Rutgers University
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Spray-on plant coating could replace wasteful plastic food wrap
Scientists have created a plant-based coating that would be greener and safer than plastic food wrap.
Automated test-taking monitor records your every move
Taking a college course online usually means you're attending class in your underwear while eating a third bowl of cereal. But some Rutgers students were surprised to find out they'd have to put on some pants to take their midterms, since their every move would be recorded via webcam. Plus, the system monitoring them would flag seemingly arbitrary infractions for review.
Rutgers' underwater roboglider crosses the Atlantic, claims to be on business trip
The so-called Scarlet Knight robot has this week completed a 225-day journey from the shores of New Jersey to the sandy beaches of Baiona in Spain -- fittingly the same port Christopher Columbus returned to after his first visit to the Americas -- aided only by a battery, ocean currents and its innate intelligence. Built by Rutgers University, the youthful robotic trailblazer performed a number of data gathering tasks as it went along, furnishing climate change researchers with more info on temperature levels, water salination and currents within the Atlantic Ocean. Now that it has been handed back to the US, the machine will be put up on display in the Smithsonian, so if you want a peek at the future of globetrotting that'll be the place to go.
Xbox and P5 glove modified to help stroke patients
Researchers at Rutgers University don't seem to have lost any of their homebrew skills, taking an Xbox and an Essential Reality P5 gaming glove to create a low-cost alternative to traditional virtual reality rehabilitation systems -- systems which can cost up to ten times as much. This project uses some custom-made software to deliver exercises designed to help stroke patients regain hand movement, with one "game" consisting of wiping "dirty pixels" off four vertical bars, while another asks the patient to make a fist fast enough to scare a butterfly off the screen. Of course, the system isn't quite up to snuff with the more expensive options -- it has poorer accuracy and no force feedback, for instance -- but the researchers say it could still be a boon to clinics that can't afford the pricier gear and could even potentially be further modified to allow for home-care with monitoring via an Internet connection.[Via BoingBoing]
