A new product called Bridge is a new take on AR and VR that is powered by your iPhone. Bridge is similar to other headsets where you simply put your phone into the case. You can use your iPhone 6, iPhone 6s or iPhone 7. You strap it to your head and then you can enjoy the new technology of AR and VR. The product comes with a Bluetooth remote that can handle motion which is similar to the Google Daydream headset that some of the classmates have brought up in this blog before. It has been described as “a mix between Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented reality glasses and the Samsung Gear VR, though it’s priced closer to the latter”. It will be sold in limited quantities and will be sold for $499.

The company which is Occipital hopes to sell these in wide release in March for $399. The features that makes Bridge unique is “a marker-sized strip of cameras and sensors that can map physical objects and environments with incredible levels of detail. The Structure Sensor adds inside-out positional tracking to the headset, allowing people to move around in real space without external cameras or sensors”. Essentially, that means that you could walk around and lean your head in a VR game or experience. They have called this technology “mixed reality” and it really alters reality. This product use the iPhone’s camera and creates a 3D stereo view of the space you are in.

However, scary research and sales have shown that the demand for VR headsets has been disappointing and that “many research firms’ numbers also have shown that VR product sales in 2016 have been weaker than expected due to lack of content and high product costs”. Playstation VR sales expected to be over 2.6 million but they have lowered their estimates to  750,000. Hopefully, Occipitals unique features with Bridge will allow this product to breakout.

http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/9/13892166/occipital-bridge-mobile-vr-ar-headset-impressions-test-price

http://bgr.com/2016/12/05/vr-headset-sales-augmented-reality/

Recently President Obama made a statement in a speech that many people questioned: “Over last eight years, no foreign terrorist organization has successfully planned and executed an attack on our homeland.” You may immediately think of the events from about a week ago at the Ohio State University and question how this is true. This is true because all of the attacks over the past 8 years have been carried out by self radicalized lone wolves. Attacks such as the one on Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, and the one in San Bernardino California have been carried out by people with no direct instruction from ISIS.

That is where the importance of this article comes in. Self radicalization is becoming an increasingly dangerous aspect of terrorism. It is so easy for American citizens to turn into terrorists because there are many pro-ISIS articles and websites out there. The importance of these major websites and apps to come up with a plan to combat the spread of terrorist ideology and the recruitment of new fighters can’t be understated. Hopefully other websites and services soon follow suit and the online spread of terrorism can be completely eradicated. For the time being this at least may cause the number of self radicalized lone wolves in our country.

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Tech-Giants-Team-to-Battle-Terrorism-Online-84148.html

An invention called PowerShake introduced by Mike Fraser, a computer scientist at the University of Bristol in England allows mobile and wearable devices to wirelessly charge other mobile and wearable devices on the go, even when those devices are being held or worn.

Wireless charging involves at least two coils — one in the power transmitter, and one in the power receiver. When an electric current passes through the power transmitter coil, it creates an electomagnetic field that can transfer charge to another coil. Power transmission is best at close distances according to the scientist.

PowerShake fit into small devices, met wireless power transfer safety guidelines, and performed about as well at power transmission as commercial alternatives, such as the Qi wireless charging pad, transferring about 3.1 watts of power, the researchers said. They estimated that about 12 seconds of charging would support 1 minute of additional talk time, while 2 minutes of charging would support about 4 minutes of video watching.

One drawback of PowerShake is that twice as much energy needs to be transmitted as is received.

Fujitsu created a device that lets individuals use hand gestures to hence “write” in mid air. The device itself goes to your index finder. This ring can be easily hooked to any mobile device with Bluetooth. This item is mainly intended for workers in the field of maintenance , so that these individuals could access important information such as manuals and schematics. The ring uses motion sensors around the ring to detect the movement.

This kind of technology is very impressive considering that this is the same year that the VR technology is becoming more available to the public.I could see in the near future a scene from the minority report were Tom Cruise is using hand gestures to navigate through endless data and information. 

In the near future combat soldiers will have the capability of wearing helmets that will provide a HUD ( heads up display) . Incorporating this Bluetooth ring will provide that war-fighter with underrepresented war fighting capabilities.

Source

When you sign up to use a social media account you are also signing up to get “trolled”. Now that no longer has to be a fear as Instagram is now setting up a feature where users can disable their comments section.

This design was to help stop the online harassment that happens on Instagram to help make it a more friendly environment for users. However the design was mostly created for celebrity users who receive a lot of online harassment. This design is rumored to have been used after the Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian-West Feud over Kanye West’s song ‘Famous.’ After Swift stated that she did not give permission for West to use her name and say certain things about her. Kardashian-West then released a video recording of Swift agreeing to the verse being released. After Swift posted on Instagram an explanation people began to comment snakes. The snakes later were all gone. The disabling comments design was supposedly used for Swift to stop the harassment.

I think that this design will really help users feel more confident in their posts without having to worry about any negative feedback they may receive. Online harassment can have devastating effects and I’m happy to see that social media platforms such as Instagram are working hard to make sure that people feel safe on their website.

I think this kind of progress can spark up on other social media platform to help eliminate the inevitable harassment. I think this is a very progressive step in making social media platforms safer and more friendly for users.

