Future tech

Pininfarina automotive designer Leonardo Fioravanti's Hidra concept car uses windshields that repel water and dirt, doing away with the need for wipers. The nanotechnology-based windshield has four layers, with the titanium oxide top layer designed to quickly repel water. A second layer pushes dirt off to its sides, keeping the windshield clean. A third layer works as a sensor, while the fourth layer is charged with electricity to run the whole apparatus. An article describing the technology and concept car appeared in the Italian publication, la Repubblica, and can be read in English here, thanks to the magic of … Read more

CORK, Ireland--William Henry, an applications specialist at Ireland's Tyndall National Institute, can't tell you exactly how long one of the miniature LEDs the organization has developed will emit light. But it's a long time.

The micro LED--which is significantly smaller than conventional light-emitting diodes--requires only a few billionths of an amp to operate. Thus, it can survive for quite a while on a limited power source. One of the researchers on the project had one running constantly for two-and-a-half years on his desk. Then someone damaged it while moving it around. One member of the group calculated … Read more

CORK, Ireland--Here's a combination you don't see every day: wireless networking and performance art.

Todd Winkler, a professor at Brown University in Rhode Island, and Mikael Fernstrom, a lecturer at the University of Limerick in Ireland, have choreographed performance pieces in which the dancers are rigged up with small wireless sensors that can alter the music and the images on screens. When the dancers move, changes occur in response. In other words, it's an arty version of the Wii. (Here is an academic paper (PDF) on the experiment.)

It's one of the more novel applications for … Read more

How fast can a helicopter go? If Sikorsky Aircraft's plans work out, the answer could be: a lot faster than is possible right now.

For several years, Sikorsky has been working on what it calls X2 technology, a suite of systems that it says could let a helicopter "cruise comfortably" at 250 knots. That would be a far zippier pace than most current rotary wing aircraft can handle. The UH-60L variant of Sikorsky's Blackhawk, for instance, can fly at about 150 knots.

The tilt-wing MV-22 Osprey, meanwhile, can hit speeds upward of 240 knots, but it'… Read more

If this concept Internet search device by designer Mac Funamizu takes off, the privacy advocates will be out in force to protest.

It's like having Wikipedia wherever you go, but way cooler and far more advanced. The artist's idea is for this portable device to have a touch screen, built-in camera, scanner, Wi-Fi connectivity, Google Maps, and Google Search capabilities, among other features.

The screen would probably double as the camera viewfinder, so it would be like looking through a piece of transparent glass. And when you point it at an object, the screen would show more details … Read more

Microsoft's announcement at today's Game Developer's Conference made some waves in the gaming community, but for the growing faction of Zune owners, it felt like an exciting glimpse into the product's future.

While Microsoft hasn't made any formal announcements regarding games coming to the Zune, they dropped a big hint today when they demonstrated a game developed using XNA Studio running on a Zune 80. Its a move that makes plenty of sense, considering that Apple has been slowly and steadily releasing games for the Zune's competitor, the iPod. Gaming on the Zune also capitalizes on a theme Microsoft already has some credibility with, by way of XBox 360.

We might not know when Microsoft will start releasing games for the Zune, or how much they will cost, but we have some idea of what types of games will be released. The following list of XNA games and descriptions is quoted from Microsoft's XBox 360 site (videos via YouTube):… Read more

I've just made a small orange cube disappear with my mind. No hands necessary.

I'm testing out the San Francisco company's so-called brain control interface, the latest iteration of technology it first showed off a year ago, but which, unlike last year, is now almost ready for prime time.

The idea is a blending of hardware and software: A headset that seems a little like the one from the James Cameron-written 1995 film, Strange Days, complete with a set of sensors that are built to read your brain waves.

The software then is designed to interpret those … Read more

You just don't expect snow in San Diego, but that's what we got last week at a launch event for the 2009 Acura TSX. Due to the terms of an embargo, we have to hold off on giving you any information on our driving experiences from the event, but we can tell you that, thanks to a freak snowstorm, we ended up stuck on a mountainside for the better part of three hours, much of it waiting for a snowplow to come and clear us a path to safety. Usually, this would have been a tedious wait, but … Read more

STANFORD, Calif.--Mitch Kapor, like many people, is well aware that virtual worlds are often very difficult to use.

The founder of Lotus 1-2-3, who also happens to be the first investor in Second Life publisher Linden Lab and its chairman, spoke at the Metaverse Roadmap meeting here today on the topic of what can be done to make using virtual worlds a better experience.

"I'm obsessed with what's going to make these things easier to use," Kapor said, his face lit with excitement. "I think a piece of hardware is involved."

And that … Read more