It's been a tick since we've heard any news on the 3D drawing front, but a number of computer scientists from Brown University are putting the art back in the proverbial foreground with its Drawing on Air installation. Put simply, users can slip on a virtual reality mask, grab a stylus and tracking device, and go to town. The system uses "drawing guidelines, force feedback, and two-handed interaction" to assist artists in drawing more precisely, and once movements are made, the patterns are transferred to a computer for use in 3D modeling and design programs. Unfortunately, such a system can't currently be priced at points which John and / or Jane Doe would be happy with, but the researchers did state that commercialization wasn't "too far away" and that prices should decrease from "thousands of dollars to hundreds of dollars in the next few years."

Too bad they're not building 'em with "butter" or "barometers" -- the alliteration potential is just so vast! All the same, plastic seems to be just what your iPod ordered, combining the storage ability of a traditional battery, with the intense power capabilities of capacitors. We didn't pay attention well enough in our science classes to know what it means to "Put electroactive molecules into conducting polymers," but the results of the experiments being conducted on conductive plastics by a few Brown University engineers speak for themselves. The new batteries are as thin as an overhead transparency, smaller than an iPod nano in height and width, and yet manage double the storage of a traditional battery, and 100 times the power of a standard alkaline battery. The plastic battery can deliver or receive its charge rapidly like a capacitor, yet can also hold a charge and deliver power slowly like a battery, meaning all sorts of good times for power junkies like us. Right now there are still a few kinks to work out before the technology is ready for the market, but we'll be keeping an eye on this one for sure.

[Via Slashdot]