Byala Beach | VYONYX

Byala Beach VYONYX: "project name: Byala Beach
project location: close to Byala, Bulgaria
project date: 2007
client: Foster + Partners, London"

Epson Unveils Electronic Substitute For Conventional Papers - Gizmo Watch

Epson Unveils Electronic Substitute For Conventional Papers - Gizmo Watch: "Epson has come up with a revolutionary concept of electronic paper which it claims can replace the traditional wooden raw-material based paper. This 13.4 inch electronic paper was unveiled at SID 2008, Los Angeles. It has a pixel count of 3104 × 4128. Actually, this is the size of the traditional A4 size paper. As the electronic displays strain eyes when reading, this paper has the same conventional white background with black letters over it and it’s contrast ratio is being adjusted at 10:1 and reflectance is 40% for the soothing effect. If this concept turns out to be true, it could provide a great relief to the vanishing forests in Canada and Brazil that are being chopped off every year, paper manufacturing industry being one of the main reasons for them.
Source: FarEastGizmos"

Mission Gaia: A Strategy Game For A Positive Difference - Gizmo Watch

Mission Gaia: A Strategy Game For A Positive Difference - Gizmo Watch: "Tram Media, a Canadian media company has come out with a unique game called Mission Gaia. Mission Gaia is a strategy game that involves almost 84 players in a museum-like environment with 21 game tables which contain touch sensitive LCD screens laid flat. Players either form groups of four or play individually. Coming to the game itself, this game will have a number of tasks like solving a crisis or managing a city. Players need to get through with these virtual tasks and solve them using sustainable means only. For this, they are given a token each which they need to place on the LCD screen and then press a button to choose a sustainable means of problem solving."

Philips Tests 3D TV, Glasses Free And HDTV Successor - Gizmo Watch

Philips Tests 3D TV, Glasses Free And HDTV Successor - Gizmo Watch: "A TV which will make us a part of the Sci-Fi flick we are watching could soon become a reality with Philips already testing a few prototypes of the 3D TV. Thankfully these 3D TVs don’t require us to wear those zombie-ish glasses that we used to wear as kids at the planetarium to watch different galaxies. These TVs operate a little like holograms but the major difference here is that we don’t tilt our eyes to look at the different images like we do for a hologram, here the 3D TV does the tilting for us. Though these TVs currently aren’t refined enough to display sharp high definition images, it will just be a matter of time before technology catches up to make the 3D TV the next big thing after high definition TVs. How about combining ultra low power OLEDs with 3D TV technology or is that asking a little too much a little too early. Only time will tell."

Media Center PC Concept: Visual Extravagance Coupled With Chic Class - Gizmo Watch

Media Center PC Concept: Visual Extravagance Coupled With Chic Class - Gizmo Watch: "With large HDTV monitors making it to PCs, the PC was soon becoming an all in one home entertainment device. The designers at One & Co too seem to agree and hence we have a very chic looking Media Center PC that will put most other home entertainment devices to shame just with it’s stunningly stylish looks. The entire CPU goes into a very classy looking wooden cabinet that is mounted onto a sleek, stainless steel stand. The entire CPU is remote controlled, pretty much like a conventional home entertainment system. If you think that the CPU looks hot, the monitor looks even hotter. The expansive monitor that is finished in classy metallic silver manages to look very hot even though it sits on a spindly metal stalk. This monitor will beam out crisp and clear HDTV images to nicely round off the Media Center PC Concept. That is pretty much about the visually stunning Media Center PC which takes aesthetics to real classy heights. If only Microsoft started making such Media Center PCs. Wishful thinking, some might call it, but you just never know, with the windows mark on this."

