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Tag Archive for scifi

Ambient Energy

June 8, 2015 future, Writing Comments Off on Ambient Energy

 

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/538031/first-demonstration-of-a-surveillance-camera-powered-by-ordinary-wi-fi-broadcasts/

Electronics bleed.  I mean, if energy serves as the lifeblood of any bit of tech, then I think we can make that metaphor work, right?  There is energy all around us, there is the solar energy that gets dumped on our planet by the tanker-load every minute of every day, there is the lost energy in the form of heat that bleeds from our car engines as they sit, cooling with no more than an occasional crackle or ping, in our garages at night.  There is the extra kinetic energy lost when your fingers mis-type letters on a keyboard, or when you idly spin your office chair around in circles.

As we move forward, we are going to need to think differently about recapturing energy, there are going to be a host of inventions, big and small, that will help us to achieve even greater levels of efficiency.

Touchy Feely Technology

May 28, 2015 future, Writing Comments Off on Touchy Feely Technology


http://phys.org/news/2015-05-device-sensations-prosthetic.html

 Touch capabilities in AR/VR are the last piece to fall into place, and they’ve been one of the trickiest.  We’ve made our runs at things like force-feedback gloves that vibrate in response to what you see in the world, but broader sensations like hot or cold or texture are still a little ways off.  One of the key components has always been the bulkiness of the equipment, trapping big fat gloves and boots to your hands and feet on top of the VR helmet is just a little too far for many people.

And that’s really one of the sticking points, I feel.  Does your user-base want to cover themselves in sensors in order to get an immersive VR experience?

This technology here, there’s something interesting.  It’s talking (or a high level) about being able to deliver sensations directly to the nervous system.  It’s talking about being able to communicate cold or hot or soft or rough directly, without needing to have a physical, external analog.  Right now it’s an implantable, but it might not have to be in the future, which means our VR has the potential to do away with all the extraneous hardware.

 

 

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