App Turns Boring Newspaper Articles into Fun & Interactive Stories
Another application has been released that uses augmented reality to translate newspapers for children. This app, developed in Japan by Tokyo Shimbun, can be used on a smartphone and held over the adult newspaper text.
The smartphone then displays a version of the text that is more friendly to children. Basically, this app allows children to turn a boring old regular newspaper into one that targets their age group and is much more interactive. Tokyo Shimbun worked with the advertising firm Dentsu to create the software. Augmented reality technology is used by the app in order to make the pages of...
Researchers Produce a Model Spaceship Using a 3D Printer
The power of 3D printers is once again put on display as Nanoscribe GmbH has released photographs of the tiny spaceship they've created. This spaceship, with a mere length of 70 microns, is a model of the Wing Commander Hellcat. The organization that was able to print this tiny model is part of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), which means that KIT campuses everywhere are now using this technology.
This printer uses a 3D laser lithography system that was developed by Nanoscribe. As for how the printer actually works, it uses two-photon polymerization. Photosensitive materials are activated by short laser...
The Electric Ferry Replaces the Gas Guzzling Ferry
Electric batteries are no longer only being used by cars. Right now, the first electric car ferry, called ZeroCat, is being developed in Norway. The ferry currently in use between Lavik and Oppedal requires 264,000 gallons of fuel per year. As you can see, that is quite a bit of fuel to have to pay for and use up in the process. ZeroCat will use an 800 KWh battery weighing 11 tons. While the battery is rather heavy, the ZeroCat will weigh less than a normal ferry by half because of its design, which has been tailored for efficiency.
Instead of...
Skype - A Tool for Big Brother?
Microsoft-owned video and chat program Skype has recently come under fire because of the firm's refusal to disclose just how confidential data on the program actually is. A spokesperson for Microsoft says that the company has received a letter signed by 45 different campaign groups calling for them to make these details clear to the public and that they are currently reviewing the letter. Both Google and Twitter have already disclosed similar information to what is being requested from Microsoft.
Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011, and the campaign groups who are most concerned maintain that the company has only made their...
DARPA Plans to Hide Drones at the Bottom of the Sea
In mid-January of this year, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA, has revealed a plan to hide U.S. military drones in the ocean. This idea is part of the agency's Upward Falling Payloads program, which aims to place inactive drones at the bottom of the sea to be activated when the time is right.
The agency maintains that the purpose of these robots is not necessarily to carry out destruction, but rather to keep an eye on enemies and to jam communication amongst them. While they claim the program's intent is not to hide weapons, many individuals have begun...
Xbox 720 & Microsoft's New Gaming Technology
While Microsoft may be somewhat behind in the smartphone world, they are the paving the way in the video game industry. Rumors have floated around online about a new technology called ‘IllumiRoom’ that was being tested and perfected by Microsoft. And while many rumors online are false, this rumor is completely true. Prepare for the next level of gaming.
Microsoft IllumiRoomThe Microsoft IllumiRoom is a new technology that is being developed by Microsoft. It uses projection technology that can span to cover most of a wall. In photos and videos, the IllumiRoom display covers the borders of the television, an entire...
Google Wants To Give you Answers you didn't even know you Needed
For all its advertising might, search has always been Google's strong suit. The company's search engine is second to none, and they recently expanded it with an impressive web of semantic information. But for Google, that isn't enough. The company wants to tell you what you are searching for before you even ask. Think Google Now on steroids. Very powerful steroids.
Over the last month, 150 people have been getting a simple message on their Android smartphones: "what did you want to know recently?" The point: to gather as much information about what people are...
Ouya Shipping December 28th to Developers
If you decided to invest in one of the developer kits for ouya, then it won't be long before you get your new console. The company has announced that both the SDK and the developer kits will be shipping on December 28th, right after the holiday. The rest of us, however, will have to wait until March 2013 to get our hands on an Ouya, though the hardware is virtually identical.
Interestingly, the developer kit is virtually identical to the consumer hardware. The Ouya was designed to be hacker friendly, after all. And the company has been...
VLC Launches Kickstarter campaign for Windows 8 App
There are a million video formats, and even more audio ones. VLC plays them all, and that is why it has been on every computer I've owned since I heard about it years ago. But while VLC has been ported to almost every platform known to man, there is one that is noticably missing: Windows 8 Metro.
Now, in an effort to bring the application to the Metro part of Windows 8, the organization behind VLC has launched a Kickstarter campaign. They seek $64,100 USD, or £40,000 to fund its development. They expect to be able to finish...
Next Microsoft Console Ready for 2013 Christmas
According to Bloomberg, Microsoft is busy prepping their next generation console for a release in time for Christmas next year. The console will refresh the Xbox line, which, despite still managing to sell 750,000 units this Black Friday weekend, is still 7 years old.
Current rumors put the device as being shaped more like a TV set top box than what you normally imagine a gaming console should look like, which makes sense considering Microsoft's move towards digital content. The Xbox 360, for all its gaming prowess, is used as frequently for watching movies and streaming Youtube as it...
What is Windows Blue?
Microsoft is going through yet another name change, but this time it might be for the better. The Redmond-based company is already working on the sequel to Windows 8, and it goes by the name Windows Blue.
But Blue is more than the next update to Microsoft Windows. It is an entirely new approach for the company. Rather than pushing out big, expensive updates to the operating system every 3 years that it has to convince people to update to, they are switching to a model that mimics Apple's and Google's. The updates will be yearly, bringing...
Make Clouds in your Home with the Nebula Weather Station
When I think of a weather station, I think of radar domes and hydrometers. You know, things to measure the weather. Not make it. But the Nebula Weather Station, a cool bit of concept hardware in the shape of a hanging lamp, turns that assumption on its head. Sure, it still keeps an eye on the weather, thanks to it being connected to the internet. But it has a rather novel method of telling you what it sees: the Nebula Weather Station recreates the weather.
If it's bright and sunny outside, the Nebula will shine nice...
Microsoft Invests in a Touchless Future
Microsoft invests a lot of time and energy into inventing the future. Most of that research gets filed away and is never seen again. Sometimes, though, things leak through. The innovative Windows 8 interface is one example of such a project. Much of Microsoft's work, however, is far more interesting. For example: the Kinect.
Much of Microsoft's research work is targeted at a touchless future, one where computers aren't something you go to, but things invisible that only show up when you need them. One of their more recent projects, for example, is a wrist-mounted...
Windows 8 Off to a very Slow Start
If Microsoft thought their new touch-oriented user interface was going to be a massive hit right off the bat, well, they thought wrong. Windows 8 sales have been variously described as "Modest", "Disappointing", and worse. This is a real problem for Microsoft, who is betting their entire empire on the Metro styling underpinning the user interface.
Windows 7 sold 240 million copies in its first year. That was enough to make it the fastest-selling operating system ever. Microsoft made the (apparently flawed) assumption that Windows 8 would sell comparably.
It hasn't. We don't have hard numbers, but...
The Infinite Jukebox Makes Any Song go on Forever
Tired of your favorite song ending after a mere 3 and a half minutes? Want it to play on an endless loop, for ever and ever? Well, you wishes have been answered by one of the coolest musical hacks we've seen in a long, long time.
Created for a Music Hack Day (hack days being excuses for talented people to get together and knock together an unpolished, interesting thing over the course of a few days) at MIT by Paul Lamere, the point was to show off the power of the music analysis technology that EchoNest wields. Lamere,...
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