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XPrize winner says its Tricorder is better than 'Star Trek'
The technology of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek looked so far forward it could almost have been used as a visual aide to Arthur C. Clarke's third law: technology so advanced, it's indistinguishable from magic. Despite the fictional technological magic of transporters, replicators and warp drive, Qualcomm saw enough potential in the show's medical tricorder to challenge the world to build one. Now, the Tricorder XPrize finally has a winner in Final Frontier Medical Devices' DxtER. The result isn't so much an all-in-one scanner as collection of noninvasive medical-diagnosis gadgets. Even so, its creators claim the DxtER package is better than Star Trek's fictional tricorder.
ICYMI: Trekkie health scanner, car vending machine and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-924600{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-924600, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-924600{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-924600").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A vending machine for cars (by Carvana) just launched in Nashville, removing the necessity of talking to a car salesman -- or anyone, really -- before driving off in a new ride. Stanford engineers made a health scanner device that can detect a tumor in your body based on the energy vibration that it sends out. And two crowdfunded devices aim to help snoring sleepers put a sock in it. The first, Nora, comes with a pillow that deflates or otherwise moves, to reposition the offending sleeper's head. The other, Silent Partner, is a nose wearable that allegedly creates a quiet zone around the sleeper by sending out canceling sound waves.
Stanford scientists get a little closer to a medical tricorder
Being able to identify problems with a person's body without subjecting them to invasive procedures is the fantasy of all Star Trek doctors. There's even a prize offering a fortune to anyone who can effectively recreate the tricorder technology out in the real world. Now, Stanford scientists think that they've developed a system that, in time, could be used to spot cancerous tumors from a foot away.
This is the final hardware for Scanadu Scout: a real, functioning tricorder
It's been a long time coming, but a real, functioning tricorder is almost here, and we got to see the final hardware for it today at CES. Scanadu Scout is its name, and in case you aren't familiar, we've been tracking the little hand-held human health tracker since its inception in late 2012. Since that first glimpse of a prototype, the device has gotten a new design, been funded to the tune of more than $1 million on Indiegogo and the two devices you see above are the versions that'll be shipping out to backers at the end of March. The devices themselves are tightly crafted, with uniform seams around the chrome bits, and while they feel solid, they are still quite lightweight. Getting to this point hasn't been easy, however, as Walter de Brouwer, Scanadu's founder and CEO, tells us that the toroidal design he and his team dreamed up has proven exceedingly difficult to manufacture. Despite that fact, the tooling up has begun, and rest assured; the devices that make their way to the public will look like the ones we saw. And, should you like to live vicariously through us, you can see more of Scout in our gallery below, along with a few screenshots of the still-in-development companion app, too.
Scanadu Scout tricorder tops $1 million in funding, now comes in black
Scanadu clearly knows to tap into our collective Star Trek dreams, as the company just reached $1 million in funding for its Scout tricorder. The backing so far comes from people in 91 countries, including luminaries like Eugene Roddenberry (who else?) and Steve Wozniak. That figure is more than symbolic, we'd add -- backers who've paid for a Scout can now get theirs in black rather than a clinical-looking white. Should the new color option prove tempting, it's not necessarily too late; as of this writing, there's still a few days left to make a pledge.
Biosensor cradle makes your iPhone into a spectrometer
Researchers at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign have created a US$200 piece of hardware that turns any iPhone into a high-resolution spectrometer. The device allows the user to test for pathogens, toxins, allergens in food and perform medical diagnostic tests. The device is essentially a cradle with different lenses and filters. Users put a microscope slide into the cradle and line it up with the iPhone's camera and the additional lenses or filters. The companion app measures the white fluctuations, which allows it to analyze the substance under the lens. What's amazing is this entire solution costs only $200 and is just as accurate as $10,000 machines used in laboratories currently. Now that the researchers know the device works, they are currently working to add functionality to it, such as vitamin A and D testing, which will enable medical practitioners in developing countries to cheaply and easily test a patient's levels to help make sure they are getting the proper nutrition that will help children develop properly.
iPhone biosensor cradle brings us one step closer to having tricorders (video)
It seems like every day we're getting a little bit closer to having tricorders, and today's no exception. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have designed hardware and software that turns the iPhone into a powerful biosensor that's useful for toxin and pathogen testing as well as medical diagnosis. The package consists of a cradle that contains an assortment of lenses and filters which line up with the handset's camera, along with an app that guides the user through the testing process. At the core of the device is a photonic crystal slide which basically turns the iPhone into a high-resolution spectrometer. While the cradle only contains about $200 worth of parts, it's just as accurate as laboratory equipment costing tens of thousands of dollars, with the added bonus of being hand-held. The team just received an NSF grant to explore other applications for the device and is working on a cradle for Android phones. Hit the break for a demo video and a peek into the future.
