Saturday, 13 September 2014

Tune Your Emotions with Google Glass


Google Glass
Javier Hernandez, the project’s leader stated that just by using the headset's built-in gyroscope, camera and accelerometer, Glass will be able to measure some of vital signs of the body which includes respiration and pulse. Google glass has been designed to pick the head motion which is caused due to the beating heart and also teases out the increase and decrease in breath from various other body movements.

Hernandez's algorithms along with some other data’s are focused on giving the wearer a door towards their emotional side. This is part of the new technology, SenseGlass, which has been designed to make the wearer get more informed about the mental well being.

Listening skill: 

This latest work shows how advanced we have got in terms of affective computing. These computing technologies aim at measuring, responding, and also influencing our emotions. Rosalind Picard who has been working alongside Hernandez considers the Google glass a very powerful tool which can make computer more emotionally tuned.

Picard says that it is always a challenge when you want a computer understand the level of your stress and at the same time not add more to it. It is hard to get the technology right and even get it tested in the right conditions. What makes it worthwhile is the fact that one can have this even in their sunglasses.

Even though it might sound very powerful for someone to see their heart rate flashing before them, the context is more important than the biological data. The Glass camera is used to records this data and later on analysis can be carried out by comparing it with biological information. There are apps existing that will be able to use Glass for checking emotions. Example Emotient (start up firm) wants to use glass to let retailers know your feelings.

Feel better: 

According to Hernandez, SenseGlass is very different technology; its goal is to help the wearer take control of their emotions. Through this one will be able to avoid getting into depression. You will be able to take picture based on your need, say if you want to check how your heart reacts to certain situation or stimulus. It’s all about helping you to reflect your daily life but in a very meaningful way.

According to Jim Rehg, Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, people having problem in expressing their emotions like people with Autism. Jim Rehg has co-authored a paper on this new system which is expected to be presented at the MobiHealth conference in Athens, this November. Jim stated that this new technology can be used by many caregivers as they will be able to better understand the emotions of the person affected and take care of them.

According to Julien Pender, the technology and the system have tremendous potential now as there are difficulties in monitoring emotions in real time. Not only have they been able to get the context and the physiological data on a single platform not only for sensing but also to send feedbacks. This is a very unique system.

Friday, 12 September 2014

Are Drones coming to Disney World?



Disney
Disneyland has been the main source of entertainment when it comes to having ultimate fun for the kids and the family in the US and around the world. It has been able to attract a variety of crowds since its arrival into the global scene since the 30’s. Even though it has the variety and fatal attractions for the crowd, it is trying to bring up something that will give a unique experience to the crowd. Drone is that object of attraction that is getting everyone’s brains to run and predict a different zone into the area of Disneyland. Disneyland has filed for at least 3 patents over the last months to get giant drones to fly over the zone to animate giant puppets and act as a camera person also.

Thought behind bringing Drones into the scene:- 
Drone Patent

  • Giving the public a new image: - To majority of the population, Disneyland has been an attraction due to its characters with relation to Disney and the graphical interpretations of them along with the rides. This idea of introducing drones as flying objects will give a new image to Disneyland and increase the technological value.
  • Setting a trend for future :- An enhancement of the characteristics and technological value of Disneyland through the use of Drones that will act as robots that will fly, carry objects and increase the cosmetic value is going a set a trend that has never been seen in any area which are counterparts to Disneyland. This will open new avenues and allow the future explorers to experiment on this feature.
  • Newer aspects of Drones :- Helium filled balloons will be connected to other drones and will be synchronised with subsequent counterparts and will not need to be controlled from the ground. This will allow automatic operations.
  • Will allow illustrations of characters: -These flying drones will be able to act as illustrations for various famous characters based on movies and comic characters giving an attractive feature that will be able to act as a motion sensor and carry varieties with it.
  • Carriers: - Major wok for the drones will be as carriers, where they will act to carry display screens and lighting systems that will enhance the look of the Disney world complex and reanimate the features.
Matters to look at:-
  • Use of demos to suite the technology: - Before getting into the thick of things, it will be necessary to test the new feature and see its effect along with validation. 
  • Need for technology: -There has to be an enhanced technological feature that will allow the objects to be light, movable and be able to understand motion sensory movements.
  • Study more about drones: - Drones have been a feature for the military use and has opened its way to be implemented into the commercial use, but a lot of research still needs to be done before bringing it into the commercial scene.
Drones look a substantial way to rock up the interest in the population but patent requests have to be accepted and tests are to be completed totally before taking it on.

