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Vocal Joystick Needs No Hands
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: PC / Laptop, Peripherals, Science, Storage,
The University of Washington has designed Vocal Joystick software to assist those with disabilities. “Ahh” means go northwest, “ooo” makes it go south, and “ohh” makes the cursor go southeast. Vowel sounds make circles, while the voice volume controls the speed. A simple clicking noise opens a link. The researchers have already tested their joystick at the UW Medical Center and are about to begin the next round. The system only needs a mic, a PC with sound card and a voice to operate.
Read More 
| Physorg
Gallery: Vocal Joystick Needs No Hands
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We once witnessed a plant’s reaction with a lie detector to someone’s bending one of its leaves and were pretty impressed that the plant exhibited stress. But Midori-san, a Sweetheart Hoya, makes that look juvenile in comparison. Satoshi Kuribayashi of KAYAK has developed sophisticated technology that allows the house plant to blog on line. With surface potential sensors, it measures changes such as temperature, vibration, and nearby humans. An algorithm translates that data into Japanese sentences that make up the blog. You can monitor Midor-san and offer it a dose of light through its site, which seems to lose something with the translation.
Read More | Pink Tentacle
Gallery: Midori-san, The Blogging Plant
The Japanese company Prop has developed a Human Airbag for seniors. The strap-on device deploys in a few seconds if the wearer falls and can’t get up. It consists of 3 airbags that inflate with compressed gas, protecting the head and back. Unfortunately, the vest will not work if the user falls forward. The safety gadget costs $1000.00 and we are thinking that maybe Prop could design a mini-version for toddlers learning to walk.
Read More | Trendhunter
Gallery: Prop Human Airbag
Ever wish you could jump into Second Life? Researchers at the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) almost can with the StarCave, a third generation virtual reality space. The pentagon-shaped room consists of computers, rear-projection walls, and floor screens, and displays over 68 million pixels. The room supports 20/40 vision when the users wear lightweight, polarized sunglasses. At a cost of about a million dollars, the StarCave works by pointing a wand to go through the 3D images and/or zoom.
Read More | UC San Diego News
Gallery: StarCave Virtual Reality Room
We really thought that this was one of those gag articles meant for April Fool’s Day. Researchers of the ASE (Association of Space Explorers) say that a killer asteroid may be coming in the next 15 years. Sure enough, not only does the organization exist, it has come up with a study that suggests that the U.N. assume responsibility in the way of a global information network using data from ground and space telescopes to let us know if/when the big one is coming. A second project should plan how to destroy or deflect it. NASA is currently watching 209 NEOs (Near Earth Objects,) although none of them are considered dangerous.
Read More | ABC News
Gallery: ASE Asks U.N. to Monitor NEOs
Want to know what the weather will be like when you get up in the morning without listening to a real human? The Oregon Weather Light Clock has 3 illuminated icons to give you a reading of sunny, cloudy, and rainy. Wave your hand and you get both Atomic time and in and outdoor temperatures. Set it on auto-toggle display and it will do just that. With LED backlighting, the rocket clock can be set for 12 or 24 hour time with either Celsius or Fahrenheit measurement. It comes with outdoor sensor and is available for £49.99 (~$100.00.)
Gallery: Oregon Weather Light Rocket Clock
We have seen some fairly strange timepieces in our time but this one has really lived up to the description. The Corpus Clock took a team of 8 about 5 years to create and was recently unveiled by Stephen Hawking on the Corpus Christi College campus. Inventor John Taylor said he wanted to “make timekeeping interesting.” The clock’s face is 4 ft. wide and gold plated. The grasshopper (aka Chronophage, which means time eater) atop it munches a minute every 60 seconds. Run by an electric motor, it will supposedly run for 25 years.
Read More | BBC
Gallery: Corpus Clock Given to CCC
It seems that things are not so cheery with the LHC after all. There was a problem in sector 34 Friday, resulting in a helium leak. They believe that the source was a faulty connection between two magnets which may have melted, with the result being that CERN has shut down the device. They expect a minimum of 2 months worth of cooling off and repair. They also mentioned that no humans were at risk at any time, except for the ones who fell into the black hole (just kidding.)
Read More | CERN
Gallery: Incident in LHC Causes Shutdown
Watch out for Super Chickens arriving at a grocery store near you. The U.S. government will start considering proposals to use GE (genetically engineered) animals for food. This might include faster growing animals, cattle that resist Mad Cow Disease, or lower cholesterol eggs. The Food and Drug Administration has said that it is concerned with animals that will be used for food or produce medicine to be used on animals or humans, rather than those used in lab experiments. Many details still need to be worked out such as labeling. We get nervous enough thinking about genetically altered grains.
Read More | ABC News
Gallery: GE Animals Okayed by Government
Interactive Talking First Aid Guide
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smart Home, Misc. Tech, Science,
Don’t panic! The Interactive Talking First Aid Guide will get you through almost any emergency. Press a lighted key and the device will ask you a few yes/no questions, then give you calm step-by-step instructions in English or Spanish. There are 8 categories and 30 total interactive recordings. Carry the 3 1/2 x 7 x 1 1/2-inch, 11.5 oz. guide with you or mount it on a wall at home. The first aid assistant comes with 4 AA batteries and a $99.95 price.
Read More | Brookstone
