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Utah researchers create 'Spintronic' LED, claim it's 'brighter, cheaper' and eco-friendly
Spintronics? Not exactly a new term 'round these parts, but University of Utah physicists are applying it in a unique way that may eventually make TVs look even sharper than they do today. The entity is trumpeting a new "spintronic" organic light-emitting diode (that's OLED, for short) that's said to be "cheaper and more environmentally friendly than the kinds of LEDs now used in television and computer displays, lighting, traffic lights and numerous electronic devices." Z. Valy Vardeny is even going so far as to call it a "completely different technology," and better still, a prototype has already been made. The professor expects that the newfangled tech -- which produces an orange glow today -- will be able to product red, blue and white spin OLEDs within a few years. It's a lot to wade through, but here's our question: will these things make the Galaxy S XI impeccably visible in outdoor sunlight? (Please say "yes.")
Accelerometer mic could change the way we look at cochlear implants
Hearing aids aren't the most discreet cybernetic creations, because the need for a clog-free microphone means that they generally need an external component. Engineers at the University of Utah and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland aim to change everything with a much smaller mic that uses an accelerometer to detect sound vibrations -- so it requires no opening and can be inserted right into the ear. The only exterior hardware is the charger -- worn exclusively at night. Clinical trials in living humans begin approximately three years from now, and if you're looking forward to using this new device, removal of the incus (or anvil bone) in the middle-ear must first take place to optimize effectiveness of the new implant. We never said it'd be pretty.
Controller prototype stretches thumbs for extra feedback
Video game feedback systems haven't changed dramatically since the implementation of "rumble" over a decade ago. Engineers at the University of Utah hope to change that with a new kind of controller. The prototype controller provides haptic feedback via small pads that sit under the player's thumbs. These pads can move in any direction, stretching the skin of the thumb, offering directional cues or simulating in-game events.The pads can mimic the usual game fare -- explosions and the like -- but they can also simulate more tactile sensations, like the "feeling" of crawling on the ground while prone in a shooter. Another example shows the pads indicating the direction that enemy fire is coming from, or simulating impact against a surface.It's a bit hard to grasp from the description alone, so we suggest you check out the video above for a peek at our possible future. Associate professor of mechanical engineering, William Provancher, hopes to see the controller in production in time for the next generation of game consoles.
Experimental controller has 'thumbstick within thumbstick' for blistering sensations (video)
Just when you thought slingshots were the future, here comes a whole new way to enjoy baddie deletion in Uncharted 7. Each thumbstick on the prototype controller above has a secondary force feedback-enabled nub at its center, which moves independently and creates different sensations by stretching the skin on the pad of your opposable digit. In the video after the break, the designers at the University of Utah show how they've created effects for crawling, collisions, explosions and even fishing. They're apparently hoping to push their technology into next-gen games consoles, but they'll have to join the queue.
Researchers use wireless network to monitor breathing, could save lives
When Neal Patwari and his team of researchers developed a wireless network capable of seeing through walls, we assumed they were simply looking to cultivate their Alastor Moody-like superpowers. Turns out, they had far more important things on their minds. Patwari and his colleagues at the University of Utah have now penned a new study in which they demonstrate how their motion detecting technology could be used to monitor breathing patterns, as well, potentially enabling doctors to keep closer track of patients with sleep apnea or babies susceptible to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). To do this, Patwari reclined on a hospital bed and surrounded himself with 20 wireless transceivers operating at a frequency of 2.4GHz, as pictured above. He then timed his breathing at about 15 breaths per minute (the average rate for a resting adult), which he measured with his array of nodes and a carbon dioxide monitor. The engineer ultimately found that his system's algorithm could accurately measure respiration within 0.4 to 0.2 breaths per minute -- a relatively low error rate, since most monitors round off to the nearest full breath. Patwari says this development could offer a non-invasive and low-cost alternative to the devices used in most hospitals, and hopes to implement his technology into at-home baby monitors, as well. He acknowledges, however, that it will likely take at least five years before any of that happens -- so don't hold your breath. Full PR after the break.
Lasers let deaf ears pick up what the sonic world is putting down
Not going to front: we've a soft spot in our heart for focused beams of light. We've seen 'em rid the world of its space junk and set the pace of human hearts, and now, they're taking a leading role in aural advancement. As improbable as it sounds, a research team from the University of Utah led by Richard Rabbitt has found that lasers may be able to give deaf people the ability to hear. Using a low-power infrared diode -- similar to those in laser-pointers tormenting cats the world over -- Professor Rabbitt found that exposing oyster toadfish hair cells (analogous to the cells found in humans' inner ears) to infrared light caused them to release neurotransmitters and activate adjacent neurons. This could lead to laser-based ear implants able to stimulate focused areas of cells with thousands of sound wavelengths, as opposed to today's electrode implants whose electrical current spreads through human tissue and limits the deliverable sonic range. Smaller, more efficient power supplies and light sources are needed before optical hearing aids become a reality, but if these newfangled lasers ever get their act together, we should be able to hear version two (and three) coming down the pike.
