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Self-striping smart cloth is HyperColor for the 21st century
The debate over whether "the dress" is blue and black or white and gold now has a third answer: it can be both. At least it is when using a new color-changing fabric developed by a team from the College of Optics & Photonics (CREOL) at the University of Central Florida. This chameleon-like cloth is embedded with micro-wires that can shift the color of individual threads based on the amount of electrical current running through them.
Touch-sensitive wall might let you control home devices in the future
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Disney Research Pittsburgh think we can do more with our walls. In a research paper they're presenting this week at the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, they present a way to turn all of the static walls that do little more than separate spaces into sensing, interactive, smart pieces of infrastructure. The result of their work is a prototype of Wall++, a wall that can track touch and gestures, sense nearby bodies and their positions as well as detect and locate active appliances.
Smart Fortwo EV Cabrio is the tiny car for the big city
There are cars out there that fill a need in someone else's life. Maybe you live in a large city and don't have the room or desire for a truck with a powerful diesel engine. Or you're part of a couple that has no need for an SUV with seats for eight. For me, the Smart Fortwo Cabrio EV seemed to fit the bill of cars that would be good for someone, just not me. I like electric cars, but I also need something large enough to haul gear and, well, I like going fast. Then I spent a week with the tiny EV.
Cruising the Las Vegas Strip in the Smart Vision EQ concept car
Introduced at the Frankfurt auto show in September, the Smart Vision EQ from Mercedes-Benz is the automaker's EV concept that combines mobility, autonomy and connectivity. The result is a car built on the Smart Fortwo platform, can wink at pedestrians, has level-five autonomy (no steering wheel or pedals), and welcomes passengers by name. It also took me for a short ride on the Las Vegas Strip.
Researchers 3D-print WiFi-connected objects that don't need power
Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a way for 3D-printed plastic objects to transmit information via WiFi without the help of batteries or electronics. And they show that it can be done with commercially available plastics and WiFi receivers. "Our goal was to create something that just comes out of your 3D printer at home and can send useful information to other devices," Vikram Iyer, a graduate student on the project, said in a statement. "But the big challenge is how do you communicate wirelessly with WiFi using only plastic? That's something that no one has been able to do before."
Samsung's Gear watches will help with senior care and employee safety
Samsung is taking on the world of work via three new integrations with its Gear smartwatches. SoloProtect uses the Samsung Gear S3 to keep tabs on people who work alone, like real estate agents and home healthcare workers, while Reemo integrates with the Gear S3 and S2 to monitor the health of seniors in care facilities. Ability Wearables, along with Samsung's Gear Fit 2 and S3 devices, helps keep track of people who work long shifts, like truck drivers, construction employees and healthcare workers. Samsung is spotlighting these and a VR solution for fitness centers at the Mobile World Congress Americas conference in San Francisco this week.
Mercedes’ Smart Vision EQ is a tiny urban autonomous concept
During a series of song-and-dance numbers, Mercedes-Benz introduced its Smart Vision EQ concept vehicle. The pure electric, completely autonomous car is built for personalization without actual ownership. Based on the Smart Fortwo, the car is the company's vision of mobility and EVs.
Essential's Home assistant is slick, circular and not ready
When Essential Inc., the stealth startup headed by Android co-founder Andy Rubin, teased that May 30th would be a big day, it wasn't lying. We've already taken our first look at the Essential Phone -- a slick, powerful and durable Android-powered handset -- but that isn't the only product the company is showing off today. In its bid to take on Apple, Google and Amazon, Essential has unveiled "Home," a new intelligent assistant that it hopes owners will be proud to show off.
Daimler is going all-electric with 'Smart' cars in North America
Smart, a subsidiary of Daimler AG, announced on Tuesday that starting in 2018 all of its vehicles sold in North America will be of the electric variety. The company plans to stop selling the gas-powered Fortwo and Fortwo Cabrio in the US and Canada at the end of the 2017 model year.