A Cutting Edge Hack Job Brings Multi-touch To Apple's Desktop - Gizmo Watch

A Cutting Edge Hack Job Brings Multi-touch To Apple's Desktop - Gizmo Watch: "Hackers are bunch of people who make news for all the wrong reasons, from phishing credit card details to hacking into ultra secure government servers. For a change, we have a hack job that might do the digital world and Apple a lot of good. We are talking about Christian Moore’s revolutionary open source framework called the LUX which brings the famed multi-touch interface to Apple’s OSX operating system. This hack job has the potential to redefine user interfaces as the finger-based touch sensitive technology will give artists and designers the irreplaceable hands-on approach to sketching, painting and designing. That apart, keyboards and mouses will become redundant saving the world a whole load of electricity and this obviously will result in a lot of space being saved too. How about coupling this to a projected virtual keyboard and a tactile feedback system? The possibilities are just endless!"

DIY All-in-one Beer Brewing Device, License To Drop Dead Drunk - Gizmo Watch

DIY All-in-one Beer Brewing Device, License To Drop Dead Drunk - Gizmo Watch: "Beer lovers will have to admit that this DIY all-in-one beer brewing device created by John Carnett is the best invention since canned beer. And the good news is that alcoholics all around the world will soon be able to get their hands on one of these. Christened the NanoBrewMaster, this comp-controlled all-in-one brewery rids you of the extremely unnecessary trip to the local store for a taste of your favorite beverage after a hard day of sitting on your ass doing nothing. The fully-automated glycol-chilled, 15-gallon fountain gives the freedom to brew your own beer using only 2’x8’ of floor space in your kitchen/garage/broom closet and offers you fresh, chilled beer at the turn of the tap. Check out Carnett’s homepage and then you can promptly drop to your knees and say a little prayer!"

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro: "Sensor desenvolvido pela Microsoft permite usar força para realizar algumas ações como virar as páginas de um texto ou alternar entre diferentes aplicativos. Os sensores estão na leteral do aparelho, dispensando o uso de materiais flexíveis"

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro: "Morph é um protótipo Nokia que envolve nanotecnologia feito em conjunto com a Universidade de Cambridge, na Inglaterra.Para seus desenvolvedores, o aparelho possui as funcionalidades mais recentes da categoria: entre elas, flexibilidade"

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro: "Protótipo idealizado por designer asiático para a Samsung, a interface Finger Touching promete inovar a forma como usuários manuseiam o celular. O 'aparelho' é, na verdade, vestido pelo usuário, como uma luva diferentona"

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro: "Com design circular e materiais como vidro e alumínio, o protótipo do designer Michael Laut mira os usuários de telefones sofisticados e com a assinatura de grifes famosas. A tela do aparelho é translúcida e sensível ao toque"

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro: "Você acha o seu monitor pequeno? Cansado de apertar os olhos para enxergar letrinhas? Desembolsando um bom dinheiro, dá pra resolver isso. A tela de computador da foto mostra imagens em 180 graus. O aparelho custa US$ 20,5 mil"

Artificial Intelligence Aiding Search for Life on Mars

Artificial Intelligence Aiding Search for Life on Mars: "Over the past several years we have heard a lot from the European Space Agency in their search for signs of past or present life on Mars. Since January 2005, the Mars Express search has been using its sophisticated instruments to study all aspects of Mars; from its atmosphere, all the way down to its subsurface.
As a result, we’ve seen evidence of glaciers, water, and more that has lent support to the idea that there could be, or could have been, life on Mars."

The Magic Box - GRID Preview (Page 1 of 4)

The Magic Box - GRID Preview (Page 1 of 4): "GRID
Publisher: Codemasters
Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC
Genre: Racing
Origin: US, Europe
Release: June 3, 2008

Here are some new images of Codemasters' GRID, the latest installment of the Race Driver series for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC."

The Magic Box - MotorStorm: Pacific Rift Preview (Page 1 of 3)

The Magic Box - MotorStorm: Pacific Rift Preview (Page 1 of 3): "MotorStorm: Pacific Rift
Publisher: Sony
Developer: Evolution Studios
Platform: PlayStation 3
Genre: Racing
Origin: US, Europe
Release: 2008

Here are some new images of Sony and Evolution Studios' PS3 offroad racing game MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, this time the races will take place in tropical locations in the Pacific Ocean area, with swamps, rivers, jungle, thick mud, peaks, volcanoes and lava pools. The game will also support 16 players for online head to head races, as well as 4 player split screen offline."

