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L'Artisan Electronique ushers in the era of the virtual pottery wheel (video)
Want to reenact Ghost but don't care for all the messy bits? Let lasers do the work for you. L'Artisan Electronique uses a laser scanner to detect your hand-sculpting gestures, transfers their gently urging instructions over to a computerized 3D model, and -- should your production exhibit sufficient creativity or je ne sais quoi -- prints it out using a 3D ceramic printer. This is part of a Design by Performance exhibition taking place over in Belgium and is seriously one of the cooler things you're going to come across today -- or any other day, for that matter. See it on video after the break.
iPhoto update, Bonjour Print Services available for Windows users
Along with the iTunes update, iPhoto '09 users will also see an upgrade to 8.1.2 sitting in their Software Update right now -- namely to fix import and syncing issues with the iPhone, iPod and Apple TV. Canon printer and scanner users will also have the latest software for their products installed. You can pick up the 12.9mb update right now in the Software Update app. Windows users can also download Bonjour Print Services to discover and configure Bonjour-enabled printers using the Bonjour Printer Wizard. Thanks to those who tipped us off!
Macworld 2010: TUAW video interview with The Neat Company
Steve Sande visited with Kevin Garton of The Neat Company today to hear what the scanning superpower is up to at Macworld 2010. The company is about to go live with a beta of a new version of NeatWorks for Mac, and Garton noted that Mac users will be able to join the beta program. Just in time for the tax season, the new version will provide the capability of flagging receipt scans with taxing categories, as well as creating numerous levels of folders and subfolders for organization of your receipts. If you'll be at Macworld Expo 2010, drop by the Neat booth (#847) to see the software and several of the company's other products in action.
Intel Reader hands-on
Making our all so stealthy escape from the Intel booth today, we came across the Reader -- the big chipmaker's text scanning device which reads aloud and provides a high contrast, large-sized reading facility for people with visual or mental impairments. We tried it out on a real quick and dirty scan from a newspaper, and while it picked up plenty of text bits from articles outside the one we cared to read, it was a pretty robust little setup in our opinion. The readouts were pretty robotic, but this isn't really intended as an ebook reader with vocal chords, so we'll give it a pass for that. We still cringe at the $1,500 price tag, though on the whole it looked like a well thought-out device with a very specific use. Check out the pictures below and a video awaits after the break. %Gallery-81997%
Sony's FVA-U1 reads veins, coming to Japan this month
Sony has finally delivered on its Mofiria promise with what it claims is the world's smallest and lightest finger vein reader. That assertion may be challenged by Hitachi, whose 3mm-thick scanner promises to be even smaller, but the critical difference here is that the FVA-U1 is about to go on sale in Japan come December 18, whereas Hitachi's hardware is nowhere to be found. The Sony scanner weighs a measly 33 grams, hooks up via USB, and adds an extra layer of biometric protection for your most precious data. Whether carrying around an extra dongle just to protect some Excel spreadsheets and your Outlook account is worth it, we leave up to you.
First Look: JotNot Scanner for iPhone updated to version 2.0
There's certainly no shortage when it comes to iPhone apps that turn your device into a pocket-sized scanner. At various times, TUAW bloggers have reviewed or discussed Readdle ScannerPro [US$6.99 (currently on sale for US$4.99), iTunes Link], DocScanner [US$8.99, iTunes Link], and JotNot [US$4.99, iTunes Link]. Of course, there is also a flock of business card scanners, but what I'm discussing in this post are the apps that say that they'll replace that flatbed scanner on your desk with a device you already have in your pocket or purse. MobiTech 3000 just released version 2.0 of the JotNot scanner app, and the update appears to be quite useful. I've owned the app for a while and have successfully used it to capture documents for posterity. The update provides a few additional features that I had been hoping for: Multipage support Automatic edge detection WebDAV/iDisk support Camera stabilization (requires OS 3.1) Automated backup of scans Reordering pages An extensive web-based help In app support Of the new features, I am most happy about two of them; multipage support and camera stabilization. Multipage support means exactly what it implies; you can scan multiple page documents and have them saved into one PDF document. Previously, JotNot would create one PDF file for each and every document you scanned. That meant that combining PDFs required that you export the files to a Mac or PC, then use something like Adobe Acrobat Pro to merge the files.
