Take one of the most iconic arcade games, mix it up with a classic real-world game, and you might be so lucky as to end up with Space Foosball. The DIY handiwork of Young J. Kim’s team at the Korean Ewha Women’s University Computer Graphics Lab, Space Foosball uses the familiar handle controls from a foosball table but encodes their movement digitally, with the university’s own Everyware physics engine used to power gameplay.
Video demo after the cut
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Occasionally arch rumor site Digitimes takes a break from speculation and leaks and does some research into PC hardware sales performance. Latest niche to come under their microscope is the "ultra-thin" notebook, generally based on Intel's CULV (consumer ultra-low voltage) platform, and offering a middle-point between the battery longevity of netbooks and the performance of full-sized notebooks. Unfortunately for manufacturers, Digitimes claims the ultra-thins will only account for 4-percent of total global notebook shipments in 2009.
Researchers in Canada have concluded that the only intervention likely to be successful in the case of a zombie attack is to “hit them hard and hit them often”, after deeming that strategies of capturing or attempting to cure them would only result in a delayed takeover. The study was led by Professor Robert Smith? (yes, the question mark is part of his name) and teams from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, who draw parallels between their zombie infection modeling and more traditional infectious diseases.
If you’ve tried to use speech recognition to control your computer, then you may have experienced the frustration of finding “George, stop touching that!” transcribed into your letter to the bank since the system doesn’t differentiate between your dictation and your asides. Intel are hoping to put a stop to all that, with their integration of facial-recognition and speech-recognition; part of the company’s Research team experimentation, the prototype uses a webcam to track facial movement and only turn on speech-control when the user is facing their monitor.
Video demo after the cut
Scientists from the University of Tokyo have created what they’re calling an Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display, that’s basically a touchable holographic 3D display. Integrating a concave mirror onto which an LCD projector creates the image part of the system, together with an acoustic radiation pressure generator, the display can generate the feel of coming into physical contact with projected 3D objects as the user moves their hand around.
Video demo after the cut
A team of US scientists have developed a prototype portable microscope that would allow a cellphone camera to help diagnose potentially fatal diseases in blood and sputum samples. The University of California team strapped a DIY microscope to a 3.2-megapixel Nokia N73, using cheap off-the-shelf parts that can nonetheless make out objects 1.2 micrometers across; a red blood cell is usually 6-8 micrometers in width.
Wireless power isn’t new – Palm Pre owners have the option of it with the Touchstone accessory, but it’s also used in electric toothbrushes and various other applications – but the devices in question usually have to be very close or touching. Showa Aircraft Industry Co Ltd, however, have developed a contactless power supply system that can bridge up to a 1m gap.
The Fraunhofer Institute has been demonstrating a bi-directional OLED microdisplay, squeezing not only display pixels but camera photodiodes into the array. Currently a 320 x 240 prototype panel capable of 8-bit color, the Fraunhofer AMOLED could be used for heads-up displays, integrated into eyeglasses or used to track eye movement and perception in drivers.
Basically, the photodiodes each fit into a 12.4 micrometer gap between the 38.7 micometer OLED pixels. That allows the panel to both display information and capture an image of whatever is looking at it.
What you see here, plus a woman, could revolutionize pregnancy healthcare. A team at Washington University in St. Louis have developed software [pdf link] that can run on a Windows Mobile smartphone and display ultrasound data from a USB probe, rather than requiring a large, expensive piece of hospital-bound equipment.
Video demo after the cut
Researchers have developed a stretchable OLED display that can be bent and deformed without breaking. The rubber-like OLEDs are currently monochrome and each have just 256 pixel resolution; however the University of Tokyo team responsible for their development are now working on adding color and increasing resolution.
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