The Magic Box - Golden Axe: Beast Rider Preview (Page 1 of 2)

The Magic Box - Golden Axe: Beast Rider Preview (Page 1 of 2): "Golden Axe: Beast Rider
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Secret Level
Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Genre: Action
Origin: US, Europe
Release: 2008

Here are some new images of Sega and Secret Level's medieval action RPG Golden Axe: Beast Rider, in which you play as the female amazon warrior Tyris Flare."

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro: "Tatuagem movida a sangue transforma a pele em um celular com Bluetooth. Depois de 'apertar um botão', o display de 2x4 polegadas aparece e simula a interface de um telefone móvel. Quando a ligação termina, a tatuagem desaparece"

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro: "Entre as funções do papel eletrônico que simula um celular dobrável estão um keypad e dois mini-teclados. Já a face central do aparelho tem sensibilidade ao toque. O gadget conceito foi vencedor da edição 2007 do Istanbul Design Week"

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro: "Baseado no Origami, o Ori-Ori Moshi-Moshi é um gadget conceito que se adapta conforme a função desejada. Caso você queira ler um jornal eletrônico ou e-mail, basta estender a 'folha'. Se quiser telefonar, escolha a interface telefônica"

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro: "O telão LCD de 132' da Philips promete projetar imagens em três dimensões sem a necessidade de usar óculos especiais chegao ao Brasil. O equipamento traz um aplicativo que converte imagens 2D para gerar o efeito 3D no telão"

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro

UOL Tecnologia - Telas do futuro: "A Universidade de Washington anunciou protótipo de lentes de contato com circuitos e sensores luminosos embutidos. A descoberta abre campo para a reprodução de vídeos e conteúdo multimídia direto na retina do usuário"

MIT & RIT Creating a 3-D "Super RoadMap" to the Solar System

MIT & RIT Creating a 3-D "Super RoadMap" to the Solar System: "Think of it as a GoogleMaps to the Solar System: a 3-D 'super roadmaps' of other planets and moons that will provide robots, astronauts and engineers with the details about atmospheric composition, biohazards, wind speed and temperature -information that could help land future spacecraft and more effectively navigate roving cameras across a Martian or lunar terrain. Manned and robotic missions navigating on other bodies in our solar system will have the ability to find landmarks and destinations to point them in the right direction.
RIT scientist Donald Figer and his team are developing a new type of detector that uses LIDAR (LIght Detection and Ranging), a technique similar to radar, but which uses light instead of radio waves to measure distances. The project will deliver a new generation of optical/ultraviolet imaging LIDAR detectors that will significantly extend NASA science capabilities for planetary applications by providing 3-D location information for planetary surfaces and a wider range of coverage than the single-pixel detectors currently combined with LIDAR.
The LIDAR imaging detector will be able to distinguish topographical details that differ in height by as little as one centimeter. This is an improvement in a technology that conflates objects less than one meter in relative height. LIDAR used today could confuse a boulder for a pebble, an important detail when landing a spacecraft.
'The imaging LIDAR detector could become a workhorse for a wide range of NASA missions,' says Figer, professor in RIT's Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science and director of the RIDL. 'It could support NASA's planetary missions like Europa Geophysical Orbiter or a Mars High-resolution Spatial Mapper.'"

Real-World 'Iron Man' Suit Foreshadows Future of Artificial Intelligence

Real-World 'Iron Man' Suit Foreshadows Future of Artificial Intelligence: "Cyberdyne Incorporated is building a real life Iron Man suit named HAL. No, this isn't the ultimate in crossover fan-fiction - it's an actual factual product. You might expect to wait ten years for such technology, but Cyberdyne Inc. is aiming to start production in October. Yes, THIS October. Start saving.
The suit in Iron Man is built by Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.), a brilliant engineer who has made billions from building weapons. Kidnapped in Afghanistan, he questions his life, and resolves to put his genius to better use: to protecting rather than destroying by building himself a suit of armor that gives him superhuman powers.
The HAL real-world suit is based on the research of Professor Sankai's laboratory at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. The HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) is designed to enhance the abilities of the wearer without restricting their range of motion, a set of sensors and motors at each joint multiplying the user's strength. And like Tony Stark himself, they appreciate that sophisticated systems require sleek styling to sell - with white shelled sections topped with blue-LED rings at each motor, this couldn't be designed to look more modern without spontaneously jumping into the future."