Source 

We use passwords for everything nowadays, our phones, our WiFi, for some of us we even have passwords to unlock our refrigerators, but if we are sending the password out  over WiFi or Bluetooth anyone can pick it up and gain access to our information. To make our things even more secure some computer scientists and electrical engineers over at the University of Washington have made it possible for humans to send passwords through their bodies instead of over WiFi. This process uses “benign transmissions” that are already generated by fingerprint sensors and touchpads on devices.

This new system of transfer works in all positions and even when the person is walking or moving. This technology could be really useful for secure access to medical devices that need to verify the identity of the person before they gain access to the devices information. It could also be useful for electronically locked doors like the one shown in the image above. So far the technique works with iPhones that have a fingerprint sensor and many touchpads on a variety of laptops.

This works by using the signals already created by touch sensors and using them as output signals instead of input signals. The signals range from 2 to 10 megahertz and “employ capacitive coupling” to see when a persons finger is in the space it needs to be, and to identify the unique fingerprint of the person. The data travels securely through your body to a receiver embedded in the device that needs confirmation of who you are. The researchers believe that if fingerprint sensor creators provided more access to their software that these signals can be transmitted even faster and perhaps transfer even more complex data than just your fingerprint.

Source:

http://www.washington.edu/news/2016/09/27/secure-passwords-can-be-sent-through-your-body-instead-of-air/

Sweetie, did you forget to take your pills today?

There is a very large numbers on individuals in our world who take prescription medications daily. Often times however, we can forget to take our daily dosage or might not be aware if someone in which we are caring for has taken their meds.  Recently however, a company has created anew health product that now only reminds users to take their prescriptions daily, but it also keeps track of what the user has taken. This device is called PillDrill.

Pilldrill has stated above functions as an alarm clock, however the device also has a built in scanner that tracks the dosage that the user also intakes. It then sends a notifications to the primary ccaregivers of the individual, or alerts to the person themself. According to Jereal Cawis, “in the United States alone, insufficient medication adherence results to hospital admission by 10 percent, treatment failures by 40 percent and almost 125,000 of deaths.”  Peter Havas, the CEO of PillDrill, believes that in health care today, medical adherence is one of the biggest issues being faced.

According to the site, Pilldrill is very easy to use and can work with multiple users, shaping to their specific medical routines.  Owning your own PillDrill will set you back around 199.00.

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/151857/20160421/pilldrill-scanning-system-could-track-prescriptions-and-remind-you-to-take-your-meds.htm

Just recently I was scrolling through the webpages of Gameinformer and came across a rather surprising trailer featuring retired pro-basketball player Shaquille O’Neal. In the trailer you find the star athlete playing video games in the living room like every other gamer does, at the end however I was surprised to hear him announce that Twitch TV would be hosting a gameathon. It’s not the event itself that raised my brows, but it was the location of the event, in the White House. And yes, the same White House in Washington DC.  You can catch the trailer below. Watch live video from on www.twitch.tv

Millions of Americans across the globe participate in competitive gaming competitions connecting through their passion of gaming. The community has continued to grow exponentially, according to write Erik Martin (Writer for the White House blog),more people now watch major eSports competitions than the number of people who watch the NBA finals or World Series.  So the question that really struck me is, why does the White House care about fellow gamers?

Well, the White House has decided to use the video game platform to promote people to sign up for health care coverage.  Many young adults are not covered under any sort of health insurance, and the Health administration just wants to educate millennials on insurance plans that could best fit them, and let individuals know there and some form of coverage within their reach.  The event can be streamed on Monday, December 12 at http://twitch.tv/GetCovered

https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/12/08/helping-gamers-get-health-care-coverage-epic-win

Over the past few years there has been an increase in wearable gadgets as the world of technology continues to advance. From Fitbits to Apple Watches consumers have gained the ability to not only make a simple phone call by a touch on the wrist but can now track their daily health habits from monitoring their daily steps taken and heart rate with a simple watch device, these devices have definitely taken a step toward the health world.

Though these commercial devices provide “ specific results they don’t present raw sensor data”. However due to a federally funded project called MD2K whose goal is to “develop hardware and software that complies and analyzes data generated by wearable sensors” and to “use these sensors and data to anticipate and prevent adverse health events”.

MD2K’s EasySense wearable is a cardiorespiratory monitor that can measure lung fluid level in congestive heart failure patients.

The MD2K team has produced gadgets capable of collecting raw sensor data while maintaining a 24 hour charge, yet another feature wearable devices may lack (In terms of battery charge). One device in particular is called the MotionSense which is another smartwatch that monitors the arm movements of user’s through sensors that track heart rate variability. Another device called AutoSense is a chest band that collections respiration data.  EasySense, a “micro-radar” sensor measures heart activity and lung fluid volume. All the devices listed can present that health status and risk factors of the user through a wifi software platform.  The work of MD2K is open source, meaning that others are allowed to use the designs of the project for their own developments.

I find it fascinating how soon individuals will be able to monitor their own health and potential risk. I don’t know how this will affect individuals long term as far as in the future, but this is a big step to a door of possibilities.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602988/these-wearables-detect-health-issues-before-they-happen/