T-ray antenna (via Tokyo Institute of Technology)

It may seem sometimes that we have exploited the vast reaches of the electromagnetic spectrum, but technologies like WiGig, are showing this notion is not correct at all. T-rays, or electromagnetic waves found in the terahertz band, have traditionally been used for imaging research like X-rays, but now researchers from the Tokyo Institute of Technology are developing a system to apply this technology to ultra fast data transmission.

The terahertz band actually makes use of the 300 GHz to 3 THz frequencies a range currently unregulated by telecommunication authorities. Using a frequency of 542 GHz the team achieved data transfers of 3 Gb/s using a device called a resonant tunneling diode (RTD). These results are higher than anything achieved so far in the terahertz band.

This device is revolutionary in the terahertz data transmission because of its small size of only 1 mm-squared and low power necessities.  RTDs are unusual in that the voltage across them can be decreased as the current increases. The RTDs generate waves in the terahertz band by making the diode inside them resonate.

Due to the energy usage, the Tokyo researchers hope to some day implement them in hand held devices for short-range data transfers. It is likely that terahertz Internet would work only in short distances of up to 10 m (33 ft), and this short range is something the researchers are trying to improve by making their devices resonate at higher frequencies, but this will also require more power.

It will take a long time before these devices are put in any device consumers can hold, but the future hopes for speeds of up to 100Gb/s, which blows current transfer rates out of the water at 15 greater than 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

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There’s good news for those of you who need to destroy your data stored on your SSD’s quickly and efficiently in an emergency situation. RunCore (manufacturer of SSD’s) has unveiled their new line of InVincible Solid State Disc drives which feature two ways to ensure data destruction.

The first capability the drives feature is ‘Intelligent’ destruction which over-writes the data and returns the drive back to its factory default setting. According to the company there is no possible way to recover the original data stored on the drive once the drive is reset. This is the rather mundane approach as the second option for data elimination is much more fun and effective (as well as costly).

The second option of data deletion the drives feature is self-destruction. Essentially the drive over-volts itself and physically damages the NAND chips inside rendering the drive useless (like a bad CPU overclocking job). To initiate both data erasure and destruction, the InVincible drives feature a two push-button system that is physically attached to the drive with the green button for erasing and a red button for meltdown.

These new drives were designed for the military, as well as other companies and institutions where sensitive data is being used or stored, and come in varying sizes and capacities that can withstand a temperature range of -45 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. The company hasn’t said when the InVincible line of will be available or how much they will go for, but chances are they will cost more than current SSD’s and be available before the year is out.

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Digital language translators are used every day. However, there is one dialect that still eludes the automation.

Engineering students, Ranjay Krishna, Seonwoo Lee and Si Ping Wang, from Cornell University are attempting to develop a very different type of translator, one that helps those who cannot make use of auditory signals. The students have created a sign language translator that converts hand gestures to their corresponding letter symbol and sound.

This translator is in the form of a glove for the hand and circuitry that fasten to the forearm. The glove itself contains nine flex sensors, four contact sensors, one x-y axis accelerometers and one z-axis accelerometer. The flex sensors are positioned around the upper/lower knuckles and the contact sensors at the tips of the fingers to distinguish between gestures. The accelerometers are needed because some letters vary only on movements of the hands and other letters vary only on the orientation of the hand.

An ATMega644 Microcontroller is used to analyze the signal from the electromechanical sensors and send transmission requests to the transmitter. The device is made wireless using a Radiotronix transceiver. All of this makes up what they call the Detection Unit, and it is simply strapped to the forearm.  The signal is then received by the base station with outputs the results to an LCD screen as well as transmits the signal to a computer via USB where it can also be outputted as sound through the computer speakers. The students used Matlab, Java and C for all their coding.

As far as can be seen, this device only converts gestures to letters so more development is needed for those gestures that represent nouns or actions but no doubt this is a start towards a world where we can all communicate a little easier.