The Kolibree smart toothbrush uses AI to help you clean your mouth
Be honest, you probably don't brush your teeth quite as often or as thoroughly as your dentist recommends. But that's OK: With the Kolibree Ara AI-enabled smart toothbrush, you can keep up with your daily dental routine and know exactly where you've missed.
IFTTT makes Amazon's Echo the center of UK smart homes
Now that the Amazon Echo is available in the UK, lots of brands and services have been working on introducing their own Alexa Skills. Owners can ask the intelligent digital assistant for news updates, to hail an Uber and even re-order their favourite takeaway, but one important feature has been missing: IFTTT integration. US owners have enjoyed IFTTT integration for over a year, but the recipe-based service has finally confirmed the launch of its Alexa channel in the UK.
Former Samsung engineers build a smart umbrella
Wouldn't it be great if your umbrella told you if it was going to rain before you left the house each morning? That's the idea behind the Opus One, a(nother) smart brolly that's been designed by a team of former Samsung engineers. The device (for it is not an umbrella now, but a device) connects to your smartphone over Bluetooth and pulls weather reports every morning. When it's time to go out, you simply shake the handle and a light will flash red or green, depending on what's coming.
Smart's diminutive vehicles will all have EV options in 2017
Smart's teeny-tiny and highly parkable vehicles aren't exactly known for their highway speeds, but they do make sensible grocery-getters for city folk with limited space. So it makes sense that the next model year from Mercedes-Benz's pint-sized line will offer an electric version as an option on every single vehicle.
Hive's smart thermostat gets IFTTT's recipe-based automation
If you own one of Hive's smart thermostats and are looking to get more from the connected appliance, today is your lucky day. The British Gas-owned company today announced that it's teamed up with IFTTT to provide recipe-based automation for the thermostat, allowing you to connect it to 300 other products and services.
The Prophix smart toothbrush will film the inside of your mouth
While your dentist may recommend using an electric toothbrush over a manual one, even with the added power, it's possible to miss spots while cleaning your teeth. The forthcoming Prophix smart video toothbrush from Onvi aims to improve your brushing efficiency by showing you a live stream of the inside of your mouth -- on your phone.
ICYMI: Smart coats, robot whiskers and vaporizing lasers
Today on In Case You Missed It: Google and Levi's team up to make a smart Canadian Tuxedo jacket, the University of Bristol teaches a whiskered robot to react to stimuli and Stanford's Linear Accelerator fries water droplets with an X-ray laser, because science!
Device that makes surfaces smart reaches funding in an hour
The Knocki team's Kickstarter campaign was a huge success: they managed to raise $35,000 in just over an hour. They've even reached $136,000 as of this writing. What enticed people to put their faith in Knocki's creator (Texas-based Swan Solutions) is the promise of a device that can turn any surface into a controller for various gadgets and smart devices in your home. So long as you attach a Knocki onto, say, a table, a countertop or a wall, it can recognize up to 10 unique tapping and knocking patterns.
Now there's a $700 smart cold-pressed juice maker
The world needs a "magical" $700, subscription-based juicer apparently. At least that's what the folks behind Juicero seem to think. The 31.5-pound countertop device ticks a few buzzword boxes (farm to table, smart, organic, has a companion app) while catering to our inherent laziness. The apparent draw, according to Business Insider, is that there's no mess or work involved: put an IV-bag-sized pouch in the machine and it spits out a cup of cold-pressed juice while telling you its nutritional content.
Kuvee's smart bottle is like a Keurig, but for wine
I'm no wine snob. Heck, my familiarity with wines doesn't extend much past knowing the difference between reds, whites and pinks -- excuse me, rosés. (Whatever.) And even if I find a wine I like, discovering similar brands or flavor profiles is an infuriating hit-or-miss process. Luckily, a forthcoming "smart" bottle system from Kuvée promises to take the frustration out of finding new wines. I recently tried out a prototype bottle for a weekend. Here's how it went.
The Ora-X smart headphones include a flippable AR display
Google Glass was, by all accounts, a spectacular flop in the eyes of potential consumers. Now, another company hopes to succeed where Google has failed by incorporating an AR display into a device people are far more familiar with: over-ear headphones.
