EXTRAORDINARY MULTIPURPOSE SMARTPHONE
A simple look at the concept phone’s website can be enlightening and it will change the way you think about mobile phones. Basically, the Pomegranate device features MP3 playback, GPS navigation, a global voice translator, a camera, video player, movie projector, a razor, a harmonica and of course, the coffee brewer you can see in action below.
PARK YOUR CAR USING iPHONE
Besides browsing the web, bugging your social network buddies, and checking out the latest additions to the App Store, parking a car is now another thing that can be done with an iPhone. The guys from Valeo – a company dedicated to developing and producing components and modules for use in the automotive industry, just demonstrated the technology in action at the 2011 International Motor Show in Frankfurt.
Although this sounds like a feature reserved only for James Bond's personal ride, versions of the Park4U system, which is what makes all the magic happen, can be found on vehicles from several makers, namely Volkswagen, Lincoln, Ford and Audi. The system uses sensors to steer the car automatically into parallel and perpendicular parking spots. All that the driver is required to do is to control the accelerator and break pedals.
This is where the iPhone comes into play. Valeo has come up with an iPhone app that lets the user control a Park4U-equipped car remotely. The car simply steers itself into the parking spot while the driver controls the accelerator and the break remotely with their smartphone. This feature can come in handy when the car needs to be parked in a tight spot where there is not enough space for the doors to open fully, for example. Or perhaps, showing off in front of your friends is another application that comes to mind.
So, does parking a car with a phone sound like a feature that you would use on a daily basis, or more like something that a self-respecting driver should not need to resort to?
SONY ROLLY IN MOTION
Rolly is an egg-shaped digital robotic music player made by Sony, combining music functions with robotic dancing. It has two wheels that allow it to rotate and spin, as well as two bands of colored LED light running around its edge and cup-like "wings" (or "arms" according to the Sony sonystyle USA website) which can open and close on either end, all of which can be synchronized to the music being played.
Rolly has several operating modes, including Bluetooth functionality. Rolly can play music streamed directly from any Bluetooth enabled cell phone, computer, or mp3 player. Rolly is able to dance along to streaming music, but the Rolly Choreographer software produces far better results when it analyzes tracks and creates motion files before loading them onto Rolly.
Rolly also has a G force sensor (accelerometer) which detects if the player is laying horizontally or being held upright. When held upright, the track next/previous can be controlled by the top wheel and volume up/down can be controlled by the bottom wheel. Tracks can be shuffled by holding the unit upright, pressing the button once, then shaking the unit up and down (light color changes to purple). You can return to continuous play (light color blue) by simply repeating this process.
Rolly has 2 gigabytes of flash memory to store music files.
ROOMBA ZOOMBA MOVING VACUUM
Roomba and Scooba maybe are the saviors for all the lazy men.
Roomba is a self-moving vacuum robot. It can vacuum your room by schedule. It can automatically return to charging base when battery is low. Scooba is a self-moving floor washing robot. It use water and cleaning solution to mop the floor, especially useful in the kitchen!
ASIMO DILIGENT ROBOT
ASIMO has the ability to recognize moving objects, postures, gestures, its surrounding environment, sounds and faces, which enables it to interact with humans. The robot can detect the movements of multiple objects by using visual information captured by two camera "eyes" in its head and also determine distance and direction. This feature allows ASIMO to follow a person, or face him or her when approached.The robot interprets voice commands and human hand movements, enabling it to recognize when a handshake is offered or when a person waves or points, and then respond accordingly. ASIMO's ability to distinguish between voices and other sounds allows it to identify its companions. ASIMO is able to respond to its name and recognizes sounds associated with a falling object or collision. This allows the robot to face a person when spoken to or look towards a sound. ASIMO responds to questions by nodding or providing a verbal answer and can recognize approximately 10 different faces and address them by name.
ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY FISH
Robotic fish, developed by UK scientists, are to be released into the sea for the first time to detect pollution..
If successful, the team hopes that the fish will used in rivers, lakes and seas across the world, including Britain, to detect pollution.
The life-like creatures, which will mimic the undulating movement of real fish, will be equipped with tiny chemical sensors to find the source of potentially hazardous pollutants in the water, such as leaks from vessels in the port or underwater pipelines.
The fish will communicate with each other using ultrasonics and information will be transmitted to the port's control centre via WiFi from the "charging hub" where the fish can charge their batteries. This will enable the authorities to map in real time the source and scale of the pollution (see attached graphic).
He added: "We will produce a system that allows the fish to search underwater, meaning that we will be able to analyse not only chemicals on the surface of the water (e.g. oil) but also those that are dissolved in the water."
The five fish are being built by Professor Huosheng Hu and his robotics team at the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex. He hopes to release them into the water by the end of next year..
He said: "I am incredibly excited about this project. We are designing these fish very carefully to ensure that they will be able to detect changes in environmental conditions in the port and pick up on early signs of pollution spreading, for example by locating a small leak in a vessel.
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