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Climbing robot can scale walls on a supersonic stream of air, won't leave fingerprints behind
There are plenty of wall climbing robots roaming the Earth, but few can scale heights as gracefully as this little guy can. Developed by researchers at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, this bot can wind its way across any glass, metal or cloth terrain, without even touching its pods to the surface. The secret lies in Bernoulli's Principle, which states that as the speed of a fluid increases, its pressure decreases. This phenomenon also applies to streams of air, which, when moving at high speeds around of a circular gripper, can create a vacuum strong enough to hold things without actually touching them. In this case, air shoots out of the robot's feet at more than 2,000 miles per hour, creating enough pressure to lift the craft, while holding it close to the wall. The technology isn't new, but rarely can it support the weight of an entire device -- let alone the extra cargo that this climber's non-contact adhesive pads can hold. Researchers say the supersonic grippers will be available in "some months" and will probably cost "a few hundred dollars." As for the bot itself, Canterbury's engineers envision it being used for industrial inspections -- though the more we think about it, the more we realize just how dirty our windows are. Video after the break.
Asius' ADEL earbud balloon promises to take some pressure off your poor eardrums
Listener fatigue: it's a condition that affects just about everyone who owns a pair of earbuds and one that myriad manufacturers have tried to mitigate with various configurations. According to researchers at Asius Technologies, though, the discomfort you experience after extended periods of earphone listening isn't caused by faulty design or excessively high volumes, but by "acoustic reflex." Every time you blast music through earbuds, your ear muscles strain to reduce sound waves by about 50 decibels, encouraging many audiophiles to crank up the volume to even higher, eardrum-rattling levels. To counteract this, Asius has developed something known as the Ambrose Diaphonic Ear Lens (ADEL) -- an inflatable polymer balloon that attaches to the ends of earbuds. According to Asius' Samuel Gido, the inflated ADEL effectively acts as a "second eardrum," absorbing sound and redirecting it away from the ear's most sensitive regions. No word yet on when ADEL may be available for commercial use, but head past the break for a video explanation of the technology, along with the full presser.
Researchers debut one-cubic-millimeter computer, want to stick it in your eye
This as-of-yet-unnamed mini computer was fashioned as an implantable eye pressure monitor for glaucoma patients, but its creators envision a future where we're all crawling with the little buggers. Taking up just over one cubic millimeter of space, the thing stuffs a pressure sensor, memory, thin-film battery, solar cell, wireless radio, and low-power microprocessor all into one very small translucent container. The processor behind this little guy uses an "extreme" sleep mode to keep it napping at 15-minute intervals and sucking up 5.3 nanowatts while awake, and its battery runs off 10 hours of indoor light or one and a half hours of sun beams. Using the sensor to measure eye pressure and the radio to communicate with an external reader, the system will continuously track the progress of glaucoma, without those pesky contacts. Of course, the mad scientists behind it look forward to a day when the tiny device will do much more, with each of us toting hundreds of the computer implants all over our bodies -- looks like a bright future for cyborgdom.
Officers' Quarters: Be kind to your tanks and healers
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook, available now from No Starch Press. If you've queued as a DPS for the dungeon finder lately, you've probably marveled at the estimated time and wondered what happened to all the tanks and healers. Maybe fewer players want to tank when crowd control is necessary; maybe fewer players want to heal when mana must be managed. Maybe it's the fact that gear is more critical at this point in an expansion, so people are shy about signing up for those roles. Or maybe all the tanks and healers are skipping the unpredictable dungeon finder crowd altogether and looking for guilds to join. Whatever the cause, dungeon finder queues for DPS are absolutely brutal at the moment. If you don't want to wait 30-plus minutes for every run, you're going to need tanks and healers in your guild who are willing to run heroics. You may wonder, why wouldn't they be willing to run heroics? After all, the content is fresh, the upgrades are flowing, and most people still need justice and/or valor points. The question isn't so much whether they want to run heroics; the question is whether they want to run heroics with you, right now. This week, I'm going to focus on what players and officers can do to avoid stressing out your tanks and healers and help them to enjoy the game along with everyone else.
