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The Sigma fp is the 'world’s smallest' full-frame mirrorless camera
Sigma is known for being extra. It's pulled off stunts like a super wide-angle version of its super wide-angle camera, experimented with peculiar shapes and introduced lenses that let you shoot macro from a distance. Now, the company has unveiled the Sigma fp, the world's smallest, lightest mirrorless digital camera with a full-frame sensor.
Bayer to use satellite imaging to modernize farming efforts
You probably know Bayer for its aspirin. But the multinational pharmaceutical company has its fingers in more pies that that -- it's also keen to become a force in agriculture. As part of a push to focus on its Crop Science division, the company's partnered with Planetary Resources, an aerospace tech company, to create products and services using data obtained from satellite imagery. The goal? To sell services and tools to farmers that will make agriculture more efficient and environmentally adaptable. Though the collaboration has just been announced and, therefore, no services have yet been created, Bayer's indicated a few key areas where satellite data could be beneficial: water conservation through more ideally timed irrigation; recommendations on timing for crop planting; and the ability to determine what soil will hold water best.
ViviTouch haptic technology hands-on: electroactive polymer giving a 'high definition feel'
Haptic feedback isn't exactly something that'd blow people's mind these days, with most mobile devices and gaming controllers already packing a little vibrator to spice up one's gaming experience. While these motors do the job just fine for delivering the sensation of large engines and explosions, their monotonic performance and relatively high minimum output threshold means they can't reproduce finer vibration. For instance, you wouldn't be able to feel a guitar string fade away after a strum, nor would you feel the finer end of a spring recoil. This is where Bayer MaterialScience's ViviTouch -- previously dubbed Reflex -- tries to fill the void. For those who aren't familiar, the magic behind ViviTouch is its electroactive polymer (or EAP in short) -- imagine a thin sheet that consists of two electrode layers sandwiching a dielectric elastomer film, and when a voltage is applied, the two attracting electrodes compress the entire sheet. This slim, low-powered ViviTouch actuator module can be placed underneath an inertial mass (usually a battery) on a tray, thus amplifying the haptic feedback produced by the host device's audio signal between 50Hz and 300Hz (with a 5ms response time). %Gallery-134043%
Bayer Didget blood glucose monitoring system does double-duty as a DS game
Until we reach the time when tattoos make checking blood glucose levels cool, we're going to need another way to keep kids with diabetes healthy. And hey, kids love videogames, right? Bayer's Didget is based on the company's Contour glucose meter, but instead of connecting by USB it's shaped like a Game Boy cartridge, enabling it to slot into a Nintendo DS or DS Lite. When kids upload their scores to a custom game (the less than thrilling sounding Knock 'Em Downs: World Fair) they'll unlock new characters and items, but there's one fatal flaw in this plan: the system necessarily isn't compatible with the DSi (or its XL brother) and we're guessing the big cartridge slot isn't due for a comeback in the 3DS. In other words, this meter is on a fast-track to obsolescence.
Bayer's 'Didget' turns diabetes testing into a game
We can only imagine how difficult and frustrating it must be for a young person diagnosed with diabetes to get into the regular routine of testing their blood glucose level. In an attempt to make this process easier, and to "help build good monitoring habits," Bayer has created the Didget meter, a glucose-measuring device which can connect to an accompanying Nintendo DS game, unlocking in-game rewards for players who test regularly. You can check out a number of demos for the device and the game, titled Knock 'Em Downs: World's Fair, on Bayer's site. It's currently only available in the U.K. and Ireland for £29.99, and it only works on the original DS and the DS Lite, thanks to the DSi's tragically absent Game Boy Advance cartridge slot.
Bayer's 'Media Facade' redefines building-vertising
You may think that once you've seen one building turned into a massive billboard you've seem them all, but that would mean you probably haven't seen the so-called "Media Facade" now adorning Bayer's former HQ in Leverkusen, Germany. Built by ag4 media facade GmbH and GKD AG, the massive display apparently consists of 5.6 milion LEDs that cover the entire 17,500 square meters of the building, and which can be lit up at will to pump out gigantic advertisements worthy of any science fiction movie. You'll note this is the former Bayer headquarters -- it seems that the promise of 'round the clock ads visible for miles around saved the building from the wrecking ball. Head on past the break for a video of it in action, and a second showing the facade being constructed.[Thanks, Gerrit]
Bayer introduces Contour USB glucose meter
We may not yet have nanosensors or high-tech contact lenses to monitor glucose levels, but there are still plenty of gadgets out there to help diabetics, and Bayer has now introduced another first with its new Contour USB glucose meter. While it doesn't go quite so far as to provide continuous, wireless monitoring like some similar concepts we've seen, it will accept test strips like any other glucose meter, and do plenty of things those others can't -- like store up to 2,000 readings on the stick itself, display the results right on the stick's color display, and sync up with your Mac or PC for more detailed logs and additional information. No firm word on an actual release date just yet, but Bayer says it will be available in the U.S. "soon."[Via Everything USB]
Rinspeed and Bayer develop transparent eXasis vehicle
At last, the long, grueling wait has ended. We now have a transparent vehicle to match those dashing clear polycarbonate rims, as Rinspeed is teaming up with Bayer MaterialScience AG yet again to create another eye-catching vehicle. Just over two years have passed since the two collaborated on the Senso, but now their minds are set on crafting a Makrolon-based whip "with a completely transparent body and floor," and if you can manage to look through over the clearness, you'll notice a compact two-cylinder 750-ccm Weber engine sitting atop the transmission. Additionally, those hoping that this piece of eye candy would be kind to the environment will also be thrilled, as the motor is entirely driven by bioethanol. Once you're seated in the specially-designed Recaro chairs, twin "transparent indicator and function displays" appear to hover on both sides of your field of vision, and touching them opens up a bevy of user-controlled options whilst motoring around. Notably, this outlandish ride has far surpassed the Photoshop stage, and will actually be on display at next month's Geneva Motor Show, and if you're interested in seeing this bad boy in high resolution, be sure to tag the links below and hold on tight.
