Wednesday 22 February 2012
LATEST TECHNOLOGY: Personal power management puts you in charge
LATEST TECHNOLOGY: Personal power management puts you in charge: Personal power management puts you in charge "The goal of giving every household and business access to timely, useful and actionable infor...
Seeking fully biodegradable electronics
Seeking fully biodegradable electronics
Progress has been made in efforts to promote recycling of electronic and electrical goods, but the ultimate goal is fully biodegradable electronics.
Early biodegradable circuits being designed at Stanford University and elsewhere could find use as control circuits for drug delivery via implanted medical systems, for which the slower speed of organic electronics is not a hindrance. Nanopumps for insulin, for instance, are already being designed by a team from STMicroelectronics and Debiotech S.A. (Lausanne, Switzerland); a biodegradable version would function for an expected lifetime of a few months and then simply dissolve away.
Success with biodegradable implants, and improved speeds for organic circuitry in general, could one day allow environmentally compostable electronics to become ubiquitous.
Progress has been made in efforts to promote recycling of electronic and electrical goods, but the ultimate goal is fully biodegradable electronics.
Early biodegradable circuits being designed at Stanford University and elsewhere could find use as control circuits for drug delivery via implanted medical systems, for which the slower speed of organic electronics is not a hindrance. Nanopumps for insulin, for instance, are already being designed by a team from STMicroelectronics and Debiotech S.A. (Lausanne, Switzerland); a biodegradable version would function for an expected lifetime of a few months and then simply dissolve away.
Success with biodegradable implants, and improved speeds for organic circuitry in general, could one day allow environmentally compostable electronics to become ubiquitous.
Stricter legislation in the western hemisphere has helped clean up local practices, but unfortunately has also produced an export market in end-of-life goods to the developing world where environmental laws are not as strict.
3-D optical metrology measures up
3-D optical metrology measures up
Output in 3-D from TVs, game consoles and mobile handsets will be joined by 3-D input in 2011. Called 3-D optical metrology, the technique projects stripes of light onto objects, then makes measurements of the distortions in the reflected light to deduce size and shape, thereby allowing real-world scenes to be input automatically to a 3-D model.
Generating accurate 3-D models traditionally requires either manual measurements or expensive, laser-based 3-D rangefinding systems. Now Texas Instruments and others are downsizing their microelectromechanical system-based picoprojectors to do the same job inexpensively using structured light illumination. SLI offers automated 3-D sensing by projecting matrices of light onto objects, the reflected distortions from which allow the objects' dimensions to be deduced automatically.
Applications range from 3-D video game development to fingerprint scanners that could identify people at a distance. Seikowave (Lexington, Ky.), for instance, is harnessing a specialized infrared MEMS picoprojector that brings SLI to medical diagnostics; the device can noninvasively monitor the rise and fall of the chest of a respiratory patient, for example, during medical testing.
Output in 3-D from TVs, game consoles and mobile handsets will be joined by 3-D input in 2011. Called 3-D optical metrology, the technique projects stripes of light onto objects, then makes measurements of the distortions in the reflected light to deduce size and shape, thereby allowing real-world scenes to be input automatically to a 3-D model.
Generating accurate 3-D models traditionally requires either manual measurements or expensive, laser-based 3-D rangefinding systems. Now Texas Instruments and others are downsizing their microelectromechanical system-based picoprojectors to do the same job inexpensively using structured light illumination. SLI offers automated 3-D sensing by projecting matrices of light onto objects, the reflected distortions from which allow the objects' dimensions to be deduced automatically.
Applications range from 3-D video game development to fingerprint scanners that could identify people at a distance. Seikowave (Lexington, Ky.), for instance, is harnessing a specialized infrared MEMS picoprojector that brings SLI to medical diagnostics; the device can noninvasively monitor the rise and fall of the chest of a respiratory patient, for example, during medical testing.
