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'Invisible glass' could reduce display glare, fails as food-in-teeth mirror
There's nothing worse (seriously, it's scientifically proven) than catching some serious glare on your smartphone, unless you're checking for spinach in your teeth -- but thanks to Nippon Electric Glass' new "invisible glass," an overly reflective surface may be a problem of the past. According to our friends at Tech-On, the company has developed a new type of vitrine that reduces glare by using a special film on each side of the substrate, which allows more light to pass through the layers rather than bounce off the surface. Normal glass reflects around eight percent of light, while the new variety only rebounds 0.5 percent, dramatically reducing the luminous reflectance to around 0.1 percent or lower. Looks like your yearning to purchase this thing is finally justified.
New glasses-free 3D tech uses per pixel prisms for zero crosstalk, audience flexibility
Try as manufacturers might, attempts at autostereoscopic (glasses-free) TV have been subpar; existing tech typically makes for messy images due to ghosting, only provides a 3D effect if you're standing in one of a very few predetermined spots (usually 8-10 viewing angles, though we've heard of 64), and reduces display resolution -- all because only some pixels can be seen from each spot. With the occasional exception, it's not terribly impressive. Scientists at the National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan are looking to change that. Rather than block light with a parallax barrier, their screen uses a matrix of specially cut prisms to reflect it, reducing ghosting to nil and maintaining display resolution by sending the same image to each viewer. Though there are still a fixed number of viewing zones, the prisms are so tiny that manufacturers can simply add more prisms to each pixel to increase that number -- with 11 prisms per pixel, researchers say such a system could support 100 simultaneous 3D moviegoers. We've no word on whether the tech is affordable or when we'll see it, but we expect it to handily beat cyborg eyeballs to market.
Reflect table monitors conversations with LEDs, shows who's all talky
There's always that guy (or girl) who dominates meetings, saying the same thing over and over again, or just repeats what others say. We all find it annoying, and we all wish there was some way to make that blabbermouth aware of his (or her) social transgressions. Enter the Reflect table. Reflect monitors conversations and visualizes -- literally -- who has the table using an array of color LEDs. Microphones listen to all the talk and show who is currently talking, who talks the most, and who's being left out. This could be great for business meetings to tone down the "thinking outside the box," but could also be a terrifying ordeal on a first date.[Via MAKE]
Griffin wastes no time with new line of iPod accessories
We can't say we're surprised, but Griffin sure isn't messing around with this iPod accessory business. The company just announced a whole slew of cases for protecting your new iPod touch, classic or nano from the elements and your greasy fingerprints. Of course, no real surprises in the lineup, but we have to admit that "Reflect" case pictured above is a bit of a looker. Griffin should be shipping its new line, which ranges in price from $20 to $35, this October.[Via IGN]
