Diesel Spring/Summer 08 Catwalk Show

The Diesel Spring/Summer 08 Catwalk Show showed off the latest fashion with the latest technology. As the models paraded themselves and the new threads from Diesel down the catwalk, holograms interacted with the them. The holograms had  an under water theme called “Liquid Space” as fish and other ocean creature apparently swam mid air in an under water envoirment. The animated holograms were completly visible from both both sides of the stage. A member of Diesels creative team describes how the show was created

“The visuals are projected through a series of ‘foils’ into mid air, so you see the images in mid-air. The models can then interact with them and walk through them. We used plastic foils placed at 45 degree angles so that the projected light from the ceiling goes onto a foil, is reflected on to another and then into the air.

We worked it so it had a real catwalk feel and so that you could view it from both sides: you can see the models, the holograms and the public from both sides. It’s never been used this way before as the technology has just been used in the corporate world before, for sales presentations, and the visuals have always just been viewed from one side. So we set up two rigs instead.

The animations were done with standard CGI animation software but were made for a 15m by 2.5m screen. It’s all rendered in HD, too, so was quite demanding as it’s 30 frames per second. We worked on the whole thing, from storyboard through to the final render in just two and a half months. Bringing together Dvein and Vizoo gave us this unique, truly holographic, 3D motion graphic experience.”

I think this is an implication of things to come in the entertainment industy. The holograms themselves arnt really enhancing the clothes but rather included to impress the crowd and entertain them. This type of entertainment was also used at the 2005 MTV Europe Awards when the Gorillas preformed and it works. Holograms have the wow factor and remind us of futeristic films we have watched and remind us that the technology of tomorrow has arrived.

Nanogenerator

We all know how annoying it is when we’re out and about with no charger or plug and our phone dies. A solution to this problem is on the horizon. Scientist claim that in the future we will be able to charge our phones with the waving of a hand or stretching of an arm. They are currently working with a technology that converts mechanical energy from body movements or the flow of blood around the body into electrical energy that could be used to power electrical devices without batteries. Nanogenerators are to used to do this. Zinc Oxide nanowires get energy from movement and convert it into electricity.

I think this science is amazing. The thought that we could recycle our own body movements for the electrical devices we possess is genius. It is both practical and environmentally friendly. When this process is prefected the possibilities are wondrous. Imagine hooking yourself up in the gym and then using that energy to listen to you ipod or even transporting the energy home and powering the lights in your house.

Ranger

Ranger, created by China’s Fab Chain, is the new GPS add on module for the Nintendo DS lite. You just plug it into the front of your DS and you get turn by turn satellite navigation. Also you can access Google Maps. It can be viewed in both 2D and 3D modes and has an automatic day or night mode. Also you can connect it to a PC or PDA using a USB connection and view the GPS.

I think this device is handy considering the amount of people who own a DS but as GPS is currently available on phones and other appliances I don’t think it is a must have buy.

Safe Mouse

We’ve all lost files and hours of work because of our computers have crashed and despite the advice to back everything up most of us dont. The people at Blackbox Innovations have come up with a smart little gadget to help us avoid loosing valuable data. It is called the Safemouse. It is a computer mouse connected to the computer by USB and it has 4GB of internal memory like a USB Flash drive. The data is secured on the mouse by a 3-10 digit code and if there is an attempt to retrieve the information without the code it will be destroyed.

The user can decide to put up to 8 folders on the mouse that are also on the computer. When information is saved to the computer folder it is also backed up on the mouse automatically. I think this is a handy little gadget as I have lost hours of college work by not backing it up. Often I am in a hurry and dont have time to back up my work or simply forget to do it so this Safemouse is vaulable to the absent minded like me.

Sixth Sense Techgnology

Pranav Mistry has developed the technology Sixth Sense. It involves wearing a gadget around the neck that contains a projector and is able to track the movement of the users fingers. It is conected wirelessly to a computer or a smart phone and allows the user to complete an range of different tasks. The information is controlled by the gestures of the fingers that are tracked by wearing for example marker caps or nail varnish on them. For example the user can go to any wall and project the photgraphs from their computer/phone. They can use their fingers to pick,  resize, manipulate the photos through gestures.