Nvidia Corp. markets 3D Vision Pro and Quadro professional graphics solutions for immersive, realistic 3-D environments. Source: Nvidia.
Mobile 3-D to drive user acceptance
Mobile 3-D to drive user acceptance
Retailers have plenty of 3-D TVS in stock this holiday season, but the products' acceptance has been hampered by limited content and by the need for LCD-shutter glasses that dim displays as they switch the view between eyes. User uptake has only been strong in the home theater market, for which DisplaySearch forecasts that 3.2 million 3-D TVs will be shipped in 2010.
That same forecast, however, predicts that 3-D TVs will grow to over 90 million units in 2014—accounting for 41 percent of all flat-panel sets sold that year, up from just 2 percent today—as autostereoscopic displays that do not require the glasses enter the market. Toshiba, for one, is already selling glasses-free 3-D televisions in Japan.
Many of the users who buy glasses-free 3-D TVs in 2014 will have already gained experience with autostereoscopic displays by using the ones built into their mobile devices, such as Fuji's 3-D still camera. In-Stat predicts that more than 60 million autostereoscopic 3-D displays for mobile devices will ship in 2014.
Retailers have plenty of 3-D TVS in stock this holiday season, but the products' acceptance has been hampered by limited content and by the need for LCD-shutter glasses that dim displays as they switch the view between eyes. User uptake has only been strong in the home theater market, for which DisplaySearch forecasts that 3.2 million 3-D TVs will be shipped in 2010.
That same forecast, however, predicts that 3-D TVs will grow to over 90 million units in 2014—accounting for 41 percent of all flat-panel sets sold that year, up from just 2 percent today—as autostereoscopic displays that do not require the glasses enter the market. Toshiba, for one, is already selling glasses-free 3-D televisions in Japan.
Many of the users who buy glasses-free 3-D TVs in 2014 will have already gained experience with autostereoscopic displays by using the ones built into their mobile devices, such as Fuji's 3-D still camera. In-Stat predicts that more than 60 million autostereoscopic 3-D displays for mobile devices will ship in 2014.
Mobile devices like the Fuji 3-D still camera have autostereoscopic displays built-in, a trend that will grow to over 60 million units by 2014, according to In-Stat.
Augmented reality: Geotagging the real world
Augmented reality: Geotagging the real world
Augmented reality, or the overlay of information on live images via a device display, has already been proved in military applications such as heads-up windscreen displays in fighter aircraft. Now consumer AR is coming to GPS-enabled camera phones.
In 2011, Apple, Google and a dozen startups plan to offer apps and systems that will relay commercial information—such as what's on sale at the various stores in the mall you're visiting—AR-style. Even Intel Capital is looking to cash in on the craze by investing in Layar (Amsterdam, Netherlands), an AR platform company that offers online tools for the development community.
But social networking may be the killer AR app. Sekai Camera, for instance, lets users leave their own AR posts at points of interest. A visitor to an ice cream shop, for instance, could aim a phone's camera at the front of the shop and type a message recommending the soft-serve pistachio. Other Sekai Camera users would see the pistachio fan's posting when they aimed a camera phone at the shop.
Augmented reality, or the overlay of information on live images via a device display, has already been proved in military applications such as heads-up windscreen displays in fighter aircraft. Now consumer AR is coming to GPS-enabled camera phones.
In 2011, Apple, Google and a dozen startups plan to offer apps and systems that will relay commercial information—such as what's on sale at the various stores in the mall you're visiting—AR-style. Even Intel Capital is looking to cash in on the craze by investing in Layar (Amsterdam, Netherlands), an AR platform company that offers online tools for the development community.
But social networking may be the killer AR app. Sekai Camera, for instance, lets users leave their own AR posts at points of interest. A visitor to an ice cream shop, for instance, could aim a phone's camera at the front of the shop and type a message recommending the soft-serve pistachio. Other Sekai Camera users would see the pistachio fan's posting when they aimed a camera phone at the shop.