This is your brain. This is your brain on video games
Sure, you've probably seen countless scientific studies involving video games -- but have you have you ever wondered what your brain actually looked like while your playing video games? Well, feast your eyes on the image above. That's an MRI scan of New York Times writer Matt Richtel's brain that was captured while he played a simple driving game -- all in the name of science (and journalism), of course. As Richtel notes, however, that's just one example of the ways researchers are using such technology to "map the ethereal concept of attention," and scientists have turned up some other interesting findings as of late. Researchers at the University of Utah, for instance, have found that people's ability to juggle two tasks begins to drop off in their 30s and then sharply drops in their 40s, which contradicts earlier suspicions that people's ability to multitask only began to degrade when they're much older. Some other researchers are still suspicious of those findings, however, and Dr. Gazzaley of the University of California at San Diego is quick to point out that all of this research is still in the earliest stages -- he's expecting some more detailed findings next year when his team expands their tests and begin to incorporate EEG monitoring as well.
Over the counter, spray-on stem cell treatment could heal burns on the go
Research at the University of Utah could lead to burn treatment on the go that makes use of your body's own cells. Surgeons Amit Patel and Amalia Cochran are researching the use of stem cells in conjunction with several chemicals as a spray-on jelly which has, in early testing, shown to accelerate the healing process of burns. While the team is starting with small burns, its goal is to be able to provide fast and effective, actual regeneration of a patient's own cells to be grafted onto large area burns. Video of the project is after the break.
Shear feedback GPS navigation tells your fingers where to go, you just have to follow (video)
Keeping your eyes on the road gets ever more difficult with ever-bigger, ever-brighter GPS navigation units hitting retail. This product of University of Utah research could obsolete them entirely by tickling your fingers. It's called "shear feedback," effectively stretching the skin on your fingertip to tell you which way to go, achieved via a pair of old Thinkpad trackpoints, which were always too coarse a grit for our delicate tastes. The nub moves left or right to tell you where to go, and in a test distracted drivers were 24 percent more likely to follow directions through their digits than when told by cold, uncaring GPS lady. It's demonstrated after the break and looks like it would be perfect if we always drove at ten and two -- and wanted to get our fingerprints sandpapered off on every trip to the mall.
Robot equipped with hook-like claws and pendulum can climb carpeted walls
ROCR -- the Oscillating Climbing Robot -- was developed at the University of Utah by William Provancher. Its main talent is the ability to climb carpeted walls by using its hook-like claws and is powered by a motor and a pendulum tail that wings like a grandfather clock. Designed to move efficiently and in the vein of a human rock climber, ROCR is able to climb an 8-foot carpeted wall in just about 15 seconds. The team's findings will be published in Transactions on Mechatronics this month, and while future applications include possible uses as an inspection or maintenance tool, Provancher says that in the short term, ROCR will likely be used for education or as a "really cool toy." Video is below.
Eye-tracking lie detectors inch a little closer to reality
If lie detection is your thing, choices aren't exactly scarce: you can go with Lego for the kids, Skype-centric for remote fibber identification, or even use a headband if you can corral your suspect long enough. Hoping to add to that list is the University of Utah, whose eye-tracking lie detector has been licensed to a local company in order to explore its viability as a commercial product. As with Blade Runnner's Voight-Kampff empathy test, Utah's methodology revolves around monitoring things like eye movement, pupil dilation and response time -- with the major difference being that you're trying to identify truth evaders rather than skinjobs. John Kircher, one of the lead researchers, claims results so far have been as good as or better than those obtained with polygraph testing, though he admits the project is still in its early stages. No worries, though, we're sure they'll perfect the technique in time for our post-apocalyptic, Vangelis-scored future.
Researchers create Amazing X-Ray Wireless Network!
Don't freak out or anything, but those wireless signals you bask in everyday could be watching you. Or at least they might, someday, if the work from a group of researchers at the University of Utah makes it beyond the lab. As Technology Review's Physics arXiv blog reports, they've devised a means to modify a standard 802.15.4 wireless network (commonly used by home automation services like ZigBee) to actually "see" movement through walls, and with some degree of accuracy, no less. As you might expect, however, that's not quite as simple as a firmware upgrade, and currently requires a 34-node network to keep watch on a standard living room, which is apparently enough to pin down moving objects within a meter or so. To do that, the system essentially bombards the space with an array of wireless signals and keeps watch on any changes in signal strength, building up a "picture" of the room in the process. No promises on a commercial version just yet, but the researchers see plenty of potential for it, and are even talking about a portable, GPS-equipped version that police or emergency responders could use before entering a dangerous area.