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A tear-jerking introduction of the technology

A cerebrally controlled robotic system is being developed by a team of researchers from Brown University, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital and a host of others could give paralyzed people the ability to use robotic limbs to manipulate objects for themselves. Called ‘BrainGate’, the brain-controlled system allows the user to control a robotic limb through thought. To do this, the team implants a wireless microelectrode array (Neural Interface System) at 4 X 4mm directly on the motor cortex portion of the brain that controls motor function. The series of electrodes (100 in all) on the chip pick up the brain's activity associated with arm movement and sends the signals to a series of computers that use software (unknown at this time) to decode the brains activity. The computers then translate those signals into a series of instructions that tell a robotic arm to move and grasp an object based on the user’s desired intentions. The researchers are presently using two types of robotic arms, which are being continuously developed by DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics and DEKA Research and Development Corporation.

DLR robotic hand/arm concept

The bigger of the two robotic arms being used by the researchers is DLR’s Hand Arm System, which is an external robotic arm made for more robust applications where impacts with heavy objects are nonconsequential (factory and warehouse work?).  The arm consists of a series of mechatronic compliance actuators with 52 drives and over 100 position sensors. The units hand alone features 38 individual tendons with each connected to an individual motor to provide tension and stiffness. The fingers use a similar configuration that uses two separate motors for individual grasping and tension based on the object being manipulated. The arm is so robust that you can actually beat it with a baseball bat without damaging any of the electronics.

Deka arm system

The second arm that the team is working with is DEKA Research and Development’s ‘Luke’ Arm (named after Luke Skywalker's mechanical hand). The arm is actually a robotic prosthesis that was designed for amputee patients and was developed as a DARPA tetraplegia project. The titanium Arm was designed to be roughly the same size as a typical human appendage and houses all of its electronics, motors and actuators inside (exactly how and what technology was used is currently unknown). The prosthesis features 18 degrees of movement which was accomplished by using rigid-to-flex circuit boards that were folded into ‘origami’ shapes placed inside the titanium housing. A vibrational motor at the top of the arm lets the user know how much pressure is needed to grasp an object through varying degrees vibration depending if the wearer is holding an egg or a brick.

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(All images and video courtesy of Crown Institute for Brain Science)

(Left) Erin Treacy Solovey wearing the Brainput device (Right) Artistic concept (via MIT & Erin Solovey)

When it comes to multitasking we as humans try the best we can. While we all have a modicum of ability, some are better than others. It suffices to say, we could all use a boost to become more efficient in our multitude of multitasking efforts, which is why a team of researchers has developed an unconventional solution to the problem. Led by Erin Solovey from MIT’s Humans and Automation Lab, the team has designed a system called ‘Brainput’ that can off-load some of our brains multitasking skills to a computer which is way more efficient at doing multiple things than we could ever hope to be. They system uses a portable low-cost version of a functional magnetic resonance imager called ‘fNIRS’ (functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy) to measure the activity going on in the brain. The measurements are monitored and processed (using two probes) in real-time using Boxy software (from ISS). The information is then analyzed by a software engine (created using both Matlab and Weka tools) to look for specific patterns associated when the individual is multitasking. When the system has learned these patterns the software kicks in and is able to help the user with the task at hand.

A maze was created to test Brainputs effectiveness where a subject had to navigate through using two robots simultaneously. The operator using the fNIRS system was constantly switching back and forth between them and once the software learned the patterns it was able to engage sensors in the robots to help the user with their guidance. While the robots were autonomous, the test subject’s performance did indeed improve. While Brainput is still in its early development stages, it could be implemented into many applications in the future like helping you drive while you’re momentarily distracted or used during surgery with robotic assistance. What if the system could be used wirelessly? If you have an automated laundry machine, you could be slaving at work and washing your laundry at home at the same time! The possibilities are endless.

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Augmented reality give a new way to interact with technology, and ambitious companies are clamoring to be firsts in the field. One of those concepts being developed by the software giant is called MirageTable. The system lets the user interact with objects in both the real and virtual worlds on a table top.

