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One day, you'll fine-tune hearing aids yourself
Hearing aids are supposed to help you resume a normal life, but they sometimes make things worse -- and when most clinics aren't prepared to calibrate the devices, it's tempting to ditch them altogether. Norwegian scientists might give you an incentive to keep those earpieces in place, though. They've developed a touchscreen-based tuning system that lets you customize hearing aids largely by yourself. The technology asks you to pick a typical sound scenario (such as a busy office) and introduce extra effects until it replicates the situations where you have problems. After that, an audiometrist only has to adjust the hearing aid based on your feedback.
Morpho's NFC / WiFi-enabled keyfob brings wireless payments, card management to the everyman (video)
Not interested in picking up an NFC-enabled smartphone? No matter -- Morpho's got you covered. The outfit was demonstrating a newly finished Simlink NFC keyfob here at Mobile World Congress, intended to provide contactless payment capability for those who lack it in their existing mobile. Rather than stopping at just payments, this dongle also supports frequent flier cards, membership accounts and pretty much any other members-only situation that may ever use NFC check-ins and registration. There's even a WiFi module here and an onboard web server, enabling any WiFi-enabled phone to immediately see your most recent transactions as well as what data / cards you have stored on the device. We're told that the onboard battery can last around a week if you don't use it continuously, and a simple micro-USB connector is responsible for charging. The only unfortunate part is the size -- it's hardly inconspicuous, but we're guessing revision two will lose quite a bit of weight. This particular model should go on sale by the end of Q4, with pricing to be determined. Head on past the break for a brief demonstration, you big spender, you. %Gallery-116875%
SINTEF scientists working up pipe inspection robot
AiKo, Anna Konda -- you two had a good run, but it's time to pass the torch onto something that slithers a bit better. Cybernetics and optical measurement scientists at SINTEF are currently creating a wheeled pipe inspection robot that would "be able to climb, navigate intersections and at any given time know its location in the pipe system." Currently, the project is still stuck in the design phase (that's the Pneumosnake pictured), with some members working on a propulsion solution while others munch on snacks develop a new visual system. Just what the world needs... robots that can maneuver out of whatever holding cell we desperate humans encage them in.[Thanks, Isindil]
Anna Konda: the firefighting snakebot
So it looks like firefighters may be the next unlucky professionals replaced by cheap robotic labor, at least if a snakebot built by the Foundation for Industrial and Scientific Research in Norway (SINTEF) ever makes it into mass production. Lovingly nicknamed Anna Konda (no explanation necessary), the Norwegian bot was assembled using 20 hydraulic motors powered by a regular fire hose, whose 100 bars of pressure give it enough strength to break through walls and even lift a car right up off the ground. Anna consists of ten segments containing angle sensors, two valves, and two motors each -- rotating around orthogonal axes and wrapped in a tough steel exoskeleton -- that are controlled by a computer to help her maneuver over numerous types of terrain. Besides providing support in dangerous situations like tunnel fires, SINTEF envisions future versions of Anna being used to locate and provide oxygen to earthquake victims or perform maintenance on underwater oil rigs. The good news for human firefighters is that at least a few of their traditional tasks still remain beyond the robosnake's capabilities -- well, until it's able to climb a tree and rescue a stranded cat without breaking its neck, that is.[Via Technology Trends]