ScanSnap Manager updated for Snow Leopard
Fujitsu has finally updated the ScanSnap Manager app for Snow Leopard. "Version 2.2 L12" is available for download for the following models: ScanSnap S300M ScanSnap S510M ScanSnap S500M ScanSnap S1500M Unfortunately, for some bizarre reason they require that the previous version be installed before installing this version, which means that if you did a clean installation of Snow Leopard (like I did), you will have to download and install the old, incompatible version first, and then run the new installer. The installer also forces the ScanSnap manager into your Login Items which is only slightly less obnoxious than forcing itself into your dock. Also, if you use FineReader for ScanSnap S1500M and S510M, the Snow Leopard update is still not available, but you can sign up to be notified when it is released. Thanks to DEVONtechnologies for the heads-up!
Intel Reader handheld device converts text to spoken word
While we busy ourselves with arguments about how to replace the perfectly usable book gadget, Intel is dealing with the complications that keep far too many people from being able to read at all. Presenting its Reader as a necessity rather than luxury, Intel has shown off its vision for how visually impaired and dyslexic people can obtain access to the written word. Combining a text-scanning camera with a text-to-speech engine (powered by an Atom inside) is certainly no bad idea, but as the video beyond the break will show you, Intel's execution isn't exactly stellar. The arrhythmic, robotic reading from Alice In Wonderland left us shaken, but what floored us was the $1,499 asking price. Yes, it's a customized niche device, but we reckon we could build something similar for a third of the price. Full PR and video after the break.
DocuPen X hits earth for all your pen scanner needs
Thinking maybe you can't live another day without finally breaking down and purchasing a pen scanner? We can sympathize. There are plenty on the market, but the newly hatched DocuPen X Series is mildly more interesting than most out there. They've managed to cram 64MB of memory, Bluetooth, a tiny OLED screen and a lithium ion battery all in that tiny package, and if you're the sunflower seed-eating, alien-hunting type, you probably want one of these for scanning your files at up to 600 dots per inch. DocuPen's teensy X Series scanners start at $370.
Mice run through Quake, Princeton neuroscientists scan their brains for traces of evil (video)
Want to know just how prevalent technology has become in our lives? Now even lab mice get Quake-derived virtual reality playgrounds to navigate instead of their old school wooden mazes. In all honesty, this appears a significant and praiseworthy advancement, as the Princeton team have succeeded in mapping brain activity right down to the cellular level, with real-time tracking of single neurons now possible. The Orwellian-looking setup above is necessary in order to keep the mouse's head immobile, and thus capable of being studied, while the animal moves around and its brain performs motion-related tasks. Go past the break to see a schematic of the scanner and a quite unmissable video of it in action.[Via Switched]
'Spider pill' bowel scanner will be ready within a year
Endoscopy, or the examination of a person's bowels via a tube-mounted camera, is not exactly the most pleasant medical procedure one could undergo. In 2004, we noted the early stages of a project to alleviate the (literal) pain of the procedure with a spider pill, which -- once swallowed by the hopefully willing patient -- can be remotely controlled and positioned inside the human body. Yes, it's a tiny, wirelessly communicating robot with a camera for a head crawling inside you. Hit the read link for the full BBC report, it really is worth seeing, and start your Innerspace jokes ... now!
Scanning your way to a healthier diet with FoodScanner
Calories do count, and if you are among those who keep track of your daily intake and want an easy way to log what you eat, FoodScanner [iTunes link] may be just the iPhone app for you.On a trip to the grocery store or just your fridge, FoodScanner reads the bar code and matches it to a large database of food items. If the app is successful in finding a match, you'll get the product name, amount of calories in a single serving, fat, carbohydrates, and protein content. You can that information to a daily list to keep track of what you are eating, without the pain of doing it all on pencil and paper.While on a trip to my local Safeway, the bar code recognition worked really well. It just took a second or so to capture the info, and then match it to a database claiming to list over 200,000 food items.In many cases, the scan returned several items, but it was a simple task to select the correct item by name.