For instance; a person could set up a series of virtual bowling pins that could then be knocked over with a virtual ball with only using one pin as a real model to clone the others. The researchers developed MirageTable with the idea that two people could interact with each other in the same space without actually being with one another (think of it as being like Star Trek’s Holodeck). To do this, the researchers used an Acer H5360 3D stereoscopic projector (1280 X 720) to display objects, as well as the other person, onto a curved screen. A Kinect is positioned on top of the screen and captures the objects that are being projected and also tracks the eye movements of each corresponding user. This is to give the corresponding user the correct perspective of what’s in front of them. To view the objects in an augmented reality 3D environment each user wears a pair of Nvidia 3D shutter glasses which makes them appear spatially registered in conjunction with the real world. Any object can be scanned and then cloned for interaction by either of the two parties in both the real and virtual space.

Virtual Bowling (via Microsoft)

Free-hand interaction (because no trackers, gloves or other hardware was implemented) with virtual objects in MirageTable was done by using software that takes all real-world objects and represents them as proxy particles, which are constantly updated and used for collision geometry in the virtual world. To process all of the dynamic physics constantly being updated the team relied on Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 580 along with their PhysX game software. This gives each person the ability to interact with both environments at the same time. The researchers admit that there are still limitations to overcome as the Kinect (at present) can only capture the front of an object and not all sides which leaves ‘gaps’ that make for bad texturing. Another problem the team faces is users can only scoop or catch objects from below instead of grasping or picking them up but hope to improve on these limitations with further development. I for one am very impressed at what they have already accomplished with MirageTable. What will its full capabilities be in the future if only as a gaming platform?

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Have you ever been skiing and had to put up with the hassle of trying to answer your cell phone or listen to music? I have not, but Anthony Griesel has. This skier and software developer is recruiting people to contribute to his Kickstarter for a project Called Neva that will facilitate staying connected while outside in the cold elements.

The idea is simple, to avoid having to fumble with small devices while you are bundled up on the slopes, he has developed a smart ski pole that allows you to manage calls, SMS, and displays other useful information like time, temperature and elevation on a 0.96’’ extra bright OLED touch display placed directly on top of one of the ski poles. Of course, all of the electronics are kept safe inside by a waterproof seal.

The poles wirelessly communicate with Android and iPhone via a low power Bluetooth using a free downloadable app. This app has more features like using the GPS locations for calculating slope angle and aspect and can also track your route in Google Earth KML format.

The poles themselves are made with 7075 grade aluminum, which has properties comparable to mild steel. The included rechargeable battery is said to last 3 days between charges and will last about 500 charging cycles. It is charged using a generic USB connection, but this will not be included.

Griesel hopes that his system will prevent users from losing or damaging their devices, and he hopes that added features will provide valuable information as to avoid dangerous parts of the mountains or avalanche prone areas. He does mention  that there is no substitute for experience and good judgment.

So far Griesel's kickstarter has raised over $11,000, which is still far from the goal of $100,000 , but there are 21 days to go. The rewards for a pledge are very enticing. A modest contribution of just $150 will earn you your own set of Neva ski poles.

Eavesdropper

We’ve all been there before; you go out to the store to pick up a new motherboard and returned home for a glass of milk only to realize that you were out. Ok so it doesn’t quite happen that way, but the people over at Teehan+Lax have developed a milk jug and a corresponding app that lets you know if you’re low or are in-need of milk. The system called ‘Do We Have Milk?’ uses a pressure sensor located at the bottom of the jug to monitor milk levels. A downloadable app takes readings of the milk levels and lets you know when you’re dangerously low and brings up a map to show you locations of where you can buy more. The app also lets you check the milk levels manually in case you’re at the store and want to pick up more of the nourishing liquid. The engineers state that the "DWHM?" system could be implemented for other multiple ingredient monitoring and perhaps a recipe database based on what you have available in the fridge. Does this mean that my fridge can tell me that it’s hungry and needs me to put more food into it? Actually the possibilities are seemingly endless for the DWHM? system, however it’s still unknown at this time if Teehan+Lax will make it commercially available anytime soon.

(via Teehan+Lax)

Eavesdropper