A New Quantum Particle Calculation Making Waves in Scientific Field


Quantum Particle
Researcher had successfully developed a new and more advanced way of measuring the wave functions, which describe the strange behaviour of subatomic particles. With this breakthrough development the quantum computing, secure wireless communications and quantum teleportation would come closer to reality than it was ever before.

A New Beginning

There is a small realm of scientific field, whichis known as quantum mechanics. It states that the particles can exist in multiple places at once through an unusual phenomenon called superposition. And in order to describe the huge number of positions and velocities which a particle can have at any given moment is measured through the use of wave functions.

Both the quantum computing and teleportation relies on particles, which can exist in multiple places at once.

Benefit of this Remarkable Research At a Glance

Wondering how this could be utilised in advancing the computing powers of the machines? Well the superposition of the particles would allow the computers in performing calculations and transferring information at a much faster rate than the conventional computers.

How This Could Be Achieved

Quantum computing and quantum teleportation would need huge systems with a large amount of quantum particles with the ability to interact to create many dimensions. When this is achieved in the proper order and in efficient manner then only both of it could turn into reality.

A lead researcher on this finding also stated that the huge multidimensional systems have complicated wave functions, which cannot be measured earlier due to inefficient traditional methods. But with the new method it is highly possible to calculate wave functions more accurately and faster and it will be beneficial for scientists in developing quantum technology for new generation.

How the Wave Functions are Calculated?

Earlier the wave function of a quantum system was calculated by taking a huge number of measurements and then estimating a function or an equation, which was best, suited for all the measurements. This old technique was called ‘direct measurement’, which used to measure the wave function by weakly measuring position and strongly measuring the momentum. This technique was suited only for the small systems with few dimensions but as with the advancement, the system grew bigger and bigger it became more and more difficult to accurately measure the wave functions.

Therefore, this new technique is developed called ‘compressed direct measurement’, which uses a series of random measurements of the position and momentum of the particles in their quantum state. Then an algorithm is assigned which finds the wave function, which is best, suited for a number of measurements. This new technique is about 350 times faster and just requires 20 percent of the measurements than the old one.

The Era of Quantum Tech

Researchers have asserted that the new direct measurement technique can mould the way of success for quantum computing. The regular computers handle ‘bits’ of information while a quantum computer could ‘qubits’ of information, which could be represented by either zero or one at the same time. Compressed direct measurement can help in reaching terahertz speed, which will give incredible speed in transferring data in the form T-rays. These waves have the ability to pass through most materials like paper, clothing etc. However, it should also be noted that these waves are difficult to detect and manipulate, therefore scientists would find difficulty in harnessing them into digital media. Furthermore, quantum is still a new idea in technology as well as an emerging field it will take time before becoming reality.

Want Your Notifications At Your Fingertips?


Smart Ring
Now after a whole range of smartphones and smart watches, we arrive to a whole new range of smart rings. No you must be wondering what that actually is. Well its work is not something grossly different to the phones and watches but then, it a lot more comfortable and catchy at the same time.

Now you can get hold of vibrating smart rings that can bring about the notifications right at your fingertips. It is basically very helpful in many fields. For example, if you have left your phone somewhere else then also you can get hold of your notifications and depending on the priority of them, you can do the required action. Not everybody can afford to have a smart watch, or carry them around with every outfit. But with a smart ring, no matter wherever you are, you can always have your notifications incoming and when they arrive, you will feel a vibration in your finger. This sound less technology will help you to receive updates and notifications even if you are in a meeting.

