Wednesday, November 19, 2014

TTT-Tech #2 - Connected, flying, and wearable devices

Innovative, Interesting, or Important

There’s plenty of technology news every day — too much, actually.
Our mission here is to highlight only the developments that have long-term implications, promise or portent.
Instead of instantly-obsolete news like an updated piece of software, a gadget’s slightly improved new version, or another round of investing, we’ll spotlight only the innovations that we believe will still be important a year from now.

This weeks headlines

1. Robots on Patrol
2. Intel, Samsung back faster wireless connectivity
3. No hands required: type your thoughts
4. Police test networked guns
5. Motorola will find your phone
6. Pilot-free helicopter fights wildfires
7. Wearable dialysis device for kidney patients
8. Wrist-mounted flying camera wins Intel prize money
9. Would Dick Tracy wear this?
10. Flying cam captures 4k

Top Topic: Connectivity

While three of the devices we cover this week are wearable, and three more items are about things that fly — this week Connectivity is our focus.
Thanks to mobile phones, we’re used to being in touch with each other all the time — and as we’ve got a connected computer in our pocket, we’re also in touch at all times with all the data (and fluff) on the Internet.
It’s not just phones: most of your devices will eventually be linked in some way, and with newly developed faster data transfer rates (item #2). Our watches will talk with our phones (#5), and because it’s America, hey, even guns will be networked (#4). In the labs, connectivity innovations can even read our thoughts (#3).
And #1: Of course, robots will talk to each other — security guard robots, that is:

1. Robots on Patrol

Relax, they’re not Daleks. Not quite. But they are actual robot security guards, ready to go on the job today.
Developed by startup Knightscope in Mountain View, California, the K5 is five feet tall, and weighs 300 pounds — packed with five cameras, four microphones, sensors, GPS and laser ranging navigation equipment, electric motors, and a 24-hour battery.
The robots are designed to detect anomalous behavior such as someone walking through a building at night. With WiFi and a computer, they communicate among themselves, and with a central security operator or facility.
The company says it’s mission is to “Cut Crime by 50 percent.”
MIT Technology Review has the full story.

2. Intel, Samsung back faster wireless connectivity

Silicon Valley startup Keyssa is providing a faster alternative to cords and wireless networks for phones, laptops, and home appliances.
The low-power wireless connectors use extreme high-frequency radio bands to transfer up to 6 gigabits of data per second when two devices are held about a centimeter apart. (WiFi’s top speed is 1.35 gigabits per second; for USB it’s 5 gps.) That’s fast enough to transfer a 1080p movie within five seconds.
Keyssa’s backers include Intel Capital and Samsung.

3. No hands required: type your thoughts

Have you always wanted to control a computer with your mind? A brain injury researcher is developing a computer-brain interface system that allows paralyzed people to communicate through a computer screen.
At the Wadsworth Center, a reporter for The Verge donned “a hat resembling a swim cap that records brain activity thanks to a set of gel-filled electrodes embedded in the fabric.” Then by simply concentrating, the reporter could pick out one letter at a time (although it took 15 seconds each time). Nonetheless: “I typed text on a computer with my thoughts.”
Long-term, it may “help people who suffer from advanced forms of paralysis maintain the will to live.”

4. Police test networked guns

A wireless chip in the handle of a gun will automatically alert police headquarters whenever an officer in the field draws a firearm — and where exactly the officer is.
California-based YardArm technology works with regular firearm and transmits data over a standard cell phone network. The company is also working to track the direction in which a gun is pointing. The data can be fed to a police dispatch system or viewed on a smartphone, MIT Technology Review reports here.
“YardArm is holding tests to hone the tracking accuracy with police departments in Santa Cruz, California, and Carrollton, Texas. The technology has been tested at firing ranges, but not during active police duty.”

5. Motorola will find your phone

The Keylink itself may not prove to be a lasting device, but it exemplifies simple device connectivity:
Motorola says “if your phone decides to play hide and seek, press a button on Keylink to make the phone ring up to 100 feet away. Or if your keys get a similar idea, you can use the Motorola Connect App (on the phone) to make Keylink ring.”
The battery lasts about a year. The $25 device is compatible with Android and iOS devices.

6. Pilot-free helicopter fights wildfires

The K-Max self-flying helicopter flew thousands of missions in Afghanistan between 2011 and 2014. Now Lockheed Martin is showing the Forest Service and other agencies how it can fight wildfires longer than human pilots can tolerate, and in more dangerous conditions.
The chopper can carry up to 6,000 pounds of cargo — such as an enormous bucket with more than 2,800 gallons of water — to make for  “a self-flying, fire-fighting chopper.”
Lockheed also offers a five-pound quadcopter with an infrared camera to locate fires.

7. Wearable dialysis device for kidney patients

A new miniature portable device could improve the lives of tens of thousands of people who most otherwise now regularly visit kidney dialysis centers.
The 10-pound machine can cleanse and monitor blood constantly, with minimal effort — and the FDA has put the device on a fast-track program, reports i09.
A doctor explains the device in this video.


And from my own photography coverage at PMA Newsline:

8. Wrist-mounted flying camera wins Intel prize money

The Nixie got a lot of coverage this Summer when it debuted on Kickstarter — and it took another step closer to commercial feasibility with an award from Intel.
Basically a wearable quadcopter drone that rests on your wrist before launching to take your selfie, the Nixie won the $500,000 grand prize in Intel's “Make It Wearable” competition, Phy.org reports.

9. Would Dick Tracy wear this?

Dutch designer Hermen van den Burg says his smartwatch combines robust functionality with avant-garde design in a convenient user-friendly device — at an affordable price. 
The Burg 12 Smartwatch has full phone functionality to make and receive calls with the watch’s speakerphone, using an included SIM card, or paired with either an iPhone or Android phone.
It has a camera built in, because these days, what doesn’t? However, we couldn’t find any indication what resolution it captured, so we’d guess it’s in the low megapixels.
The watch has a 1.5-inch touchscreen with a 240 x 240 resolution. It also provides music and video playback, a calendar, contact list, voice recording — and a low-res camera.
It’s $199 at Walmart and on Amazon.

10. Flying cam captures 4k

Remember when remote-controlled planes and copters only had VGA-res cameras? It wasn’t that long ago, was it? Today handheld- and tripod-mounted 4k cameras are hardly mainstream — but DJI’s latest drone has a 12-megapixel sensor for full 4k video, as well as Raw stills.
“Everything is better in 4K,” DJI says, which “gives you the power to make every shot a masterpiece.”
The Inspire 1 remote-controlled quadcopter has a 3-axis gimble on the bottom to stabilize the camera, the lens of which has 9 elements in 9 groups including an aspherical element, the company says, “producing extreme clarity.”
Also, a real-time feed from the Inspire 1’s camera is displayed in 720p HD on your mobile device, “giving you a perfect view of what the camera sees to frame your shots.” DJI says its Lightbridge technology can now transmit the video feed from up to 2km away.
The cam-copter will sell for $2,899.



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