Real-World 'Iron Man' Suit Foreshadows Future of Artificial Intelligence

Real-World 'Iron Man' Suit Foreshadows Future of Artificial Intelligence: "Cyberdyne Incorporated is building a real life Iron Man suit named HAL. No, this isn't the ultimate in crossover fan-fiction - it's an actual factual product. You might expect to wait ten years for such technology, but Cyberdyne Inc. is aiming to start production in October. Yes, THIS October. Start saving.
The suit in Iron Man is built by Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.), a brilliant engineer who has made billions from building weapons. Kidnapped in Afghanistan, he questions his life, and resolves to put his genius to better use: to protecting rather than destroying by building himself a suit of armor that gives him superhuman powers.
The HAL real-world suit is based on the research of Professor Sankai's laboratory at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. The HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) is designed to enhance the abilities of the wearer without restricting their range of motion, a set of sensors and motors at each joint multiplying the user's strength. And like Tony Stark himself, they appreciate that sophisticated systems require sleek styling to sell - with white shelled sections topped with blue-LED rings at each motor, this couldn't be designed to look more modern without spontaneously jumping into the future."

Internet Going Galactic -To Mars & Beyond

Internet Going Galactic -To Mars & Beyond: "IT Wire announced that InterPlaNet (IPN) will serve as a backbone for a future inter-planetary system of Internets, acording to Vint Cerf, Google vice president and Internet evangelist. Cerf co-wrote the TCP/IP protocol which underpins the Internet in the 1970s and began work on the InterPlaNet in 1998.
The InterPlaNet protocol is designed to cope with delays caused by the vast distances of space, with data taking up to 20 minutes to travel between the Earth and Mars depending on how far apart the two planets are."

Quantum Physics & the Quest for the Perfect Internet

Quantum Physics & the Quest for the Perfect Internet: "Communication on the Internet takes place via tiny pulses of light that are continually becoming weaker as the network handles the increasing flow of information. Eventually we will reach the limit for how weak the pulses can be and still be able to function as information carriers. But a Quantum Internet, where information is encoded in quantum properties of tiny pulses, would open up a whole new world of online possibilities—a system without many of the limits faced by the current system.
A network of quantum computers communicating with each other reliably over macroscopic distances would be able to perform both quantum and classical computations in much more secure fashion.
But in order for a quantum-based network to function physicists must first create new ways to detect and store light information in atoms, a so-called quantum memory. And that is exactly what researchers have been attempting over the past several years.
Recently physicists at the University of Michigan have coaxed two separate atoms to communicate with a sort of quantum intuition that Albert Einstein referred to as 'spooky.' In doing so, the researchers have made another advancement toward super-fast quantum computing and a building block for a quantum Internet."

Beyond Google: StumbleUpon & "Social Search"

Beyond Google: StumbleUpon & "Social Search": "In a podcast I was listening to last week, legendary Web guru, Seth Godin, the author of ' Cow,' 'Small is the New Big,' and his new New York Times bestseller, 'The Dip,' made a fascinating and I believe, brilliant, observation.
When asked what companies he thought might be the next big thing beyond Google, Godin answered: 'StumbleUpon: it is social search and it's revolutionizing how we find things on the Web.'
Using search engines to locate relevant content typically means hunting through pages of results. Rather than searching for quality web sites, StumbleUpon members are taken directly to web sites matching their personal interests and preferences."

Beyond Google 2: StumbleUpon Integrates with Facebook

Beyond Google 2: StumbleUpon Integrates with Facebook: "Okay, we admit it: we're StumbleUpon addicts at the Galaxy. We use the service to find user-filtered photos, websites, and videos we think might make good feature posts on the Galaxy. But we're equally smitten with Facebook and its powerful social communications networking system.
A couple of weeks back we posted Web guru Seth Godin's comment (he's the author of ' Cow,' 'Small is the New Big,' and his new New York Times bestseller, 'The Dip') that 'StumbleUpon is social search and it's revolutionizing how we find things on the Web.'"