This technology has been developed to do a range of jobs and because it is connected to the internet a vast amount of information can be resourced. In the super market the user can get information about a product through image recognition and advice the customer in preference to their own personal needs. To name just a few functions the user can use their fingers to take a photograph, tell the time and use a calculator on any surface.

I think this technology is very impressive and can be utilised in many many different ways, the possibilities are great. It seem to make sense that this technologhy is the next step into the future and believe it will soon be the norm. This is concivable considering the designers predictions, that with mass production Sixth Sense technology will in the future, cost no more than an mobile does at the moment.

“Robot Land”

Well if Nexi creeped anyone out Robot Land surely will. Some of the great minds in South Korea are planning to start work on “Robot Land” sometime this year. On first hearing about it I imagined it would be like a scene out of Back to the Future or Star Wars with flying cars and the likes but nothing so unbelievable. It is actually going to be an industrial city dedicated to the science of robotics. The park has been estimated to cost in the region of 500 billion Won and 50 billion Won is expected to come from the government. Over all i think it is going to extremely beneficial to the world of robotics because with a place like this, where scientists and engineers can work together and share their expertise, ground breaking ideas are going to occur and cutting edge robots are going to be built. Still, I’m not convinced i want to live in a robot orientated world.

Funky Forest

Funky Forest is an interactive ecosystem  created to make children aware of the importance of the environment. The children have to stand next to the walls and use their bodies to create a tree.

When the tree is made the children have to use their hands, arms or any part of their bodies to guide water from the virtual river running along the ground to the tree to keep it alive.

The installation was opened at the Cinekid festival in the Netherlands and I think it is a very good idea. It educates children on an important current issue while making it fun. It encourages the children to plant their own trees, take care of them and help the environment.  The more trees that are virtually grown and cared for adds to the overall well being of the forest teaching the children about the importance of forests and the destruction of the rain forest. The instillation itself it impressive as lots of children can use it at one time. Also the graphics are aesthetically pleasing and I’m sure children would love them.

Mind Flex

Imagine being able to use your thoughts to play a video game. Well its here and the future of gaming has arrived. Mattel have made a game using a headset that measures brainwaves  and turns them into energy to levitate a ball and guide it through hoops. Its amazing really.

The harder the user concentrates the higher the ball rises. So no more gamers thumb. But it creates the image of kids blue in the face, sitting in front of their video game not moving just making a scrunched up expression of concentration. The technology is brilliant but to me the hole idea is crazy. At least the Wii allows the user to get up and move around, incorporating exercise into the game but this technology is going in the complete other direction.

On the other hand it could be ground braking for those with physical disabilities, allowing those unable to use their bodies use their minds instead to play video games.

Interactive Toilet

This is hilarious and trust two men to come up with it. To take something we do several times everyday and make it into a game. Werner Dupont and Bart Geraets, both Belgium, came up with the idea of an interactive toilet. I suppose it beats staring at cold tiles.

So two men stand in two toilet stalls side by side and can play a range of games against each other. There are two sensors in each urinal a left and a right used as controls. The user must urinate on the sensors to use them…simple…well that depends on your aim!!

One problem, the whole idea is very sexist. But I’m willing to leave this one to the boys.

I cant get the video up so check it out on http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Tecnologia&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=nWy1SfiaHoye0AXCr4iMAQ&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#q=interactive+toilet+makes+a+splash&emb=0

Solio Communicator

The Solio Communicator is a new hands free kit for cars introduced by Better Energy Systems at the Mobile World Congress 2009. It works the same with any bloothtooth phone, as any other  handsfree kit but the beauty of it all is that it is solar powered. This is brilliant, considering its only in recent times in Ireland, that driving and holding your mobile has been made illegal and handsfree kits have become popular. Now with the Solio Communicator you can be satisfied that you are doing your part for the enviorment, an increasingly important issue. It can be easily attached to a range of surfaces such as the dashboard, window, etc.

A problem may arise if you do most of your driving at night time but the device can store energy from the sun during the day when you are not using it for times when there is no sunshine and it can store this energy for up to a year. If this all fails due to a lack of sunlight you can hook it up to your ciggeratte lighter  or charge it via USB port of a normal wall socket.

It seems like a very smart and resourceful product for countries that have lots of sunlight such as Australia but I’m not so sure how it would fair out in gloomy Ireland. Still a great idea. Maybe they should invent a hydraulic product for us.