Tennis according to IBM......augmented reality

IBM launches real-time virtual Wimbledon app

Use your phone at the tennis to access an augmented reality

Soon he'll be tweeting right after the serve

IBM is set to launch applications for Android, Twitter and iPhone that use real-time updates to provide a more technologically advanced Wimbledon experience than ever before.

The most exciting is the Seer Android Beta, which uses augmented reality to give users of a T-Mobile G1 the inside scoop on what's happening in the tournament.

Using a video feed from the handset's camera, combined with the digital compass and accurate GPS, users can hold up the phone to different objects and information will display on the screen.

By adding in information such as scores and updates on a heads up display, the user can simply point the phone at a tennis court, find out the court number and also who's playing and more crucially, who's winning.

The information comes from 'net data and IBM scouts wandering around the grounds providing updates.

Twitter and the iPhone

The Seer Aggregator for Twitter will perform a similar function in diluted form, where users can subscribe to hashtags to be given information on scores, seat availability and queue length among other things.

The IBM scouts, players and commentators will also be Tweeting throughout, to provide users with a rich and in-depth experience.

The Wimbledon 2009 App for the iPhone will work in a much more traditional app manner, with users being given information on scores, draws, play schedules and also news and video highlights direct to the phone.

Can "Games" play a role in customer interaction/support

Microsoft just announced Project Natal and the youtube clip embedded shows some of the capabilities. This clearly shows a different kind of interaction and you feel more attached as a gamer.




When taking this one step further. Would it be possible to create a "Game" that will take care of the client interactions when in need for support. The game should be developed from a different viewpoint but the interaction in a "human" manner will be there and there should always be a possibility to switch over to a life person for the questions that are not being answered in a game.

When creating a smart scenario this could be a big saver for companies that have a huge amount of helpdesk/call center employees. I admit the scenarios are different per job but the structure can be the same (and preferably would be). This means you just have to create new levels for a platform when there is a need to offer different support options

Bus stop of the future and what we can learn from this

I admit this is just a bus stop but when reading the press announcement there is some great technology that can be used in other windows as well. It clearly is a cool way of thinking about interaction at a bus stop finding all info you normally can not find in your busstop (where am I on the map. Which bus to take and where to switch busses)




MIT researchers unveil the EyeStop "Bus stop of the future" can sense its surroundings. Imagine if your local bus stop allowed you to check your e-mail, share community information on a digital message board or monitor the local air quality? And perhaps best of all, what if it could tell you the exact location of that bus that you're waiting for? MIT architects and engineers just unveiled a design for such a bus stop this past Saturday, at the Genio Fiorentino festival in Florence, Italy.




(A more formal prototype will be unveiled this October.) Called EyeStop and developed by the MIT SENSEable City Lab, it takes the tedium out of waiting for the bus and showcases the potential of next-generation urban transportation design. The EyeStop is partially covered with touch-sensitive e-INK and screens, and features state-of-the art sensing technologies and a variety of interactive services. Riders can plan a bus trip on an interactive map, surf the Web, monitor their real-time exposure to pollutants and use their mobile devices as an interface with the bus shelter.


They can also post ads and community announcements to an electronic bulletin board at the bus stop, enhancing the EyeStop's functionality as a community gathering space. "The EyeStop could change the whole experience of urban travel," said Carlo Ratti, Head of the SENSEable City Lab
at MIT. "At the touch of a finger, passengers can get the shortest bus route to their destination
or the position of all the buses in the city. The EyeStop will also glow at different levels of intensity to signal the distance of an approaching bus."


In addition to displaying information, the bus stop also acts as an active environmental sensing node, powering itself through sunlight and collecting real-time information about the surrounding environment. "EyeStop is like an 'info-tape' that snakes through the city," said project leader Giovanni de Niederhausern. "It senses information about the environment and distributes it in a form accessible to all citizens."


Unlike the typical mass-produced bus stop, EyeStop is designed to fit the physical characteristics of its surroundings. A computer program generates a unique design for each bus stop, providing both optimal sheltering for users and maximum sunlight exposure for power generation. Simple materials like steel, glass and gray local stone ("pietra serena," as it is called locally), together with its minimalist design, will help the EyeStop blend into the historic urban fabric of Florence, or wherever else it might be deployed.


"Since the Renaissance, there has been an interplay between the physical form of the city (urb) and its citizenship (civitas)," added Carlo Ratti. "Today's technologies are adding new possibilities to that age-long relationship, thanks to the addition of digital information to physical space. It is as if a new materiality were emerging in architecture, with the seamless blending of bits and atoms."


