Posts in Future Tech
Fujitsu car tech senses driver drowsiness
Erica Ogg | Nov 10, 2008
Fujitsu's new tech hopes to prevent this.
(Credit: TotalCarCrash.com)
Next time you're faced with the prospect of making a long drive late at night, you'll probably wish you had this new technology from Fujitsu Labs.
The company is working on a steering wheel sensor system that detects when a driver begins to get drowsy or doze off. The sensors keep track of the driver's heart rate through his or her hands on the wheel while steering. As a person gets closer to falling asleep, the heart rate begins to regulate.
Once the system detects a driver getting ready to fall asleep, several things could happen: the windows could automatically roll down, the car's radio could be turned up, or there could be sensory feedback from the steering wheel to jolt someone awake.
The system isn't a finished product. Right now, it's still in the research and development phase, but the company hopes to have production models for consumer vehicles as well as commercial trucks ready by 2010.
Fujitsu isn't the only company looking to prevent unnecessary asleep-at-the-wheel accidents. Micron has been working on a camera system to monitor and protect drivers. And Delphi has been developing an eye-tracking system that measures the blink rate of a driver, which could indicate when a driver is getting drowsy.
Via CNET Crave
Phones in the future to be more intuitive
Damian Koh | Nov 10, 2008
(Credit: Gadget Lab)
If you are wondering what phones will be like in the future, Wired's Gadget Lab has a great piece on the latest technology that could make its way to mobile devices soon. Some of these include phasing out the conventional 12-button keypad for a more intuitive touch user interface that will also respond to voice commands and hand gestures and improved voice recognition systems which are capable of "learning" and adapting itself to the individual's speech pattern. Interfaces like Swype will also change the way people type on touchscreen devices. We can also expect to see phone manufacturers really getting down to integrating various unique technologies to provide a more holistic user experience, though it may take time for all that to happen.
Via Gadget Lab
E-bag's way cool satchel
Juniper Foo | Nov 05, 2008
(Credit: Apor Puspoki)
The notion is to tap the back and forth motion caused by lugging the 3-liter E-Bag, to generate power that chills the food within. Which, personally, is a far more elegant idea to chunky solar panels. Puspoki uses the bag's handle, attached to a dynamo, to charge the battery through its rotations. That aside, the only giveaway to the bag's high-tech stature are three LED indicators that keep tabs on the cooling status. Thumbs up for responsible design thinking, which goes to show that urban consumerism need not be wasteful and carbon-hungry.
Via Tuvie
Turning a Ferrari into a flying car
Matt Hickey | Nov 04, 2008
The calendar rolled over to 2000 eight years ago, though it doesn't seem like it's been that long. We had many jokes then about moving into the future, the most tapped being those of flying cars and jet packs.
Personal transportation in the air hasn't taken off yet (if you'll forgive the pun), but it's about to, at least if Moller International has anything to say about it.
According to the Telegraph, the "air car" company known for the Moller Air Car has taken a Ferrari 599 GTB and made it airworthy, giving it Back To The Future-like hovering abilities for vertical take-off and landings, as well as wings and stabilizers for forward flight.
Not only that, the machine runs green with a hybrid engine that can propel the vehicle forward at an expected 150 mph.
While Moller predicts it could have production vehicles ready within two years at about US$800,000, we're still skeptical. Having seen how most people drive on the ground, is it smart to let them go into the air?
Via CNET Crave
Control your hotel room using your mobile phone
Damian Koh | Nov 03, 2008
(Credit: DOCOMO interTouch
Developed by hotel technology service provider DOCOMO interTouch, the prototype software will allow hotel guests to control room lighting, temperature and surf TV channels from their touchscreen mobile phone. The company, which has its headquarters in Singapore, plans also to develop the software into an electronic concierge and support various multimedia services such as music/video streaming, gaming and messaging.
Sounds like a great idea. Now I'll just need to get myself a touchscreen phone and book myself into a hotel suite.
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