The Future is Now
Sign of the Times…
Friday, June 8th, 2007My son, Avery, in the car this afternoon, passing a bank: Daddy, what does ATM stand for?
Me: Automatic Teller Machine
Avery: Daddy, what’s a teller?
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Microsoft’s Surface Computing
Saturday, June 2nd, 2007Check out this demo of Milan, Microsoft’s new “Surface Computing” product. It’s a really slick, touch screen computer built into the surface of a table. They’ve got some silly applications (a paint program), as well as some more interesting ones, like a photo slideshow/viewer where pictures and video can be moved around the table and resized by stretching them (a la Apple’s iPhone), and a restaurant application that shows interactive menus (the restaurant kind, not the computer kind).
It can also recognize real world objects. The glass of wine you ordered can be tagged so when you put it on the table, the table can “label” it with the kind of wine, the winery, or other advertising/promotional content. And when you’re paying the bill, it can recognize your credit card, and let you split up the bill by dragging pictures of what you ate onto your credit card (not an icon depicting your card, mind you, but the card itself). When you’re done, there’s a “Pay” button on the table that applies the charge to the card.
CNET’s review says the units will cost roughly $10,000 and will start appearing in stores, casinos, hotel lobbies and other public spaces soon. I think this is one of those breakthrough technologies that needs some critical mass to really catch on. Once that happens, mass volume production could make it cheap enough to show up on desks in offices and schools, as well as various places in the home. The kitchen table is an obvious choice, where something very much like the restaurant application would be useful. But what about the bathroom vanity? Imagine a vanity that identified your medication for you, told you how much to take, or reminded you when it was time to refill the prescription.
Back in the ’90s, my employer had a “vision of the future” center that would postulate just these kinds of things, but the Internet was brand new then, and desktop/touchscreen technology had not advanced to this point. Now, it seems like we’ve achieved a point where it would pass the Mom & Dad test…
Categories: Tech Talk, The Future is Now | 2 Comments »
Wireless recharging
Sunday, April 1st, 2007Man, talk about solving a problem no one knew they had! Scalzi just pointed this out:
Powercast and its first major partner, electronics giant Philips, are set to launch their first device powered by electricity broadcast through the air.
It may sound futuristic, but Powercast’s platform uses nothing more complex than a radio–and is cheap enough for just about any company to incorporate into a product. A transmitter plugs into the wall, and a dime-size receiver (the real innovation, costing about $5 to make) can be embedded into any low-voltage device. The receiver turns radio waves into DC electricity, recharging the device’s battery at a distance of up to 3 feet.
Picture your cell phone charging up the second you sit down at your desk, and you start to get a sense of the opportunity.
I had just assumed you’d always have to plug something in to recharge it. Apparently not.
I’m picturing public recharging kiosks in coffee shops, airport waiting areas, etc.. The possibilities really are endless…
Categories: Tech Talk, The Future is Now | 1 Comment »
Even More Good News for Stem Cell Research
Wednesday, January 17th, 2007From Dr. Wes via Instapundit: Stem Cells Create Beating Heart Muscle:
The researchers, whose study appears in the on-line edition of the prestigious journal Circulation Research, created the heart tissue in their lab by sorting human embryonic stem cells that turned into heart muscle cells and growing them together with endothelial cells and embryonic fibroplasts. The culture was carried out in three dimensions on a scaffold made of self-destructing sponge material that the researchers also created in their lab. In the future, they will look into the possibility of implanting the engineered cardiac tissue, with the blood vessels improving the implantation of the new tissue and its connection to the blood system.
The technique is aimed eventually at helping patients who have cardiac insufficiency due to heart attacks.
They say it’s too early to tell how this might be incorporated into an actual human heart, but still – amazing stuff.
Also note that all of this progress comes without significant government funding. Assuming the new Congress gets its way, it’ll be interesting to see if increased government funding makes the progress speed up or slow down…
Categories: The Future is Now | 3 Comments »
More good news for stem cell research
Tuesday, January 9th, 2007I’ve posted before about amazing advances in stem cell research, but now there’s this from CNN:
Scientists reported Sunday they had found a plentiful source of stem cells in the fluid that cushions babies in the womb. The announcement may make it easier to sidestep the controversy over destroying embryos for research.
Researchers at Wake Forest University and Harvard University reported the stem cells they drew from amniotic fluid donated by pregnant women hold much the same promise as embryonic stem cells. They reported they were able to extract the stem cells without harm to mother or fetus and turn their discovery into several different tissue cell types, including brain, liver and bone.
One of the more promising aspects of the research is that some of the DNA of the amnio stem cells contained Y chromosomes, which means the cells came from the babies rather than the pregnant moms.
The doctors go on to say that actual embryonic stem cells may “do more tricks” (I swear those are the words they used) than these stem cells, but that these are a giant leap forward, and represent a way around the ethical concerns that currently occupy at least our federal government, if not some percentage of the citizens as well.
As before, I’m amazed that this isn’t bigger news…
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Three Blind Mice. See how they….see!
Friday, November 10th, 2006Some good news from stem cell research:
BLIND mice have had their sight at least partially restored after scientists injected immature stem cells to replace damaged cells of the retina.
Maybe, given the events of last week and news like this, stem cell research will get a bit more popular…
Although, I should note, this news came from England, not the U.S.
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More Amazing Technology On the Way, Part 2
Friday, October 20th, 2006Back in August, researchers posited a theoretical device that could make something invisible.
Today, they built one.
Categories: The Future is Now | 3 Comments »
Another TV Show becomes a reality
Thursday, September 14th, 2006This woman has a bionic arm.
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The Flying Car
Saturday, September 9th, 2006Leave it to those MIT guys to invent The Flying Car. You can download a simulator today, and put a $7,400 (5%) deposit down on the $148,000 vehicle, which should hit the showrooms in late 2009 (prototypes in 2008).
The inventors prefer to call it a “roadable aircraft,” but really – what fun is that?
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Cells on a Plane!
Thursday, September 7th, 2006It seems two airlines, Quantas and Ryanair (an Irish budget airline) are experimenting with allowing cell phone calls, text messaging and e-mail on their flights.
The typical discussion here is preditable: who wants to be stuck between two chatterboxes on conference calls all the way to London, but this is hollow criticism – everyone who complains about it wouldn’t think twice if it were their conference call.
Here’s a better question: we’re worried about people bringing down the plane with hair gel and/or nail clippers. Isn’t a cell phone a well established triggering mechanism for explosives? (Come to think of it, is this already a problem that no one has bothered to bring up? Hmmmm……)
Categories: The Future is Now | 5 Comments »