EyeStop was developed at the SENSEable City Laboratory by Giovanni de Niederhausern, Shaocong Zhou, Assaf Biderman and Carlo Ratti, in collaboration with the Province of Florence and the local public transportation authority ATAF.

Picture frame +++++++

Depending on the price and amount of available applications this could potentially be a great device. I already find myself in a situation that I don't do things (like look up some info because the laptop is on my desk on the 1st floor while I'm on the ground floor). So if this has some nice applications (besides all that come with the device) like:

• Recipes for in the kitchen
• server application so you can use the webcams as security devices
• Remote screen/desktop so I can manage my mediacenter form this (and not having to turn on the big screen to find some music)

But judge for yourself

If having an English-language site means that the Korean manufacturer Mintpass will be selling some of its products to the U.S., Enlgand, Canada, Australia, etc. then by all means we must expect the U.S., Europe launch of the Mintpad soon. The Mintpass Mintpad is a would-be revolutionary 3-inch touchscreen PMP that serves as a note-taking and multimedia device. Though the 400MHz processor/ 128MB of RAM is good enough for the old iPhone, the 4GB storage may be a little lacking. Suggested price in Korean is just under $160 but it should be cheaper once it gets to foreign shores. Click the links below to know more.

[mintpass via dapreview]

Shoppers' cars will soon be able to power supermarkets

This is a nice way to save some energy. No clue about the ROI but if this is not too bad I can imagine a lot of places where this might work. It's probably not good enough (yet) for the highway but parking areas would do. Link to the original article with all comments as well

By Sean Poulter
Last updated at 2:38 AM on 15th June 2009

Shoppers' cars will be used to power supermarket tills in a revolutionary new scheme.

The weight of vehicles driving over road plates into a new eco store will power a generator that creates enough electricity to keep checkouts ringing.

The system uses the same type of technology Formula 1 cars use to convert kinetic energy created during braking into speed.

Car power: The future of shopping

At the Sainsbury's store in Gloucester, kinetic plates, which were embedded in the road yesterday, are pushed down every time a vehicle passes over them.

A pumping action is then initiated through a series of hydraulic pipes that drive a generator.

The plates are able to produce 30kw of green energy an hour - more than enough to power the store's checkouts.

The scheme at the Gloucester Quays store demonstrates the potential of kinetic energy to generate enormous amounts of electricity.

A similar system on the roadway into theme parks could provide enough power to keep rollercoasters running.

And road plates could be used on motorway slip roads to light the national road system.

Happy shoppers: Cars will play more than just a transport role in future

Sainsbury's environment manager Alison Austin said: 'Not only are we the first to use such technology with our shoppers, but customers can now help to make their local shop greener. We want to make the weekly shop

sustainable. Using technology like this helps us reduce our use of carbon.'

Sainsbury's first used the kinetic road plates at a depot in Northampton. Following that success, it is rolling out the technology to its supermarkets.

The plates are one of many energy- saving measures at the store. Over two years, it will harvest enough rainwater - for flushing toilets - to fill an Olympic-sized pool, while solar panels heat water during the summer.

Floor-to-ceiling windows and 140 sun pipes in the roof reduce the need for artificial light, while automatic dimmer lights ensure less electricity is used on brighter days.

Cold air is also retrieved from the fridges to cool the checkout area.

David Sheehan, Sainsbury's director of store development, said: 'We use cutting-edge technology to improve our services and the store environment. At the same time we are ultimately reducing our carbon footprint.'

Couch computing according to Crunchpad

According to the folks of Crunchpad and with kuddos for http://www.techcrunch.com:

We’ve been working hard behind the scenes on the CrunchPad since our last update in April, and have just about nailed down the final design for the device. We’re showing the conceptual drawings here today. In another few weeks we’ll have the first working prototypes in our office.

This launch prototype is another significant step forward from the last prototype. The screen is now flush with the case and we’ve decreased the overall thickness to about 18 mm. The case will be aluminum, which is more expensive than plastic but is sturdier and lets us shave a little more off the overall thickness of the device.

I believe the device now actually looks better than the original concept design we published last summer. Compare the images below to the first prototype and you can see how far we’ve come. If you’re interested, here’s Prototype B. Pictures of Prototype C, which is the device we’re actually demo’ing to people now, are here.