Z Corporation debuts "world's most affordable" portable 3D scanner, still more expensive than your car
Sure, you might be able to get by with a home-built, even Lego-built 3D scanner in a pinch, but those looking for a truly portable, off-the-shelf solution have so far been limited to pricey options like Z Corporation's ZScanner 700. Well, it looks like good 'ol Z Corp has some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is that it's knocked over $10,000 off the price for its new ZScanner 600 model. The bad news? It'll still cost you $28,900. That'll get you a sampling speed of 18,000 measurements per second, however, along with an XY accuracy of up to 80 microns, resolution down to just 0.1 mm, a depth of field of 30 cm, a FireWire interface, and Z Corp's own ZScan Lite software (Windows only). It also uses an eye-safe laser, so there's nothing but hefty credit card bill standing between you and a trip to the uncanny valley.[Via SlashGear]
HP experts to provide real-time support for Snow Leopard users on 9/9
Have you upgraded to Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and found that your HP printer or All-in-one is having issues? HP announced today that experts from the company will be providing real-time support on September 9th to help you out. From 8 AM to 5 PM PDT on September 9th, 2009, HP's Mac-connect team will be monitoring the HP Mac Printing & Scanning Board (part of the HP Support Forums). HP customers who post questions about compatibility with Snow Leopard can expect a quick response from the HP team. After the real-time session, the Mac-connect team will continue to provide help through the Forums. HP noted in their press release today that "HP has worked closely with Apple throughout the Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard development process, enabling customers to enjoy built-in print driver support for more than 1,300 worldwide HP peripherals out of the box – the most ever offered by HP for a new Mac OS. In addition to print driver support, HP is providing scan support for the latest HP Inkjet All-in-Ones built into the operating system." More information about HP products and Mac compatibility can be found at www.hp.com/go/mac.
Movie Gadget Friday: Weird Science
Ariel Waldman contributes Movie Gadget Friday, where she highlights the lovable and lame gadgets from the world of cinema. We last left off on the cyberpunk streets of LA in Strange Days. This week, in honor of the loss of the man behind so many 1980's icons, Movie Gadget Friday is paying homage to filmmaker John Hughes with a look into the 1985 cult-classic Weird Science. Tapping into the geek-fiction fantasies of most tinkering teenagers, real-life gadget specs are stretched to surreal capabilities to create the ultimate female bombshell. It's without surprise that the character's name, Lisa, was inspired by the Apple Lisa, Apple's first GUI computer.
Book scanning gets a 1,000 fps turbo mode
No matter how fly or flashy modern scanners become, there's no getting away from their page-by-page assembly line style of operation. Or so we thought. The Ishikawa Komuro Lab at Tokyo University has demonstrated a prototype scanner capable of recording the contents of pages as they turn. Using a laser range projector to estimate page geometry, the camera adjusts for light and movement distortion as necessary and retains faithful copies of the original. At present it's more a proof of concept for the underlying vision processing unit than a commercial venture, but all it needs is one major manufacturer to pick it up and the paperless revolution can finally get started in earnest. [Via Plastic Pals]
TUAW Sneak Preview: Doxie scanner from Apparent Corporation
Apparent Corporation, makers of the popular Intelliscanner barcode scanners, has announced that their new Doxie document scanner is in private beta-testing and on track for release to the public in November, 2009. Doxie is a USB-powered 600-dpi photo, document, and receipt scanner designed to integrate with a number of undisclosed Web and Mac apps. While I'm personally disappointed that Apparent didn't go with the pink and white Good & Plenty candy color scheme, the Doxie is heart-friendly and comes emblazoned with a number of pink hearts. The biggest heart is on the single scan button, which is just visible in the top right of the photo above. I was shocked to find a mistake in the press release, in which they said there were 9 hearts on the device. There are actually 10: one above the "i" in the logo, 8 after the logo, and one on the scan button.A cool thing about Doxie is that it will automatically know when you're trying to scan a photo, clean up the photo (straighten it and trim if necessary), and then politely offer to put the photo into your iPhoto Library, Flickr pool, or other web apps. As an Apparent spokesperson noted, the company isn't interested in coming out with yet another piece of software to store your receipts and documents. Instead, they want Doxie to work with as many existing Mac, Windows, and Web apps as possible. One comment from the developers that may point to some rather unique functionality is that they recommend using Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Doxie will retail for $129, and you can sign up for updates and early release information at the new website, which went live today.