Beyond Google 3: Why a Semantic Web Will Be Smarter, Faster & All-Around Better

Beyond Google 3: Why a Semantic Web Will Be Smarter, Faster & All-Around Better: "Someday the entire world will likely have access to virtual “software agents” who will “roam” across the Web, making our travel arrangements, doctor's appointments and basically taking care of all the day-to-day hassles for humankind. It’s a great vision, but it will never be achieved with today's current Internet.
As much as we’ve come to know and love the current World Wide Web—we have to admit that it isn't very smart. One webpage is the same as any other. It might have a higher “ranking”, but there's no distinction based on actual meaning. That’s why many Internet wizards believe it is time for Web 3.0, or the “semantic Web”. It’s one of the hottest buzzwords in computer science today. Why? Because it promises to bring order to chaos, and make our lives simpler.
Indeed, the WWW we have now is a cloud of largely undifferentiated information, but companies like Metaweb Technologies and Radar Networks have an ultimate goal of building a semantic Web structure that would turn all that disarray into a neatly archived library. Think of it as a semantic Wikipedia—for all of the world's knowledge.
A new generation of techies is already in the early stages of developing a semantic Web ('Semantics' is the branch of linguistics concerned with meaning), which will act more like a series of connected databases, where all information resides in a structured form. Within that structure is a layer of description that adds meaning that the computer can understand. To build this smarter Web, innovators are looking for ways to get machines to do the dirty work for us."

Red & the Green: The Future of the Internet & How to Stop It

Red & the Green: The Future of the Internet & How to Stop It: "Jonathan Zittrain believes that gadgets such as iPhones and Xbox’s threaten the future of the internet. His book, entitled The Future of the Internet – And How to Stop it, has stirred up fierce discussion across the internet.
In his book, Zittrain, an American and a fervent hater of anything regulatory, believes that there should be two types of computers, or more to the point, two types of operating modes: red and green. In the green zone the system is locked down, and users would be unable to run programs that weren’t previously approved.
In the red zone though, everything would be open and thus if you were to download a movie from the internet, and it contained a virus, you’d be in it by yourself. However he noted that there should be a restore function, so that even in the red zone you can go back to a time before being infected.
The latest to comment is Bill Thompson, technology critic and writer for the BBC. In an article entitled “Staying Safe and Taking Risks” Thompson advocates an extension of Zittrain’s idea: two zones of internet.
Thompson suggests that, similarly to Zittrain’s safe and unsafe zones of computing, there should be a safe and unsafe internet: two separate internets. One would be the safe and locked down version, where viruses and the like don’t exist, and websites and programs are locked to all hell and back, the other, the freedom that many of us would want."

The "Blue Brain" & Human Consciousness -Scientists Create Artificial Brain

The "Blue Brain" & Human Consciousness -Scientists Create Artificial Brain: "A network of artificial nerves is evolving right now in a Swiss supercomputer. This bizarre creation is capable of simulating a natural brain, cell-for-cell. The Swiss scientists, who created what they have dubbed 'Blue Brain', believe it will soon offer a better understanding of human consciousness. This is no sci-fi flick; it’s an actual ‘computer brain’ that may eventually have the ability to think for itself. Exciting? Scary? It could be a little of both.
The designers say that 'Blue Brain' was willful and unpredictable from day one. When it was first fed electrical impulses, strange patterns began to appear with lightning-like flashes produced by ‘cells’ that the scientists recognized from living human and animal processes. Neurons started interacting with one another until they were firing in rhythm. 'It happened entirely on its own,' says biologist Henry Markram, the project's director. 'Spontaneously.'
The project essentially has its own factory to produce artificial brains. Their computers can clone nerve cells quickly. The system allows for the production of whole series of neurons of all different types. Because in natural brains, no two cells are exactly identical, the scientists"