A lot has happened behind the scenes, too. Our partner Fusion Garage continues to drive the software forward, and we are in deep discussions with key partners to bring the device to market. If you’d like to see the previous CrunchPad in action, we have a previously-private video available on YouTube that shows our vision for the user interface and the last version of the software stack. This is a Linux based operating system and a Webkit based browser. The device boots directly into the browser.

The next time we talk about the CrunchPad publicly will be at a special press and user event in July in Silicon Valley. If you’d like to be emailed when new news comes out, send an email to crunchpad@techcrunch.com and we’ll put you on the list.

Here is the near-final industrial design for the CrunchPad:

GUTEN TOUCH from Multitouch Barcelona on Vimeo.

GUTEN TOUCH from Multitouch Barcelona on Vimeo.

And another very promising multi touch table

Earlier I discussed the multitouch solutions from Structable and MS (the surface) and besides these (and all (multi)touch all in one pc's) there is also the The Ideum mt2 Table. This seems to be a pretty idiot proof design created for a museum but pretty useable for other purposes as well. It still might be a bit too expensive to double as a dining table but in an enterprise environment there are some nice applications I can think of (and probably even create since they deliver these tools as well with the table). According to their website:

Ready to Go

The mt2 Table supports multi-touch and multi-user interactions. It has a bright 50" (diagonal) surface with a high-resolution display, which is higher than Microsoft's Surface multi-touch table. The large display also makes it easier to for multiple simultaneous visitors to interact with computer programs and one another. The multi-touch support allows the use of intuitive hand gestures to manipulate images and media items and to interact with computer-based applications.

Made for the Museum

As museums are moving toward developing exhibits that foster more visitor communication and interaction: the mt2 Table is a great platform for these types of computer-based exhibits. The playful nature of multi-touch interaction and the large surface and low table height all contribute to the visitor experience. The mt2 Table does what traditional computer kiosks can't do: it fosters social interaction and allows visitors to interact physically with museum collections and educational programs.

One Tough Table

The mt² Table is designed for active museum environments. Both the outside frame and the interior railing system is made of rugged, aircraft-grade aluminum framing material. While the table top is made of thick tempered glass. The interior components have been selected for their quality and durability. The mt2 Table has been field tested at a hands-on science museum.

The 50" (diagonal) glass top is coated underneath with projection material for a bright display. The display size is 16:9 ratio at 1280 x 720 pixels. The bright 2100 ANSI projector has a 2000-to-1 contrast ratio and the image displays on the table with zero keystoning. The high-resolution DLP projector has 3,000 hour bulb life.

NUI Suite 1.5 Snowflake

The mt2 Table ships with NUI's innovative Snowflake Software. NUI Suite 1.5 Snowflake is a fast and reliable gesture recognition multi-touch software package. This software suite includes NUI Touch Core, which can be used with any programming language that supports the TUIO protocol. Software developers can create their own applications with Flash (ActionScript3), C/C++/C#, Java, Python, and other programming languages.

The NUI Snowflake package comes with a set of basic applications: Viewer (media viewer with support for image and video media types), Draw (basic drawing application), 3D model viewer (.3ds and .obj file format support) along with other applications. The mt2 Table package even includes NUI's TouchEarth (Google Earth with a multitouch interface).

Collection Viewer

Each mt2 table comes with Ideum’s Collection Viewer, a multitouch enabled image and video viewer. The Collection Viewer uses Adobe’s XMP metadata providing important information about the media items displayed. In addition, the Collection Viewer supports the Timed Text standard, allowing for captioning of videos.

Ideum’s Collection Viewer, a multitouch enabled image and video viewer.

HDMI over Powerline by Averlogic...all computers back to basement

Now this makes sense. Can’t you see the future when all you need to do is plug your new flat-screen into a wall outlet and the video will magically appear on the screen?

Averlogic has a system that’s not that advance, but can still send 1080p24 video with 5.1 audio over standard power lines. Both ends of the transmission of course have a box, but hopefully someone, somewhere is working on the future that eliminates those and packs the needed components into HDTVs and AV equipment

This system by Averlogic can send the goods out to three receivers, which then output the signal either by HDMI, component, or composite. The transmitter has three HDMI inputs and one set of component and composite each. There isn’t any word on pricing just yet, but we’ll betting that some A/V installers and homeowners will be willing to fork over good money instead of running long and expensive HDMI cables.

by Matt Burns on June 5, 2009

Great for a wall again, specially combined with my previous post

And another nice press release. Not sure if you read my previous post but video enabled E-paper combined with 3D..........that would make wall paper that can (at least visually) make your house much bigger. Just select how you like it today and then show it in 3D

Samsung Prototypes Video-enabled E-paper Display

Jun 9, 2009 20:03
Tetsuo Nozawa, Nikkei Electronics

The LCD Business Unit of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd of Korea exhibited a 10.2-inch panel at SID Display Week 2009.