Fabian Hemmert's urgency-augmented calling concept detailed on video
Fabian Hemmert's no stranger to unorthodox cellphone designs, but things are really starting to get zany in his newest video. While speaking at TEDxSalzburg, Hemmert was able to elaborate on a project that he's been tinkering with for a year or so. In essence, it's the realization of tactful calling, or urgency-augmented calling. In an effort to solve a very real social problem ("Should I answer this call right now? Is it important?"), this here concept would utilize an inbuilt pressure sensor as well as a tweaked user interface. The caller would be able to press on the sensor in order to indicate the level of importance, and the receiver would be able to screen calls based on the level of severity. In theory, all of this sounds fantastic -- the only issue is that telemarketers (amongst others) all think that each of their calls is of the utmost importance. Like anything in life, this too would only truly work if not abused. Head on past the break and mash play -- we're pretty convinced this is just a few tweaks short of being amazing.
Pressure-sensitive drawing headed to iPad in free software library (video)
"The iPad's IPS panel is pressure-sensitive, you say?" No, that's not quite right, but with some clever software and a special capacitive stylus, the folks at Ten One Design built a convincing proof of concept anyhow. While we're not quite sure how it works, the current theory states that the soft tip of the stylus expands like a brush when you press it down, generating a "larger press" that can be detected by the hooks in Ten One's code -- which they soon plan to share as a free software library (assuming Apple allows) with developers around the world. See it in action in a video after the break, and if you're feeling your inner Rorschach today, let us know what you see in the above drawing.
LinnStrument multitouch music maker gets demoed on video, grasps for investors
Roger Linn. Ever heard of him? He's only the man behind the modern day drum machine and the original MPC-60, and he's also the man behind the concept you're inevitably peering at above. For now, Roger's calling this beaut the LinnStrument, and there's quite a back story to go along with it. The design began way back in 2006, with the goal being to create a full-on multitouch instrument with the ability to let one's finger dictate volume, timbre, pitch and pressure. No doubt, many have tried to concoct something similar, but Roger's discovery of TouchCo enabled him to create one sans the limitations of imitators. Unfortunately, Amazon quietly scooped up the startup in January of this year (to have this sort of technology available for the Kindle product line), and in turn, shut down TouchCo's involvement with the outside world. Now, Roger's being forced to reveal his unfinished work in hopes of attracting investors or unearthing another company that could mimic this sort of awesomeness en masse. Jump on past the break and mash play to get a better idea of what the world's missing out on, and be sure to tell Jeff Bezos "thanks" the next time you bump into him. [Thanks, Peter]
Peratech's QTC sensor technology headed to your next cellphone
We've always heard to strike while the iron's hot, and that's exactly what Peratech seems to be doing. Just weeks after we heard that the company's pressure-sensitive touchscreen methodology was being seriously considered by the powers that be, along comes Samsung Electro-mechanics to take 'em up on their offer. For those unaware, Samsung EM provides components to loads of leading phone makers, which could mean that Peratech's pressure sensitive 5-way input device is on its way to your next mobile as we speak. These so-called Navikeys will supposedly provide a greater level of immersion when interacting with phones, and we get the feeling that those aging dome switches are feeling mighty frightened by all this encroachment. The best part? Paratech claims that a "Navikey using QTC from Samsung EM is already being used in a Tier 1 mobile phone," so here's hoping that we find out exactly what phone that is in the near future.
Pressure-sensitive touchscreens show up on the not too distant horizon
Ever heard of quantum tunneling? It's the basis for the latest approach to gather steam in the never-ending quest to endue touchscreens with force recognition, and its promises are as lofty as you'd expect. Developed by UK researchers Peratech, this new methodology revolves around a 75-micrometer (less than a tenth of a millimeter) quantum tunneling composite, which display makers can add to their screens relatively cheaply and painlessly. The pressure-sensing layer consumes no power when it isn't depressed and requires a miniscule two micrometers of movement to register a touch. Japanese display maker Nissha (who counts LG and Nintendo among its customers) has grabbed a license and we're even hearing devices could be coming out as soon as April. Check the Peratech site for more info.
eSoles record foot pressure, not Inner City Pressure
The city is alive, the city is expanding, and we all know that living in the city can be demanding. But when lyrics from Jemaine and Bret just can't get you through the day, there's always eSoles -- er, something like that. At any rate, the aforesaid startup has developed specialized shoe insoles that are laced with pressure sensors (11 to be exact), all of which can communicate wirelessly with a nearby cellphone in order to provide real time analysis of one's step. In theory, these devices would enable athletes such as bikers and golfers to better understand how to position their feet in order to maximize performance. Founder Glen Hinshaw has stated that he hopes to have the product available in trial form by July, with full commercialization happening later this year. The pain? Around $300 to start, but he's hoping to bring that closer to $50 when production ramps up.
