WorldExpo
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Canon Wonder Camera Concept promises single-lens perfection (video)
You know all those precious lenses you've been stockpiling for your SLR since the 90s? They're still safe for another couple of decades, but in round about 2030, you're gonna be trashing all that glassware and buying yourself a Wonder Camera. Why would that be? Canon is pretty confident that by then it'll have figured out how to do a single lens capable of going from macro shots all the way out to a 5000mm focal length. And yes, apparently it's small enough to fit in a young girl's hands. This non-interchangeable lens is backed by an all-touch interface (say sayonara to your knobs and dials), an extremely high-resolution sensor, and image stabilization so advanced as to make shooting at that unspeakably high zoom range a viable option. Finally, the whole lurid dream is topped off with video-only capture. Canon argues you won't need to shoot stills when its video is capable of keeping everything in focus all the time -- you'll just pick out your favorite scene from the movie reel. Go past the break to see the highfaultin video demo.
Zaragoza World Expo to feature MIT-designed "digital water" walls
While it might not quite match the robot invasion of the 2005 World Expo in Aichi, Japan, it looks like Zaragoza, Spain's 2008 World Expo won't be lacking for displays of technology either, with an MIT-designed "digital water pavilion" greeting visitors at the entrance. While its practicality may be in question, the pavilion certainly looks to be impressive enough, boasting computer-controlled walls of water that can display scrolling text or images, or automatically form a doorway when it detects a person approaching. To manage that feat, the MIT engineers employed a series solenoid valves that can be opened and closed at high frequency, effectively working, as MIT describes it, "like an inkjet printer on a large scale." It's also apparently not as wasteful as it seems at first glance, relying entirely on recycled water, with the water also eliminating the need for air conditioning.[Via PhysOrg]