The panel combines electronic paper and video display technologies and allows users to switch between both modes.

It is an active matrix panel and was realized by utilizing "a kind of cholesteric liquid crystal" for the image display technology, Samsung Electronics said. The main feature of the prototype is that its display mode can be switched between the "memory mode" to operate the panel as e-paper and the "dynamic mode" to display moving pictures, according to the company.

"We are not interested in ordinary e-paper displays like the ones being developed by everyone else," Samsung Electronics said. "So, this time, we planned to do something that no one else would do."

The panel has 320 x RGB x 240 pixels and is capable of displaying 64 colors. It features a reflectance of 10% or higher and a response time of 25ms or less. The exhibited prototype gave the impression that, both as e-paper and as a video display, it needs major improvements in terms of not only specifications but also other capabilities.

Nevertheless, the idea of switching functions of a display depending on the usage or allowable power consumption may draw attention from other manufacturers.

What will it be (multi)touch or 3D....or a combination?

OK, It''s a plain copy/paste but a very nice one from digitimes.com. Just came across:



Acer to launch 3D notebook at the end of October, new netbook for 3Q10
Yen-Shyang Hwang, Taipei; Joseph Tsai, DIGITIMES [Monday 8 June 2009]

Acer plans to launch a 15.6-inch 3D notebook, which the company jointly developed with Wistron, at the end of October 2009, according to Campbell Kan, vice president of Acer's mobile computing business unit.

The notebook features built-in software which can convert regular 2D movies to 3D, and will also directly support 3D movies.

Currently, users still need to wear stereoscopic glasses for the 3D to be effective, however, Acer is developing a model without the need for glasses, although it still has quiet a few technological obstacles to overcome, Kan noted.

The notebook will come equipped with Windows 7 and therefore Acer will not make an official announcement until Microsoft launches the OS, Kan added.

In addition to Windows and Android models, Acer is also working on its third-generation netbook, which will feature a similar concept as MIDs or smartbooks with strong network connectivity and convenience, and it targeting a launch in the second of third quarter of 2010, Kan noted.

Acer 3D notebook
Photo: Yen-Shyang Hwang, Digitimes, June 2009

with the blink of an eye........

Eyes control data glasses

03 June 2009

Scientists in Germany have developed a head-mounted display (HMD) that can be controlled by eye-movement, paving the way for the creation of an interactive display mounted within a pair of glasses. The Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (IPMS) in Dresden has created a CMOS chip with an eye tracker in the microdisplay that can be connected to a PDA, display information and respond to commands.

Whilst head-mounted displays aren’t anything new the Institute says at present these devices can only display information. “We want to make the eyeglasses bidirectional and interactive so that new areas of application can be opened up,” said Dr. Michael Scholles, business unit manager at IPMS in Dresden.

A group of scientists at IPMS is working on a device which incorporates eye tracking – users can influence the content presented by moving their eyes or fixing on certain points in the image. Without having to use any other devices to enter instructions, the wearer can display new content, scroll through the menu or shift picture elements. Scholles believes that the bidirectional data eyeglasses will yield advantages wherever people need to consult additional information but do not have their hands free to operate a keyboard or mouse. The Dresden-based researchers have integrated their system’s eye tracker and image reproduction on a CMOS chip. This makes the HMDs small, light, easy to manufacture and inexpensive.

The chip measuring 19.3 by 17mm is fitted on the prototype eyeglasses behind the hinge on the temple. From the temple the image on the microdisplay is projected onto the retina of the user so that it appears to be viewed from a distance of about one metre. The image has to outshine the ambient light to ensure that it can be seen clearly against changing and highly contrasting backgrounds. For this reason the research scientists use OLEDs, organic light-emitting diodes, to produce microdisplays of particularly high luminance.

In industry and in the medical field, the interactive data eyeglasses could enable numerous tasks to be performed more simply, efficiently and precisely. Many scenarios are possible, including patients’ vital functions, MRT and x-ray images for the operating surgeon, construction drawings for erection engineers and installation instructions for service technicians.

