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September 27, 2005
Post modern thinking cap ...
Gert Pfurtscheller of Graz University of Technology in Austria has created a "thinking cap" to detect activity in certain brain areas linked to movement, and use the signals to mimic that movement in a virtual world.
The technology detects brain waves by using electrodes placed at strategic points on the scalp; they are positioned over brain areas known to be involved in moving specific body parts. The computer can then distinguish between signals corresponding to different types of movement.
"Just thinking about movement activates the same neurons as actually moving," explains Prof. Pfurtscheller.
The device has not-so-virtual reality - using the system to reintegrate the brain and motor systems in people suffering brain injuries. A video clip illustrating this application is available at http://bci.tugraz.at/TOM_BCI_FES.mpg
Sources:
Michael Hopkins, Computer users move themselves with the mind : Electrode cap allows users to think themselves along a virtual street., Nature Online, Published online: 27 September 2005; | doi:10.1038/news050926-5. http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050926/full/050926-5.html
Laboratory of Brain-Computer Interfaces, TUG (Technical University of Graz), 2005. http://www.dpmi.tugraz.at/fes.html
Posted by sjc at 4:06 PM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2005
We'll be there in a few minutes ...
Shanghai traffic is taking a turn for the worse with cell phone navigation systems that rely on counterfeit maps.
The Shanghai Daily said drivers were tempted to buy the counterfeit maps because they were much cheaper. A manager from one of the authorised firms told the paper: "Generally a GPS device costs about 10,000 yuan but a fake one equipped with a counterfeit electric map can be available for several thousand yuan or even less.
Fake maps now far exceeded the number of legal ones, the paper reported.
Source: BBC News, Fake maps fox Shanghai drivers, Thursday, 22 September, 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4270922.stm
Posted by sjc at 2:30 PM | Comments (0)
September 23, 2005
Manga Phone
Photo credits: A scene from the popular cartoon strip "Oishinbo" is shown on a cell phone display. (c) Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki / Shokagukan, Inc, Taiga Uranaka Photo, Japan Times, September 22, 2005
Cell phone sites for cartoon strips are booming, as is demand for popular titles. But at the same time, some famous "manga" artists are bypassing publishing houses to offer their works to "keitai" (cell phone) sites directly.
Toppan Printing Co. in April 2003 became one of the first firms to offer cartoon strips via cell phones. It currently offers 55 titles, including Reiji Matsumoto's "Ginga Tetsudo 999" ("Galaxy Railway 999") in collaboration with major publishers.
The cartoons, which are converted to digital form from their original paper edition, cost 30 yen to 100 yen per episode. Company officials said they plan to add 100 more titles by the end of March.
Source: Taiga Uranaka, Manga publishers see cell phones as the future, Japan Times, Thursday, September 22, 2005, http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nb20050922a2.htm
Posted by sjc at 9:41 AM | Comments (0)
September 7, 2005
Vending machine from outerspace
Where do they come from? Where do they go when their job is done?
djlucid found this possible explanation of the stealth technology being deployed on a street in Japan.
Posted by sjc at 5:16 PM | Comments (0)