Video: simulated 'quiet zone' cloaking hides an object in 2-D
You don't have to be able to pick a Romulan out of a crowd of Vulcans to be intrigued by the idea of cloaking, and indeed many non-trekkers have tried to hide things in plain sight using electromagnetism, acoustic superlenses, or light-bending materials. The latest attempt relies on devices that emit cancelling waves of the sort anyone who's ever seen a Bose commercial should quite familiar with, combining to negate any external, incoming waves. What's different here is that they also recombine on the other side of the object being cloaked, as shown in the video below, meaning that incoming surge is then re-generated and continues on undisturbed -- potentially even reflecting back through the object again should it hit something on the far side. It's part of research at the University of Utah and, for now, only works in a theoretical two-dimensional world where triangles and squares are ruled by pentagons, hexagons, and priestly polygons. Optical camouflage is sadly not believed to be possible using this technique, but sonar and radar are likely implementations, as well as mechanisms to subvert earthquakes, tsunamis, and maybe even neighboring speed metal fans.
Brain Carpet microelectrodes could help translate thoughts into actions more effectively
Researchers at the University of Utah have developed a new, more precise way of placing microelectrodes on the surface of the brain to enable patients to turn thoughts into action. Led by Bradley Greger, a professor of bioengineering, the "Brain Carpet" as it's called, represents a "modest advance" in techniques already in use. The Brain Carpet makes use of smaller microelectrodes, and also employs many more than are usually used. The method involves sawing off the skull of the patient, then placing 32 electrodes about 2mm apart on the surface of the brain. Though they've conducted tests on just a handful of patients -- all epileptics -- the technique, they believe could also be used to help people control their prosthetic limbs much more effectively. The electrodes allow detection of the electric signals in the brain which control arm and hand movements. In the tests, patients have successfully controlled a cursor on a computer screen following the operation, and they see applications for brain-machine interface devices in the future. There's no word on when the Brain Carpet will move from the research to reality phase, but the group's findings have just recently appeared in the journal Neurosurgical Focus.
Researchers take aim at terahertz computing
It's not everyday that researchers make some progress towards terahertz computing, but a team from the University of Utah led by Ajay Nahata appear to have done just that, with them announcing that they've "taken a first step to making circuits that can harness or guide terahertz radiation." That, they say, could allow for the development of "superfast circuits, computers and communications," and "in a minimum of 10 years," no less. The key to this latest development, it seems, is the use of some sheets of stainless steel foil perforated with tiny holes, which can be arranged in different patterns to effectively form "wires" to carry the terahertz radiation. In their tests, the researchers were able to do so at a level of 300Ghz (or 0.3 terahertz), although they admit that they still have a long way to go, saying that "all we've done is made the wires" for terahertz circuits, and adding that there still needs to be devices like switches, transistors and modulators developed at terahertz frequencies in order for anything practical to become possible.[Via TG Daily]
Tiny thermoacoustic engines pave the way for screaming gadgets
Looks like all that heat generated by your laptop may finally be useful for something other than frying eggs -- a group of grad students led by professor Orest Symko at the University of Utah has unveiled an array of "thermoacoustic" engines that turn heat into sound, which can be directed at a piezoelectric mechanism to produce electricity. The US Army-funded research seems promising but is obviously still in its infancy -- one of the designs the researchers demonstrated is half the size of a penny but pumps out 120dB of noise (about the same as a siren), while another bumped out over 135dB, (which is roughly equivalent to a jackhammer). The team expects that future, smaller designs will work at ultrasonic frequencies outside the range of human hearing. Although we're not expecting hybrid-siren-powered laptops to hit anytime soon, you Utes out there may want to invest in some earplugs -- Professor Symko says they'll be testing these designs at the University's water-heating facility in the next year.[Via InformationWeek]
Prototype device helps untrained bystanders save lives
We'll be the first to admit, if we were a featured character in a prime-time soap surrounding cataclysmic events, we'd be killed off early in the first season -- we're just no good to anybody in emergency situations. Now we've got a chance to make it all the way to a sophomore slump, with this new "Just-In-Time Support" (JITS) device which provides audio and video instructions to untrained bystanders (besting that audio-only version from Philips), allowing them to administer CPR and diagnose the victim. The JITS, which is being developed by some University of Utah researchers, is currently a prototype, but in test runs on dummy victims, untrained users managed to match American Heart Association guidelines while using the device. The kit includes defibrillator pads and an anesthesia mask, along with a video screen that gives live feedback in regards to what actions to take -- sounds like a good time with or without an emergency to attend to.[Via medGadget]