Scanadu finalizes Scout tricorder design, wants user feedback to help it get FDA approval
We first saw a prototype of Scout, the tricorder and companion app built by Scanadu for the Tricorder X-prize competition late last year. Today, the company is unveiling Scout's final version and launching an Indiegogo campaign to let folks order Scout and sign up to participate in a usability study -- which will provide Scanadu the user feedback needed to help its tricorder get certified by the FDA. In the six months since Scout was first revealed, the design has changed somewhat, and we checked in with company CEO Walter De Brouwer to get the lowdown on the new version. Like the prototype, the new model tracks your temperature, respiratory rate, systolic blood pressure and stress level. Scout now pulls your vitals in ten seconds using just optical sensors, which enables it to read the vital signs of others -- as opposed to the prototype which utilized an EEG sensor and could only record the info of the person holding it. Plus, thanks to some newly developed algorithms, it can now take both systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings with 95 percent accuracy. Running the algorithms to translate the optical sensor info takes a good bit of computing power, however. So, Scout got upgraded from an 8-bit processor to a 32-bit unit based on Micrium, the operation system being used by NASA's Curiosity Rover for sample analysis on Mars. If you're into supporting real world space technology being used to make science fiction a reality, the crowdfunding project of your dreams has arrived.
Texas Instruments brings sci-fi tech to life with DLP (hands-on video)
We've come across a number of DLP-based pico projectors over the years and while these products are getting smaller, brighter and higher resolution, it's the integration with other devices that's really captured our imagination. Samsung's Galaxy Beam, which we reviewed last year, merges a 15-lumen nHD (640x360) DLP-based pico projector with a Galaxy S Advance. More recently at CES 2013, Texas Instruments announced its new Tilt & Roll Pixel chip architecture and demoed a handful of other DLP-equipped products live on our stage, including 3M's Streaming Projector and Smart Devices' U7 tablet. The company recently invited us to play with some of these devices and to show us other applications in areas such as 3D printing, 3D scanning, optical research, medical imaging and even automotive. Some of this DLP-equipped tech, like the Interactive Center Console, shows where we're headed in the near future -- other products, like Christie's VeinViewer Flex, exist today but remind us of something right out of science-fiction. Take a look at our galleries below, then join us after the break for our hands-on video and more info on these devices.
Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize registration begins tomorrow
Who hasn't dreamed of having a Tricorder from the show Star Trek? Qualcomm announced the Tricorder X Prize last year, who's aim is to create a Star Trek-like device. Those who are interested in fame and fortune, as well as the $10 million prize, can finally register starting tomorrow and then they have to actually make it happen. There have already been over 250 teams pre-registered for the competition, and those interested can head to the official site for the full guidelines and actually register for the site. Follow all the latest CES 2013 news at our event hub.
Scanadu's Scout tricorder and companion app detect what ails you, arrive in 2013 for $150
The quest to create a tricorder began many years ago, when such a device was but a figment of Gene Roddenberry's vivid imagination. However, his vision has crept ever closer to reality in recent years, with many researchers crafting devices capable of gathering human health data and the creation of an X Prize competition to spur further tricorder development. Scanadu is a company that's answered the X Prize bell and is aiming to bring just such a device to market by late next year for a mere $150. Called Scout, the tricorder is roughly two inches square and a half an inch thick and packs a rechargeable battery, IR , EEG and EKG scanners, plus an accelerometer, Bluetooth radio and a micro-USB port. That hardware, when combined with Scout's companion smartphone app can track a person's heart rate, breathing rate, body temperature, pulse transit (essentially systolic blood pressure) and blood oxygenation. To gather that data, users first must download the free Scout app and pair the tricorder hardware with their Android, iOS or BB7 handset via Bluetooth. Then it's simply a matter of pinching the device between their thumb and finger and holding it against their temple for ten seconds while the app takes the necessary readings. From there, the app can track your data over the long haul and provide an accurate picture of your health. We had a chance to see functional and production Scout prototypes and to speak with Scanadu CEO Walter De Brouwer and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Alan Greene about Scout's development, so join us after the break for more.
