Month: May 2012

Transform anything into a touch sensor

The Disney research lab in Pittsburgh released a cool demo video showing how any surface can be converted into a touch sensor.  One of the coolest applications would be to use your skin to control an iPhone.  Your body becomes the buttons…touch your palm with one finger for one action, two fingers for something different, touch the wrist for another action, you get the idea.  Exciting possibilities here, check out the video:

If you’re more the DIY type, check out the video below that shows someone making their own version of this touch sensor.  You can find instructions and details here.


(via Hack a Day)

Solar powered boat completes round the world journey

I have mixed feelings about this one.  PlanetSolar is less than one day from completing a circumnavigation using a boat powered only by the sun; it’s taken them about 600 days to do this.  I’m not quite sure what they’re trying to prove here.  If you want to go ‘green’ on your trip around the world, solar just can’t compete with wind.  Sailboats are a proven ‘green’ technology that are faster and can go more places in the world’s oceans (PlanetSolar is limited more to the equatorial regions where the sun’s more direct rays result in more powered gathered by the solar panels).  Likewise, storms pose little challenge for sailboats but the cloud cover hurts the performance of PlanetSolar.  Yes, solar is useful even on sailboats for powering shipboard electronics, but when it comes to propulsion, the abundant wind on the oceans is a fantastic, proven resource.

A solar boat?  I don’t get it.  Hoist the mainsail, matey.

Asana project management

I came across a great new project management tool in this article over at Fast Company.  It’s called Asana, and has some really cool features to provide task management and email functionality for teams collaborating on projects.  Or rather, it’s not email based, but allows for conversations on tasks in much the way that people use email for, but with a lot more functionality regarding the task itself.  It works well and is a great way to collaborate both with local and remote project teams.  Check it out!

Sharks with laser beams

Lots of cool tech ideas first make their appearance in sci-fi movies, but really…sharks with freakin laser beams attached to their heads?  Ridiculous idea, but yeah, it’s still cool.  Even if it was a bit of a publicity stunt for Wicked Lasers.

Read all about it over at Wired.

 

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Baskerville 2 by Anders Noren.

Up ↑