Viewing Tokyo's skyline with Sekai Camera reveals hundreds of user-supplied geo-tags highlighting points of interest in the style of social-media.
Energy storage media sought
Energy storage media sought
Many exotic technologies loom as long-term prospects for efficient energy storage, but
to date none poses a commercially feasible alternative to lithium-ion batteries, and recent refinements to lithium-ion technology will keep it in the lead for the short haul.
A123 Systems, a developer and manufacturer of advanced Li-ion batteries based on nanoscale materials that were conceived at MIT, was recently selected to develop battery packs for a 2012-model-year electric passenger car from Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., the largest automaker in China. A123 has also signed a deal to sell 44 megawatts' worth of its batteries to AES Energy Storage, in a step toward putting solar and wind farms on the grid.
While lithium-ion today is the poster child for energy storage, the technology has inherent limits in energy density and readily available raw materials. Those restrictions, in turn, could limit the production of electric vehicles if a commercially feasible alternative to lithium-ion batteries is not found soon.
Many exotic technologies loom as long-term prospects for efficient energy storage, but
to date none poses a commercially feasible alternative to lithium-ion batteries, and recent refinements to lithium-ion technology will keep it in the lead for the short haul.
A123 Systems, a developer and manufacturer of advanced Li-ion batteries based on nanoscale materials that were conceived at MIT, was recently selected to develop battery packs for a 2012-model-year electric passenger car from Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., the largest automaker in China. A123 has also signed a deal to sell 44 megawatts' worth of its batteries to AES Energy Storage, in a step toward putting solar and wind farms on the grid.
While lithium-ion today is the poster child for energy storage, the technology has inherent limits in energy density and readily available raw materials. Those restrictions, in turn, could limit the production of electric vehicles if a commercially feasible alternative to lithium-ion batteries is not found soon.
A123 Systems Nanosphosphate Lithium Ion batteries offer one of the most commercially feasible power sources for hydrid vehicles.
Personal power management puts you in charge
Personal power management puts you in charge
"The goal of giving every household and business access to timely, useful and actionable information on their energy use" was the focus of a recent open letter to President Obama from GE, Google, Intel, Honeywell, Whirlpool and 42 other companies. "By giving people the ability to monitor and manage their energy consumption, for instance, via their computers, phones or other devices . . . we can harness the power of millions of people to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—and save consumers billions of dollars," the companies told the President.
Google already has a free downloadable app, the PowerMeter, that can monitor overall energy consumption in a home with an installed breaker-box add-on, such as Energy Inc.'s TED (The Energy Detective). Intel is taking the approach one step further by "personalizing" energy management as it once helped personalize computing; the company has crafted a prototype personal-energy monitor that plugs into the wall (instead of the breaker box) and uses artificial intelligence to deduce which appliances in a household are on and how much power they are using.
In 2011, a whole ecosystem of personal power management devices will be announced by Intel, its partners and competitors.
"The goal of giving every household and business access to timely, useful and actionable information on their energy use" was the focus of a recent open letter to President Obama from GE, Google, Intel, Honeywell, Whirlpool and 42 other companies. "By giving people the ability to monitor and manage their energy consumption, for instance, via their computers, phones or other devices . . . we can harness the power of millions of people to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—and save consumers billions of dollars," the companies told the President.
Google already has a free downloadable app, the PowerMeter, that can monitor overall energy consumption in a home with an installed breaker-box add-on, such as Energy Inc.'s TED (The Energy Detective). Intel is taking the approach one step further by "personalizing" energy management as it once helped personalize computing; the company has crafted a prototype personal-energy monitor that plugs into the wall (instead of the breaker box) and uses artificial intelligence to deduce which appliances in a household are on and how much power they are using.
In 2011, a whole ecosystem of personal power management devices will be announced by Intel, its partners and competitors.
Google PowerMeter and The Energy Detective are all you need to monitor energy usage with your computer or mobile device.
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