43 inch curved screen....information workers wake up, this is a dream monitor

If you happen to have 7999 USD in your wallet ready for a Geeky emergency, why not pre-ordering the stunning Nec CRV-43, a 43” curved monitor with a 2880x900 resolution with LED backlight, and offer both DVI-D and HDMI 1.3…
CHICAGO - June 4, 2009 - NEC Display Solutions of America, a leading provider of commercial LCD displays and projectors, today announced the 43" NEC CRV43 ultra-widescreen specialty desktop display, designed for use in applications such as professional graphics, higher education, government, financial, command & control and home office.

The NEC CRV43 curved display can be seen at InfoComm 09 on June 17-19 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. The unique NEC CRV43 curved display provides a much wider field of view and greater dynamic range with its double WGXA resolution (32:10 aspect ratio). The user's taskbar is extended natively and setup is made easy to configure with one input.

These features make it an ideal solution for simulation, digital imaging and command & control. "The NEC CRV43 curved display provides an excitingly immersive viewing experience for any type of user," said Keith Yanke, Director of Product Marketing for NEC Display Solutions. "Its lightning-fast response time coupled with its seamless curved screen provides enhanced comfort, decreased frustration and increased productivity.

The monitor eliminates the bezel and screen gap issues that have complicated users' work environment for years." The NEC CRV43 curved display includes the following features: * Seamless curved screen, which eliminates bezel and screen gap issues for increased productivity and decreased frustration (according to Center for Human-Computer Interaction - Shupp et al, presented at Graphics Interface 2006)
* 2880 x 900 double WXGA native resolution
* 200 cd/m² brightness
* 0.02ms Rapid Response
* 10,000:1 contrast ratio
* Wide color gamut with 100% coverage of sRGB and 99.3% coverage of Adobe RGB
* Single link DVI-D and HDMI 1.3 input connectors
* USB 2.0 connectivity for easy use of peripherals
* Front panel controls
* On Screen Display (OSD®) and software-based GUI, which enables advanced display control options

The NEC CRV43 curved display is backed by a 3-year parts and labor warranty including the backlight and will be available for July 2009 shipment with estimated street price of $7,999.

Goodbye monitor....Light Blue Optics Demonstrates Touch-enabled Pico Projectors

06/02/2009

So goodbye monitor. This needs a bit more lumen and then you have your touch screen with you all the time. A pico projector, touch enabled.

Light Blue Optics is demonstrating their touch-enabled projection system at SID. LBO are working on Holographic Laser-based projectors modules, which should be released for OEM's towards the end of 2009.

LBO are saying that a product configuration can allow the user to touch the projected image to control the projector or computer - basically they are demonstrating a touch-projector-interface.

Their modules support WVGA-QVGA images at 10 lumens. LBO’s proprietary technology has an ultra-wide throw angle and the ability to correct for optical aberrations using software. These features enable LBO’s miniature projection systems to switch between conventional front projection onto a wall and a novel table-down projection mode where the device is placed on a table and the content is projected down onto the surface in front of it.

finally a picture frame that does a bit more and in a flexible way

SilverPac has announced a new digital frame at COMPUTEX Taipei that has a plethora of features and is built on Microsoft Windows Embedded 6.0. The SilverFrame features all of Microsoft’s software features like Windows SideShow for helpful gadgets and Windows Live FrameIt for online content consumption. From the hardware side, the digital frame features a 10.1″ touchscreen with 802.11n wireless capability.

The Windows SideShow gadgets are actually pretty interesting, no other digital picture frame has delivered on frame-based gadgets. This feature alone has the potential to give the frame much more functionality than simple slideshow playback. For instance, users will be able to connect the frame to their wireless network and use the Windows Media Player gadget to browse and play their music and video files. The email gadget allows for not only a snapshot of your inbox, but offers the ability to send mail from the digital picture frame. The SilverFrame also syncs with the calendar on your PC so appointment data is always nearby.

While the digital picture frame may not be the preferred mechanism to manage email, the promise of features like this in what’s normally a fairly static device is exciting. The gadget functionality in conjunction with the FrameIt content services, easily make this unit one of the most advanced frames soon to be on the market.

And there’s the letdown. While the SilverPac SilverFrame is on display at the Microsoft booth at COMPUTEX, it’s not yet avilable for sale. They’re trying to sell the design to a known brand, who would then market the product to consumers. So when and at what price we’ll see this frame is a bit unknown. At least though, we see the potential and hardware innovation that make advanced frame designs possible.