RedLaser for iPhone scans for bargains
I wouldn't have thought it was possible to get an iPhone to capture barcodes clearly, but Occipital has done it with a new $1.99US iPhone app called RedLaser [App Store]. Why capture barcodes? One good use is to find better prices for a product. Scan a product in the store, then RedLaser captures the barcode and does a quick Google or Amazon search to give you quick price comparisons. I tried the app at a bookstore and my local Best Buy and was surprised how well it worked. You need pretty good light to capture a barcode, which is an issue with the iPhone camera, not the RedLaser software. You need to hold the camera steady. The best way is by holding down the button to take the picture, then release when you are steady. RedLaser gives you the option to try again, and guides you on how far the camera needs to be away from the barcode. Then RedLaser instantly goes out to the internet and gets you the price comparisons. In practice I had some misses. The camera wasn't at quite the right distance, or I was a bit shaky holding it. In most instances, however, I was able to get the barcode and see the price comparisons I was looking for. It's also important that the camera not be tilted in relation to the barcode. Try to keep everything lined up. And the app will not work at all unless you have an internet connection. It would be nice if it could store the barcodes, then go out and identify them when you have a good signal. You also get the ability to mail your product list to yourself or a friend to read it on a bigger screen when you get home. The clever technology in the app is able to sharpen the image a great deal, making the iPhone camera a feasible platform for this app. When you take the picture the barcode will look pretty fuzzy, but after a couple of seconds of processing it looks quite good, which is the magic that RedLaser accomplishes.I'd expect this will work fine for most people, but there are some negative comments at the iTunes store as well, largely, I suspect, from people who couldn't hold it steady, had bad light, or glare falling across the barcode. When I eliminated those issues, it seemed to work fine.Note: This app only recognizes US and UK UPC and EAN barcodes. It works works best on standard-sized barcodes, but I had success with some smaller ones as well.Here's are some screen shots of RedLaser in action: %Gallery-63612%
Calling all iPhones! Emergency scanner apps on the loose!
Sometimes it's uncanny how many similar iPhone apps appear at about the same time. Over the past week or so, we've heard about a number of new apps that "tune you into" streaming police, fire, and emergency medical service radio services. Apps like this can be useful to volunteer firefighters, off-duty policemen, news crews, scanner enthusiasts, and the occasional ambulance-chasing lawyer. The first out of the box is Police Scanner 1.1 (US$2.99, click opens iTunes) from Juicy Development. This app now features over 1,100 streams from 7 different countries and a streamlined interface for getting to your favorite local emergency radio, The developers will add any compatible stream to their app within hours of being notified of that stream, so if there are no local radios listed now, there may be soon. Next in the queue is Emergency Radio 1.1 (US$0.99, click opens iTunes) from Edge Rift. It's available in a free "Lite" version if you want to try it out on a handful of major cities, or you can spend a buck to get over 900 feeds from all over the US. I personally thought the code lists (see photo) are a nice touch.If you prefer a little music with your police calls, Wunder Radio 1.6 (US$6.99, click opens iTunes) not only captures the same emergency radio streams from ScanAmerica.us as the other two apps, but is also the best (IMHO) iPhone app out there for listening to local radio stations. It also gives you NOAA weather information for US locations, not to mention railroad crew and dispatch calls. Regardless of which scanner app you select, it's sure to give you hours of fun, and it's definitely worth listening in on why the cops visited your neighbor's house at 3 A.M.
First Look: Scannerless scanning with Creaceed Prizmo
Last year I resolved to start keeping track of my business expenses more accurately. I bought NeatReceipts for Mac, but found that even with the diminutive size of the included scanner I didn't want to take it on trips with me. The result? I still ended up with a pile of receipts at the end of each business trip that I needed to scan. What I needed was a scanner that was always with me and didn't take up any additional space in my laptop bag.Creaceed has come up with a solution in the form of Prizmo, which allows you to use any digital camera -- including the one built into your iPhone -- as a scanner. Once you've taken a picture of any item, you drop it onto Prizmo on your Mac. The application then corrects for lens distortion and perspective, essentially "flattening" the item you're scanning, and provides tools for cropping, changing brightness, and tweaking contrast.The lens distortion algorithm uses a calibration that is created for specific cameras. As users calibrate their own cameras through a process described in the Prizmo user manual, they can add them to a calibration library that is being created.