The "Blue Brain" & Human Consciousness -Scientists Create Artificial Brain

The "Blue Brain" & Human Consciousness -Scientists Create Artificial Brain: "A network of artificial nerves is evolving right now in a Swiss supercomputer. This bizarre creation is capable of simulating a natural brain, cell-for-cell. The Swiss scientists, who created what they have dubbed 'Blue Brain', believe it will soon offer a better understanding of human consciousness. This is no sci-fi flick; it’s an actual ‘computer brain’ that may eventually have the ability to think for itself. Exciting? Scary? It could be a little of both.
The designers say that 'Blue Brain' was willful and unpredictable from day one. When it was first fed electrical impulses, strange patterns began to appear with lightning-like flashes produced by ‘cells’ that the scientists recognized from living human and animal processes. Neurons started interacting with one another until they were firing in rhythm. 'It happened entirely on its own,' says biologist Henry Markram, the project's director. 'Spontaneously.'
The project essentially has its own factory to produce artificial brains. Their computers can clone nerve cells quickly. The system allows for the production of whole series of neurons of all different types. Because in natural brains, no two cells are exactly identical, the scientists"

A Post-Human Future: Are Humans the Limit of Evolutionary Complexity? A Galaxy Classic

A Post-Human Future: Are Humans the Limit of Evolutionary Complexity? A Galaxy Classic: "'I certainly think that humans are not the limit of evolutionary complexity. There may indeed be post–human entities, either organic or silicon–based, which can in some respects surpass what a human can do. I think it would be rather surprising if our mental capacities were matched to understanding all the levels of reality. The chimpanzees certainly aren't, so why should ours be either? So there may be levels that will have to await some post-human emergence.'
Sir Martin Rees, Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics and Master of Trinity College at the University of Cambridge.
Rees's comment was made at the introduction of the 2007 Singularity Conference held this week in San Francisco. Sir Martin's concern about the ever-quickening pace of technological change and the sinister ends to which it may be used was the theme of his most recent book, Our Final Century (see links to the recent Galaxy post below)."

Asian Researchers Create an Artificial Virus to Heal, Not Harm

Asian Researchers Create an Artificial Virus to Heal, Not Harm: "A group of Korean researchers are working on an artificial virus. That might sound like time to dispatch both James Bond AND Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Ultimate Mad Scientist Destruction Crossover, but here in the real world it turns out that: a) Viruses aren't necessarily bad; b) Not everyone outside America is evil."

Biological Computers -Can They Sidestep the Laws of Physics?

Biological Computers -Can They Sidestep the Laws of Physics?: "In recent years Moore's Law, the idea the computing power will double every eighteen months, has seem less an amazing sign of progress and more an immense brick wall we're speeding towards - with recent advances like one-atom transistors, there simply isn't much further to go. This has driven research in other directions that wouldn't have appealed back when regular chips could just get better and better. 3D chips, optical computing, quantum systems and even biological computers.
If the thought of doing complex mathematical problems makes you sick to your stomach, you might be able to help the solve the equations after all. Scientists from Davidson College and Missouri Western State University have reprogrammed E. Coli bacteria, normally found doing their own thing in your stomach, to solve a mathematical problem in a cunning sidestep from classical computing - giving a whole new dimension to the term 'gut feeling'."

Carbon Fiber Clad CZEERS MK1 Is The World's First Solar Speedboat - Gizmo Watch

Carbon Fiber Clad CZEERS MK1 Is The World's First Solar Speedboat - Gizmo Watch: "A bunch of students of the Delft Technical University got together to build the world’s first solar speedboat way back in 2006 and entered it in the Nuon Frisian Solar Challenge. The boat won top honours and hence, got itself funding by Rabobank. From there, there was no stopping this bunch of Dutch students who went on to found their own solar speedboat firm called CZEERS. The CZEERS MK1 Solar Speedboat, true to it’s name, has solar panels on virtually every horizontal inch of it’s sleek body. Speaking about the body, it is made up of the ultralight and ultrarigid carbon fiber. This gives a very light yet strong structure. Over and above the carbon fiber, the photovoltaic cells power the electric batteries of the boat."