Glove Tricorder helps train doctors, may lead to DIY cancer screening
It may look like an early prototype of the Power Glove, but this wearable "tricorder" is not only less embarrassing than the doomed Nintendo peripheral -- it's also quite a bit more advanced technologically. This second prototype of the medical gadget is home to a veritable arsenal of sensors, including an accelerometer, pressure and temperature modules. Eventually, Med Sensation hopes to place ultrasound pads on the fingertips, allowing physicians to peer inside the body while they poke and prod in an attempt to diagnose you. At the moment, the system is better suited for providing feedback -- guiding trainees in the proper techniques for giving exams. Ultimately though, the hope is to put these in (or would that be on?) the hands of average Joes and Janes. Individuals could then check for lumps or enlarged organs at home, without having to spend half the day sitting in a waiting room. For a brief demonstration, check out the video after the break.
Tricorder designs go open source: can detect magnetic fields, reveal Trekkies (video)
We're still working on our own plans to grab that $10 million Tricorder X-Prize from Qualcomm and our progress has just been given a shot in the arm from Dr. Peter Jansen, who's released the designs for his tricorders. Making all the specifics open source, his Mark 2 model runs on Linux, while the hardware includes an ARM Atmel microcontroller squeezed into a clam-shell with two OLED touchscreens. Schematics, board layouts, and the firmware is all available at the source below and also includes the initial proof-of-concept device. The tricorders need six AAA to run and include sensors for temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, ambient light, distance and even magnetic fields. Dr. Jansen's hope is to make scientists out of everyone -- including your kids. That is, right after they ask you what Star Trek is.
Captain's Log: Incoming messages from the devs... again
Captain's Log, Stardate 65131.6... Hello, computer (and players)! I seem to mention this all the time, but I believe it to be true: The developers working on Star Trek Online are more transparent with their work than the devs of most other games. Whether or not this transparency has been always been a good thing is debatable, though. Still, no matter what one's thoughts on this are, I think we can all agree we like to be "in the know" when it comes to new things in development. This past weekend, a select group of STO players was able to attend another Dine with the Devs event, hosted by yours truly, where transparency was taken to the next level. As I let you all know last week, the second-ever Dine with the STO Devs event coincided with some STO devs' visit to the Star Trek Las Vegas convention. Over 50 players gathered at a local Vegas restaurant to eat, drink and bombard Cryptic's developers with their most burning questions. Because 99.99% of the game's players were unable to attend, I captured the entire event on audio and would like to present you with a basic transcript of the evening's events. So make some food, grab a drink, and get ready to fire up the Holodeck for another edition of Captain's Log. Ensign, warp 10! Auxiliary power to the Holodeck matrices and brace for impact...
Ultrawideband tech could connect your body to doctors, bring Tricorders to the mainstream
The academic paper 'Experimental Characterization of a UWB Channel for Body Area Networks' won't reshape your mental state, but that's because academic papers are rarely titled 'OMG. Tricorders!'. A team of scientists at Oregon State University have examined ultrawideband tech to see if it's capable of transmitting the enormous load of data required to monitor a human body. Imagine it; your heart rate is monitored on your watch, smart bandages examine your blood insulin levels and feedback-pants measure your muscle responses, all viewed online by a doctor. Sadly you can't rush to your nearest hospital and demand to be wired with some X Prize - winning kit -- there's a couple of hurdles to overcome before you can more efficiently post your bodily functions to Twitter. Transmission had to be line-of-sight and the energy needs are too vast for a handheld device. Still, given how sophisticated the network technology will be when it's perfected, don't be surprised if civilization grinds to a halt when Quake is ported to your temporal lobe.