Breakfast Topic: Performance anxiety
I know it's just a game. Sometimes, though, I feel the pressure of having to perform well. It's obvious during Arena matches, where the pressure to win gets to the point where it frays nerves and leads to nerdrage, frustration, and sometimes just plain exasperation. When our GM announced that he would be holding tryouts for Ulduar based on our raid performance, I felt pressured to perform a little more. Even though we have all content on farm, I would respec to a PvE spec for Naxxramas of all things, just to perform well enough to justify getting into our Ulduar core group.Mind you, I'm a founding officer of this guild, but the tryouts apply to me just the same. I respect that a lot, as it means that our GM looks at everything from a performance persective and not just because this or that person is a friend or this or that person has been with the guild a long time. This gives me a lot of confidence for Ulduar. While most of the game now is pretty casual, I guess there are still a precious few aspects that put butterflies in our stomach. Would you agree? Let's say, being the healer in a PUG. Do you feel the pressure to perform? Do you feel like you're under the microscope? Or being the new recruit in an Arena team, do you feel like you have to come up with the numbers to keep your slot? Or how about when your guild is going after Immortal or Undying? As easy as the game seems now, what situations give you some form of stage fright?
Mobile phone sales drop 20% in Japan on less bountiful carrier subsidies
It doesn't take a finance major to figure out these two things are correlated, but yes, the fact that NTT DoCoMo saw profits increase some 41% while handset sales across Japan plummeted 20% do in fact have a common link. You see, DoCoMo (among others) has decided to lower rates and reduce subsidies in order to better exploit market conditions; the end result is that consumers are buying new handsets less often, leading to decreased sales for firms like Sharp and Matsushita. Many analysts are suggesting that some of the smaller outfits are likely to band together in an attempt to take on the new market, with IDC analyst Michito Kimura proclaiming that Japan would have "fewer mobile phone makers, fewer handset sales agents and fewer cellphone models." Hard to say if that's a net positive or negative just yet, but it should be interesting to watch, regardless.[Via mocoNews, image courtesy of Flickr]
Apple patent app describes force-sensitive touchpads
It's no secret that Apple loves its touchscreens, and a freshly published patent application provides a little reinforcement to that belief. The documentation explores a method for tossing in pressure-sensitivity to touchpads in order to add functionality, or as Cupertino puts it, "a new element of control." Furthermore, it's noted that "force information may be used as another input dimension for purposes of providing command and control signals to an associated electronic device," and it goes on to explain how spring membranes could be placed under the surface to detect force. Notably, the verbiage tends to "describe a touchpad like those used for the company's MacBook lines," but it does leave open the possibility for the newfangled pads to be used in mobile / portable devices such as the outfit's own iPhone.
Double-sided headphones, Popular Mobile software keeps you cool
Sure, there's a bevy of ways to effectively conceal the real you while out and about in public places, but Alice Wang's new lineup of Peer Pressure conquerors let you utilize surrounding technologies to boost your self-esteem (and your image). If you're not already rockin' the iPod suit to work, and don't want your cubicle buddies to overhear faint whispers of "Everybody Hurts" in the background, the two-sided headphones are for you. They play that sad, sad song into your ears, but emit a (presumably positive) song of your choice outwardly, giving everyone around you good vibes while you're down on your luck. Next up, the Popular Mobile software sporadically and continuously sends you fake text messages in order to show off just how popular you are whilst in a group of higher-ups, and while we're not sure if each message come pre-programmed with fortune cookie taglines, it's a surefire way to flaunt your appeal. Additionally, Alice has designed the Fast Typing Keyboard in order to make your office mates think you can crank out 120 words per minute, and the Positive Printer helps printer snoopers discover awfully amazing things about you that the upbeat software spits out. Of course, we're not expecting these admittedly handy creations to make their way into Office Depot anytime soon, but we'd love to be proven wrong.[Via NOTCOT]
Getting Up Revolution bound
Over at Gamedaily BIZ, an interview with Marc Ecko discusses reviewers tearing apart his garbage game and the possibility of Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure hitting the Revolution. When asked about bringing the game to the Revolution, utilzing the remote as if it were a spay paint can, Ecko stated "We're all over it. We are doing our due diligence now. I think community is ultimately what the brand experience needs to be about, and I think that's what's going to drive our decisions largely and the ability to customize the art." I can't be the only person that doesn't want this to release on the Revolution, can I?