Where can this be mostly used? 

If you are wondering about the usage of this gadget then it is to be clarified that it is perfectly user friendly. All you have to do is to receive the messages and then click on it to have the details of these. Then go back to your smartphone and have those issues taken care of. This ring can be used in case where you want to leave your phone behind and go somewhere.

Smart Ring
This gadget should really be used by the individuals who are engrossed in the corporate houses as because they have to take care of a lot of issues at a go. Not only that, it also acts a reminder of all the prior appointments if you have them registered in it.

It can act as a great reminder: 

By this you can have the privilege of having your work done in the time that is scheduled. This is because, once you have the time and date along with the required event given in it prior to the actual date, then you get alarms in both written and voice form within regular intervals of time. This means that there is no chance by which you can have your work done within the given time.

Read messages clearly

Do not at all be fooled by its size. This is because it not only shows the notifications, but it can open the messages clearly and therefore you will be able to read them and attend to them right away so that even if you do not have your phone you can always attend to those messages of more importance.

You can have the alarm in just the way you want to. This makes the work even easier as because, when you are inside a meeting then you can have the alarm turned to silent to avoid disturbance of any manner.

Researcher Successfully Created the World's Thinnest Transistor


Thinnest Transistor
                                           Credit: AlexanderA1US
Most of the high-tech electronic devices depend upon a tiny, hard silicon chips for their functionality. It has been imagined that in coming days our technology would be so advanced that the walls, windows and clothes would act as a computing device. In order to achieve that reality, the hardware components would have to be soft and flexible. One research group has already taken a step toward that flexible future through combining a conductor and an insulator in the thinnest sheet ever possible, which is just one atom thick.

What Does This Mean

In simple words, this work shows that it is now possible to bring together the conductor and insulator in any space, which is even just an atom thick. It is expected to open doors to the ability of creating atomically thin electronics or even creating more complicated stack electronics. This is a remarkable achievement in the field of nanotechnology. However, it is in early phase but it does seem to be a crucial step in the right direction toward miniaturizing electronic gadgets.

The Importance of this Research

Transistors are the building blocks of all the modern digital computer. A transistor is composed of a conductor, an insulator and a semiconductor. This research has successfully brought these two out three components together into the universe’s thinnest sheet which a notable feat in itself. Furthermore no one else has ever succeeded in patching together two different materials with vastly different electronic properties in the same two-dimensional sheet.

Making of World’s Thinnest Transistor

Researchers has used a new material known as graphene which is one-atom thick sheet of carbon with the ability to take electrons faster than any other chemical at room temperature.

Advantages of Using Graphene

1. Flexible

2. Transparent

3. Faster than Silicon

Researchers also states that since the graphene is flexible and works much faster than the traditional silicon, it might be utilized as a key supplement for silicon in future. As it is transparent, it can also be used into touch screens. Research Labs are taking active interest in studying graphene and finding ways of introducing it into electronic devices.

Researchers have developed a technique to control exactly where they lay down the graphene and insulator, boron nitride. With their specially patterned graphened and borone nitride, they created a one centimetre to inch long pieces of materials through which they were able to successfully run currents. They had built their sheet through a technique, which is generally used in advanced industry, and it also gave them the power to control the currents in their desired way.

The Future Prospects

Researchers have estimated that it would take a decade or longer before graphene would eventually be used in laptops and other electronic gadgets. The major problem associated with graphene based-computers is that it is impossible to stop the flow of current through graphene. Which means researchers could not create transistors, which have the option for turning off and on, without this it is not possible to supplement the silicon-based devices. It is a formidable challenge and researchers are actively taking steps in overcoming it. In near future we might have super high tech electronic devices running on high performing graphene.