In the past few decades, computers have improved exponentially, in accordance with Moore’s law, but the way we interact with them has changed relatively little. Ball tracking in mouses has been replaced by lasers for greater sensitivity and new stylish keyboards, which can quickly change their layout and are fully customizable, have begun to replace the generic plastic keyboards we’ve been using since the late 1970s. Despite the invention of wireless technology, the way we use our increasingly powerful machines hasn’t changed…until now. LEAP has developed a motion sensing hand tracker that replaces the conventional keyboard and mouse setup.

The Leap Motion sensor, a USB enabled device, controls a computer with hand movement in real time. While this is not a new concept, the Leap is a revolutionary product. Other devices attempting to utilize hand controls have emerged in recent years and none of them have gained any real traction in the computer market. These devices have been clunky, expensive, and frustratingly inaccurate. Leap is hoping to succeed where others have failed by providing increased accuracy, low cost, and intuitive controls. In contrast to the Microsoft Kinect, which has been hailed for its incredible 3D tracking, the LEAP can detect 10 fingers at once and is 200 more times precise. It can detect subtle hand movements such as swipes, pokes, reaches and grabs, allowing the user to control a computer with great precision and accuracy.

Leap Motion is creating a new app store to accompany the device, with an emphasis on free and cheap apps. Many of the games which have become favorites on the Apple app store will be available for the Leap. However, it can also perform more complicated computer tasks such as internet browsing and PC gaming. The Leap is compatible with Mac and PC and will be available at Best Buy for $80 beginning in May of this year.  I’m really excited about this technology, especially because it looks like something out of Minority report. Do you want one? I’m about to click the pre-order button on their website. Check it out below.

Color blindness is a common condition which affects 1 out of 10 men worldwide. Though it is not an extremely dangerous or life-changing genetic disorder, color blindness can complicate everyday tasks, such as dressing, and make it difficult to decipher color codes. Color blindness can also complicate driving; many people with color blindness are unable to distinguish between red and green, which means they cannot rely on their peripheral vision near traffic lights. Sometimes, revolutionary new technology is nothing more than a fancy pair of glasses. Scientist Mark Changizi created glasses which allows color-blind people to distinguish between red and green.

Changizi proposed that color vision, rather than allowing people to identify edible food, allows people to notice subtle changes in skin color. In general, color vision is found in primates with exposed skin and not mammals with fur, such as dogs. It allows us to see the subtle variations in blood flow associated with feelings and emotions. Changizi’s glasses, called Oxy-Isos, were originally designed to isolate these subtle changes and heighten visual sensitivity to them. However, an unintended benefit of the Oxy-Isos is that they allow people with red-green color blindness to distinguish between the two. A pair of colored glasses alone can enable color-blind individuals to enjoy the benefits of color vision.

Oxy-Isos have applications far beyond color blindness, however, and they are beginning to gain traction in the medical profession. ER doctors were able to identify areas of acute bruising after a car accident because the glasses amplify the eye’s ability to see blood flow. Competitive poker players have also utilized the vision enhancing elements of Oxy-Isos, which allow them to more easily identify tells and bluffs. This technology can even be used as a light filter, which eliminates the need for wearing the glasses. Is this exciting technology and would you buy Oxy-Isos for yourself? I’d be tempted to purchase a pair if it meant I could always win at Texas Hold ’em and they look pretty awesome.

Ever since Star Wars hit the big screen in the 1970s people have dreamed of interstellar travel, laser guns, and light sabers. Now that dream is one step closer to becoming a reality with the military’s implementation of combat lasers. The US Navy and Air Force are planning to install liquid-cooled, solid-state lasers in combat airplanes. The laser turrets will be designed to defend the planes from incoming threats such as surface-to-air missiles and rockets. Integration is planned for later this year and firing tests are projected to begin in 2014. The Air Forces has been experimenting with airborne lasers in recent years and created the successful but discontinued Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser Testbed. Previous experimentation involved a large megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser designed to destroy intercontinental ballistic missiles which was carried by a 747. The new solid-state lasers will lighter and installed in bombers and fighter jets. These lasers will be part of an aircraft defense system designed to destroy anti-air defenses such as surface-to-air missiles and rockets.

official concept image by DARPA

            The military is currently developing two types of airborne lasers. Hellads, a laser capable of delivering 150kW of energy and weighing nearly 750 kg, will be installed in tactical aircraft such as B-1 bombers. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has demonstrated a single and two-unit system capable of producing 34kW that can be further developed to meet the desired 150kW specifications. Hellads should be capable of destroying threats faced by tactical planes and General Atomics is working with Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to integrate the defense system this year and being real-world testing in 2014.

Additionally, Lockheed Martin and DARPA are developing the Aero-Adaptive/Aero-Optic Beam Control. The goal is to create an automatic laser turret capable of taking down missile threats from any direction and DARPA has successfully addressed previous problems with engine turbulence by using flow control and adaptive optics to eliminate distortion. The Beam Control lasers will be installed in high speed fighter jets. Full-scale wind-tunnel tests have already been successful and the next phase of development involves installing a sub-scale laser turret in an actual plane.

Regardless of its effectiveness, this technology is awesome. Do you think it will work or is the military just showing off? What Star Wars technology do you want next?