Imagine being able to fit such a tablet into your pocket and not having to worry about reducing the size of the display.  It may soon be possible thanks to researcher Juergen Steimle. Working with faculty at MIT's media lab they have developed multiple tablets that work a bit differently than their traditional counterparts.

The technology, dubbed FoldMe, works by using infrared cameras overhead to track movement and position of the  tablet surface. The software interface is projected on to the surfaces, using two full high definition projectors to project the image onto the "tablet." Angle of the hinges within the tablet allowing the display to convert from a flat panel display, to a two panel display as if held like reading a book, or if folded completely over a smaller display.

Hand gestures can be read using infrared markers on the finger nails to give it the touch screen feel most people are used to. The hinges also create new controls that can be used within applications. Since the cameras read the angle of the fold, the angle can be used to control information that normally an on-screen dial would control.

It appears that this may not work well outside, or off the tablet projection grid. However, this may usher in a new level of connectivity for the boardroom. Later this month, Steimle will present his work at the TEI conference in Canada.

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Through software, two designers show how a contact microphone can detect particular sounds and trigger certain events. Bruno Zamborlin and Norbert Schnell designed the system around two ideas: convert vibration in direct sound, and certain sets of sounds triggering pre-determined audio tracks.

The project, dubbed Mogees, is developed in the Max/MSP environment with MuBu, a "multi-track container for sound description and motion capture data." Mogees has acted like an experiment demonstrating the team's goal of real-time interactive audio processing with MuBu. Both designers are key developers behind the MuBu project, as well. Be sure to take a look at their site.

I can already sense the legions of musical artists yearing to use Mogees in future projects. For those who think this will make for a new type of touchscreen, keep in mind that this technique can only sense sound and not position directly. Although, a different interpretation of the sound data could be used in a similar way to "surface acoustic wave" (SAW) touchscreens. Like in SAW tech, if the acoustic wave amplitude traveling along the surface of a material could be measured, position could be determined... But now I am getting ahead of Mogees purpose.

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(Pictures via Etham Erkan Aktakka and the University of Michigan)

Electrical devices connected to the nervous system controls him. It makes him move, do things, and all the energy from every movement is harvested for their controller. Sound like a science fiction plot with humans at the mercy of technologically, and energy deficient, overlords? No, it is real. In reality, we are the ones levering our technical might over lesser creatures.

At the University of Michigan (UM), Ethem Erkan Aktakka with Hanseup Kim and Khalil Najafi found that it is too difficult to make  a micro-air vehicle (MAV) and moved on to the control of nature's own complex mini-machines, insect. Nervous system control of insects is nothing new, see the neural controlled roach, but the team overcame a major challenge in the usage of insects as MAVs by harvesting power from the living organism itself.

The platform they chose was the Green June Beetle, a rather large and slow insect common in the U.S.  summer months. The team attached a cantilever beam actuated piezoelectric element across the beetle's wings. This produced 11.5 µW. The team then attached two separate beams, one of each wing. This produces 7.5 µW per wing. The final device was a spiral piezoelectric element attached to the thorax, generating 22.5 µW.

At higher wing rates, 85-105 Hz, the spiral produced 45 µW. Placing the beam at the optimal position, closer to the wing muscle's base, yielded 115 µW. Although vibration harvesters, solar panels, and heat to energy devices have been used to power insect control circuits, the UM system has a greater reliability and produces power several magnitudes higher in some cases. Aktakka explained, "The developed device concept enables the practical deployment and extended operation of the same harvester on any individual of the same species, in addition to a great reduction in overall device weight compared to resonant harvesters. A significant power output can be obtained regardless of several Hz of shift in the flapping frequency, or the ambient conditions such as light or temperature.”

The search-and-rescue flag was raised in the further developing of this technology. It is human safety at the cost of lifetime servitude by insects. The project is funded DARPA in the Hybrid Insect MEMS program.

Where these three requirements must be met:

1. Demonstrate reliable bio-electromechanical interfaces to insects
2. Demonstrate locomotion control using MEMS platforms (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems)
3. Demonstrate technologies to scavenge power from insects.

I can not help but feel bad for these beetles. The compunctious cost of science.

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