The hardware added to this cell phone costs around $10.
(Credit: Ozcan Research Group/UCLA)To picture the next-gen microscope, don't picture a microscope at all. Aydogan Ozcan, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, is adapting cell phones to sample biological images.
This is no iPhone app. Ozcan, who formed the company Microskia (on the heels of the UC Berkeley team that developed CellScope), has built a prototype whose cell phone camera sensor can detect a slide's contents at a cellular level--reading, for example, an increase in white blood cell count that might indicate a new infection or injury. That information can then be forwarded wirelessly to a lab or hospital.
The brilliance of Ozcan's design is that magnification is done electronically, requiring no lens. (CellScope, on the other hand, takes a more conventional approach as a miniature microscope with expensive lenses.)
... Read more
(Credit:
Electrophysics)
A company called Electrophysics has two adapters that can make your Canon or Nikon dSLR snap pictures in the dark. Such an application isn't new and was previously implemented in surveillance and video cameras for recording footage in the dark. But the AstroScope 9350-series adapters are specially designed to be used with dSLRs.
These night vision systems fit between the camera body and the lens. There is a central intensifier unit (CIU), which illuminates the scene dramatically even if there is only a weak light source. What's special is that these adapters maintain the electrical connections required for image stabilizer operation and autofocus by the optics.
Electrophysics did not announce the pricing and availability of the AstroScope on its Web site, but we don't think such a niche product will sell cheap.
(Source: Crave Asia via Engadget)
(Credit:
Crave UK)
What's this gizmo? Another ridiculous lens thing for bolting on the front of your phone to beef up that pitiful 2-megapixel camera? Actually, no: it's the CellScope, which turns a normal mobile phone--in this case, a rather venerable Nokia N73--into a microscope. Limited access to microscopy in the developing world makes this a handy tool for diagnosing diseases like tuberculosis and malaria.
The CellScope works with handhelds and even Netbooks. The really clever bit is that it wirelessly transmits patient data to clinical centers, allowing the patient to be evaluated remotely and treatment suggested. Developed by Daniel Fletcher, associate professor of bioengineering at the University of California at Berkeley, the device could also be used for home monitoring of patients in the developed world.
The CellScope is one of four winners of the Inspire Empower Challenge, announced at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing. More than 200 ideas were proposed by developers--ranging from individuals to NGOs to companies--all tackling education, health care, environmental, or economic problems in developing countries.
The other winners are the Great Lakes Cassava Initiative, which connects cassava farmers with laptops, the Mobile Solar Computer Classroom in Uganda, and the Rural Livelihood Enhancement project, which aims to set up computer labs in Nepal that run off hydroelectric power.
(Via Crave UK)
'mySKY' navigator
(Credit: Discovery Communications)
Phaser remote
(Credit: Phone Phun)There are certain unnamed Cravers who, we're told, can sit and stare for hours on end at fake stars and planets projected on the wall. And yet there are others who actually enjoy viewing the heavens in reality outside (gasp). For those brave souls, there are several handheld scopes and personal planeteriums that can help navigate the night sky, including some in alien form.
But Meade's "mySKY" is the only one we know of that comes anywhere close to resembling a phaser. This personal guide to the universe can identify 30,000 objects with its color LCD and 500 audio descriptions using a built-in GPS receiver, according to Red Ferret. It may seem a bit pricey at $400, but consider this: The same company also makes a 500-pound star gazer for $60,000.
(Credit:
Spycatcher)
We're no experts on night-vision technology, especially under water, but this is one item that seems to have extremely limited utility. As far as we can tell, the "Marine 2" scope is a waterproof device that provides night vision but with only 2x magnification and apparently no camera.
So unless you're in dire need of doing crossword puzzles or reading something up-close in the pitch-dark seas, we're not quite sure why anyone would want to spend 295 pounds (about $588) for one of these Spycatcher gadgets. Moreover, if this is meant to be a covert piece of equipment, the bright yellow color seems like an ill-advised option.
If you're really into playing aquatic espionage, you'd probably something more like this underwater monitor kit, which includes a 7-inch LCD and night-vision camera with a range of 9 to 15 feet. Either way, none of these items is as baffling as the night-vision Webcam.
(Credit:
Xenonics Holdings)
Just when we've managed to suppress the memory of Silence of the Lambs, another night-vision product comes along to start the nightmares all over again. But out of dedication to all the nocturnal Cravers out there, we'll put aside our fears (temporarily) to mention the "SuperVision" night-vision scope, which is supposedly among the most powerful of its kind on the market with better range and resolution than military-grade scopes, as well as an 8x zoom.
But Electronista says it should be noted that it's a handheld device, not one that can be affixed to your head or mounted on a helmet, despite its $1,399 price tag. That means it would be a huge disadvantage the next time you play darts after dark.
(Credit:
Fareastgizmos)
As we continue to monitor its evolutionary process in midstream, we observe that the mobile phone has taken another Darwinian step. A species of the Samsung family has just grown a joystick.
The "Optical Joystick" V960 model is being touted as the first mobile phone with said feature, according to Fareastgizmos. It actually behaves more like a laptop touchpad than a console joystick and is designed for menu navigation, not fragging. The phone, which includes a 2-megapixel camera, also features a new "Smart Lighting" sensor that automatically adjusts screen and keypad brightness.
We're not sure if this the joystick is more effective than the touch-screen concept being developed by LG, but it's not our place to question nature at work.
(Credit:
Brookstone)
(Credit:
U.S. Army)
Good grief, look at this thing. It looks like a shoulder-mounted Stinger missile launcher.
Brookstone's portable VistaPix IS70 Digital Spotting Scope is a combination camera-telescope with a 70mm lens, 2-inch LCD screen and 3-megapixel resolution that promises to magnify images up to 14 times. But be careful where you point this handheld monster. In today's security-obsessed society, police may shoot first and ask questions later.
As fond as we are of new watch designs these days, we feel compelled to voice one minor concern: We can't figure out how they work.
(Credit:
AudioCubes)
And we don't think we're alone. Our evidence: This "Scope Silver Metal Belt Watch" from AudioCubes offers instructions on how to read the time.
According to the LED watch's product description, "It uses the idea of intersection between the horizontal and vertical lines to mark the time." Um, right. Call us old-fashioned, but we think it's asking a bit much for us to learn how to tell time all over again. That's too high a price to pay for us, even if the scope watch costs a relatively reasonable $169.
- prev
- 1
- next
