10 Mind-Blowing Smart Technologies
By TechEBlog, 11 Jun 2012.
What exactly are "smart technologies"? Well, they're basically technologies that currently exist beyond the concept stage and could possibly change the world, or at least for some demographics. Examples include: brain-controlled skateboards, smart headphones, and more. Continue reading to see them all.
10. Super Ball
That's right, "it's not just flat stones that can skip across the surface of water; despite their spherical shape, water-bouncing balls can jump across ponds just as seamlessly." This super ball was developed by Tadd Truscott and his team at Brigham Young University in Utah."
The water-bouncing ball, however, was able to maintain a crushed shape for longer to help it scoot across the pond. Its contact area with the water increased when it was squished, helping it to ride along. The ball sprung from the water over 20 times, covering a stretch of nearly 60 meters.
9. Smart Bullet
Yes, Sandia researchers have created "a dart-like, self-guided bullet for small-calibre, smooth-bore firearms that could hit laser-designated targets at distances of more than a mile (about 2,000 meters)."
The first bit of footage shows the plastic sabots, which protect the delicate steering fins, drop off after the bullet emerges from the firearm's barrel. The second portion of the footage shows the bullet curving slightly into its designated target. Their bullet works much like a precision guided aerial bomb might function.
8. Smart Headphones
Researchers at Igarashi Design Interfaces Project in Tokyo, Japan have developed smart headphones, called "Universal Headphones", that "automatically switch channels when placed in the wrong ear."
Universal Earphones: Earphones with Automatic Side and Shared Use Detection from Kohei Matsumura on Vimeo.
The new "Universal Headphones" solve the mix-up problem by placing a proximity sensor on one of the headphones that measures distance to your ear.
7. Brain-Controlled Skateboard
Called the "Board of Imagination", this high-tech skateboard essentially "takes commands directly from the rider's brainwaves and transfers them to and 800-watt motor that propels the board forward." No word yet on pricing or availability.
Think of a destination, and how fast you would like to get there, and the Board Of Imagination will take off - hitting a top speed of around 30mph. If you think that's too fast, it will slow down.
6. Spider-Man Silk
That's right, researchers have developed a "bioengineered skin so tough that it stops a speeding bullet from penetrating."
In the first segment, the bullet is moving at half speed; "repeated with a round moving at a full 1,080 feet per second, the skin gives way." But both half-speed and full-speed tests were also conducted with real human skin and human skin augmented with regular silkworm silk, as well as with piglet skin. In all cases, the bullet won out. The only exception was the bioengineered spider silk tissue.
5. Piston-Powered Hologram
Researchers have developed a "holographic display built with standard semiconductor processes; Francesco Pessolano, manager of Imec's NVision program, suspects detailed 3-D video displays can be made by moving reflective microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) structures up and down like microscopic pistons."
Long story short, if the pixels have been precisely etched, a 3-D holographic still image emerges.
4. World's Lightest Material
Researchers claim to have created the world's lightest material, which consists of tiny hollow metallic tubes, "the walls of which are 1,000 times thinner than those of a human hair - arranged into a criss-crossing diagonal pattern with small open spaces between them."
The researchers say the material, which consists of 99.99 per cent air, is 100 times lighter than Styrofoam and has 'extraordinarily high energy absorption' properties - a metal which can sit atop a dandelion without even crushing its seeds.
3. Spray-Can Cooling Foam
Japanese researchers have developed a spray-can cooling foam that supposedly feels like an ice pack. That's not all, there's also a fizz spray which cools the surface of your skin to -9C.
These cooling sprays apparently aren't brand new, but a thing isn't a "thing" until it goes mainstream in Japan, and this summer that's what's happening. City-dwellers are using the products to cool down on the subways or on the streets.
2. Full-Colour Night Vision Camera
Say goodbye to the greenish images that normal night vision cameras produce, and hello to colour.
This Nanolux camera "uses a series of algorithms to read and process wavelengths reflected by objects lit with infrareds, allowing it to successfully reproduce reds, blues, and greens in the darkest of conditions."
1. 3D Face Generator
Researchers at Japan's Waseda University have developed an incredible system that automatically, and near instantly, generates 3D face models from 2D images. Best of all, the system does not require any expensive equipment, just a webcam.
The method is based on a database of 3D face models of 1,000 people. When analyzing a picture, the system compares certain "feature points" (characteristic elements) with those of the face pictures stored in the database and almost instantly creates the 3D model.
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