An interview with Apple's first CEO, Michael Scott
Business Insider conducted an excellent interview with Apple's first CEO, Michael Scott. In it Scott spills some details about the very first days of Apple. There are little interesting details such as the Apple employee numbering scheme, which came out of necessity. Bank of America, where Apple opened its first bank account, required that all employees have numbers for payroll purposes. Scott took number 7, even though chronologically he was Apple's fifth employee: "I was employee number seven, because I wanted number seven... I was 007, of course, as a joke." Scott also reveals plenty of anecdotes about Steve Jobs, like his attention to details and products, but not to people: "They spent weeks and weeks arguing exactly how rounded [the Apple II case] would be. So that attention to detail is what Steve is known for, but it also is his weakness because he pays attention to the detail of the product, but not to the people. To me, the biggest thing in growing a company is you need to grow the people, so it's like being a farmer, you need to grow your staff and everybody else too as much as you can to enable the company to grow, just as much as you need to sell the product." The entire article is well worth a read. It's also interesting to learn that Apple's first CEO is now working on a bona fide Star Trek tricorder: "I'm working on a tricorder. It's from the first Star Trek. It's a handheld gadget where you hold it out and it tells you what something was. So I'm working on the libraries that would let you take something the size of a cell phone and if you're walking out the trail, aim it at a rock, and it'll tell you whether it's a sapphire, and emerald, etc. So the technology is there now. What's not there is the library routine that tells you what things are." That sounds like a heck of a feature for future iPhones. Steve Jobs, are you paying attention?
Captain's Log: A non-trekkie guide to Star Trek Online
Perhaps you've been hearing a lot of buzz about Star Trek Online lately. Or, perhaps you're reading this article in the year 2018, after the robots have begun their bloody revolt. Either way, you've never been way into Star Trek, but find yourself curious about this new MMO based on the franchise. In that cast, this iteration of Captain's Log is just for you. As a side note, this will be the last week you'll find this feature going live on Friday. Henceforth, a new Captain's Log will appear every Thursday -- so keep an eye out!
NASA turns iPhone into chemical sensor, can an App Store rejection be far away?
People have been trying to turn cellphones into medical and atmospheric scanners for some time now, but when it's NASA stepping up to the plate with a little device to monitor trace amounts of chemicals in the air, it's hard to not start thinking we might finally have a use for all those tricorder ringtones. Developed by a team of researchers at the Ames Research Center led by Jing Li, the device is a small chip that plugs into the bottom of an iPhone and uses 16 nanosensors to detect the concentration of gasses like ammonia, chlorine, and methane. To what purpose exactly this device will serve and why the relatively closed iPhone was chosen as a development platform are mysteries we're simply not capable of answering. Damn it, man, we're bloggers not scientists! Update: George Yu, a developer who wrote this implementation for Jing Li, commented to let us know that the choice to go with the iPhone was made because it was "cool," but he soon realized that choice was a "horrible mistake." We're guessing that could have something to do with an apparent lack of wireless coverage at Ames if the above screenshot is anything to go by.
GE VScan portable ultrasound earns the Leonard McCoy seal of approval
Well, would you look at this little beaut from from the Web 2.0 summit. General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt swung by the event last night pocketing the not-quite-flip phone tricorder Vscan, which all kidding aside is one of the smallest functional ultrasound machines we've seen. The goal is for doctors to have better access to specialist tools, reducing the number of referrals and improving diagnoses, etc. -- and we're sure selling an absolute ton of these is probably on the to-do list as well. See a glimpse of it in action after the break. [Via Pocket-Lint]
Tricorder PMP-09 won't analyze data or call Starfleet, will lift your spirits with music
Let us tell you, this isn't any ordinary Star Trek tricorder prop, if such a thing exists. The Tricorder PMP-09 looks an awful lot like the Mark X model from the series, has a 2.8-inch TFT screen, plays up to 12 hours music / 4 hours of video and supports AVI, MP4, JPG, BMP, and WAV files. It boasts 12 different LCARS / themed interface, and from what we can see on the site, at least six different skins, including Starfleet, Borg, Workbee, and Marine. Starting price is $362.50 for US orders / $384.50 for international. It probably won't help you in the event of a Sith or Dalek encounter, or if you find yourself in need of medical assistance, but the next time you run into a Deep Space 9 crew member on the street, you better believe this'll make for a great ice breaker. Videos of the packaging and working display model, flashing LEDs and all, after the break. [Thanks, Anthony]
