For more than 60 years, Germany's Fraunhofer Institute has promoted and undertaken "applied research...of wide benefit to society as a whole," according to its mission statement. That's why it's not at all surprising to hear that they recently came up with the Perfect Coffee Mug, a temperature-regulating drinking receptacle that keeps coffee at the ideal drinking temperature for up to 30 minutes.
The mug uses phase change material (PCM)--that's a substance with a high heat of fusion that can store and release energy (heat) over time. By adjusting the amount of PCM in a given object, you can effectively set the temperature you want to maintain. The Perfect Coffee Mug is set to about 136 degrees Fahrenheit.
Here's how it all goes down: you brew your coffee, optimally at 200 degrees Fahrenheit and pour it into your mug. Maybe you lose a few degrees in the pouring, but you're still probably be looking at around 195 degrees, what we in the science biz call "tongue-scaldingly hot." So your mug absorbs that extra 60 or so degrees and gives it back slowly, as your coffee cools, to maintain its ideal temperature of 136 degrees.
I, personally, can think of nothing that serves society better. When these mugs hit my local Target, you can bet I'll buy a bunch.
(Credit:
Fraunhofer Institute)
If you thought there were enough menaces on the road with people yakking away on Bluetooth headsets and texting while driving, these OLED data eyeglasses just upped the ante.
Just imagine if this little invention out of the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems in Germany were to hit mainstream use. We'd have a global epidemic of distracted users plugged into their eyewear, busily accessing the day's news, e-mails, instant messages, and miscellaneous data on their glasses, barely paying attention to where they're going.
Still, there's no halting technology. So looking on the bright side, this interactive eyewear does provide a far more natural alternative to head-mounted displays. The data glasses throw the image onto the retina via an OLED micro-display so it appears a meter in front of the wearer. And instead of getting a static image, an eye-tracking device fitted to the hinge lets you scroll through information by simply moving the eyeball, leaving you essentially hands-free.
Fraunhofer's Dr. Michael Scholles believes the eyeglasses already have ready-made applications in the medical and construction fields, and will open up new uses and, I'm pretty sure, new users like Stephen Hawking and others who are disabled.
(Source: Crave Asia via Gizmag)
The Respisens system fits into a T-shirt.
(Credit: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft)Ever found yourself peddling along madly and forgetting to breathe? If you have a respiratory illness, that can cause more than a minor glitch on the bike path. To monitor patients' inhalations and exhalations, scientists at Germany's Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft research institute have conceived of a digital assistant that behaves something like a pulmonary specialist along for the ride.
The Respisens system registers the pace and strength of the wearer's breathing. Measurements are taken with the aid of respiration straps--conductors integrated into a T-shirt across the patient's chest and stomach that emit an electric signal when expanded. The raw data is transmitted to a matchbook-size module that records and processes it, then transmits the information to a cell phone or a PDA. If the value fails to reach a predefined level, the system sets off an alarm.
Fraunhofer is showing off its innovation using a bicycle guide as an example.
(Credit: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft)In addition to serving as a health aid for athletes, the battery-charged PDA can be used in the remote care of patients, allowing a doctor to check the data and gauge how a patient is progressing. If necessary, for example, the physician can adjust the medication dosage on the basis of the data obtained.
Researchers from Fraunhofer Institutes for Software and Systems Engineering and Integrated Circuits will present the technology at the CeBit trade show in Hanover, Germany, using bicycle guides as an example. The show runs March 4 through 9.
In addition to monitoring respiration, the sample PDA can act as a navigation device, suggesting bike routes and places of interest with the aid of video clips.
(Credit:
Ugens)
We've been concerned about misplacing some media players because of their petite frames, but never video cameras. And certainly not high-definition ones. But at a barely more than 1.5 by 3 inches and "smaller than a bar of soap," the "MicroHDTV" from Germany's Fraunhofer Institute could easily slip out of our pocket and into the lost-and-found category.
Engadget says the camcorder is purportedly small enough to fit in "a racing-car cockpit, helmet or any other tiny space you'd like to broadcast HDTV from." That's a euro in the photo for scale comparison (about the size of an American quarter).
The camera can also be controlled through the Web for live action, shooting at up to 1920x1080-pixel resolution. So if you've been bellyaching about the lack of HD content available to watch on your spanking-new 70-inch plasma, maybe you'll soon be able to do something about it yourself.
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