
[read more] [Sant’Anna University] [video (embedding is disabled)]
(via Researchers Develop Body Extender Suit ht futurescope ht 33rdsquare)
Korean Researchers Develop Flexible Battery
We’ve got flexible displays, printed circuits, memory and even chargers — why not batteries? So far, this has eluded manufacturers, but now researchers from the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have got the ball rolling with a high performance bendable lithium-ion version.
…the peel-and-stick type manufacturing process they devised allows the cell to provide constant juice, no matter how much it’s deformed. Now the scientists are looking at ways of upping the capacity, so they can power more than just Christmas tree lights and ultimately bring “the next-generation of fully flexible” devices to market.
(via Korean scientists solve flexible battery riddle (video) — Engadget)
Polymer-Infused Shirt Actually Lowers Body Temperature
The wicking polyester base of the Omni-Freeze ZERO T-shirt is embedded with thousands of 0.15-inch hydrophilic polymer rings (a men’s medium has more than 41,000 of them). As the base spreads sweat, the rings absorb moisture and expand into three-dimensional doughnuts. In order to swell, the rings require energy, which they gather as body heat. In tests, the shirt was up to 10 degrees cooler against the wearer’s skin than shirts made from any other material.
(via The First Shirt That Lowers Your Body Temperature | Popular Science)
Profile of Innovega’s Developing Contact Lens and Glasses AR System
With these contact lenses, the user can view the world naturally: Their eyes can move normally and there aren’t any cumbersome goggles to hinder movement or perception.
For external hardware, users are also given a pair of glasses which are used to project the extra data.
But the contact lenses are crucial here. Without them, data beamed onto the glasses is fuzzy and messy. The contact lens collates and refines the augmented info.
The lenses enable a complete field of view while staying light. This innovation separates them from their competitors, many of whose products require goggles to refine the projected images…
Austrian Design Exhibition Showcases Clothing That Reads Your Moods, Punishes Lying
WHAT if the world could see your innermost emotions? For the wearer of the Bubelle dress created by Philips Design, it’s not simply a thought experiment.
Aptly nicknamed “the blushing dress”, the futuristic garment has an inner layer fitted with sensors that measure heart rate, respiration and galvanic skin response. The measurements are fed to 18 miniature projectors that shine corresponding colours, shapes, and intensities onto an outer layer of fabric - turning the dress into something like a giant, high-tech mood ring.
…The Bubelle dress is just one of the technologically enhanced items of clothing on show at the Technosensual exhibition in Vienna, Austria, which celebrates the overlapping worlds of technology, fashion and design.
…Holy Dress, created by Melissa Coleman and Leonie Smelt, is a wearable lie detector - that also metes out punishment. Using voice-stress analysis, the garment is designed to catch the wearer out in a lie, whereupon it twinkles conspicuously and gives her a small shock. …”You can become a martyr for truth,” says Coleman.
To make it, she hacked a 1990s lie detector and added a novelty shocking pen.
Laying the wearer bare in a less metaphorical way, a dress that alternates between opaque and transparent is also on show. Designed by the exhibition’s curator, Anouk Wipprecht with interactive design laboratory Studio Roosegaarde, Intimacy 2.0 was made using conductive liquid crystal foil. When a very low electrical current is applied to the foil, the liquid crystals stand to attention in parallel, making the material transparent.
(via CultureLab: High-tech clothes let fashionistas bare all)
