Sugar Battery...

In an aim to find alternative sources to "green" energy, scientists have looked to Nature for inspiration to create sugar batteries.

Robotech - Lifesize Mecha

Here's a real life sized mecha. Hopefully more to follow in the future.

Kung Fu and Light Sabers.... The Ultimate Geek experience... (Geeks are cool)

I found this video of Sideswipe kids performing with Ultra Sabers. (www.ultrasabers.com) In case you are not aware Sideswipe is a martial arts/performance arts group. The stuff they do is very impressive. BTW Ultra Sabers offers some of the cheapest and more durable light sabers in the market. (As far as I know)

How thin can it go?

Sony's been actively developing OLED technologies. With the progress that has taken place, it will not be long before we start to see screens bigger then 50" but thinner then 1cm. These screens will be able to wrap around pillars and provide audiences with unique viewing experiences. I just hope the products are commercially viable soon.

Good bye LCD & Plasma..... HELLO Laser TV

CRT screens have been the norm for home television for many years and is still today the most favored television system, due to it's low price tag. But LCD and Plasma screens have been creeping in to the market becoming a more common occurrence, due to it's picture quality and it's size. But recently there seems to be a new player in town which looks like it'll take over the LCD and plasma market. Laser TV, currently available by Mitsubishi, offers a screen that utilizes less power, provides more color, a better picture quality, faster screen refresh rates and no deterioration of image quality over time. The image you get from a Laser TV is sharper, clearer and brighter then any TV before it, whilst maintaining the quality from the time you buy it.

Timberjack 6 Legged Walking Machine

Developed for the timber industry, this Plustech Oy / John Deere hexapod logging machine prototype is capable of walking on 6 legs. An amazing machine that looks like something out of a Japanese Anime; it is capable of taking down trees whilst traversing difficult terrain. With its unique walking system, this logging machine does less harm to forest terrain then typical logging machines.

Super Human Strength thanks to exoskeleton

Anyone who's played any futuristic games or watched a sci-fi movie would definitely have heard about exosuits or power enhanced exoskeletons. But can this become a reality. Are cyborgs closer to reality then we think?

Have a look at what the Japanese and the Americans are coming up with.

Dynamic Architecture - Living Buildings

In Dubai a great architectural marvel is being produced. The first ever Transforming building. A building that adjusts it's shape through time. A building which some are calling it the first '4D building'.



Once completed it will become a fully digital building opening up possibilities for the future.

Hologram

Ever since I saw Star wars and a holographic projection of princess Leia popped out of R2D2, I've been astounded by the power of holograms. But it has taken several years before the technology seems to have become a reality.

In the beginning we had 3D movies, utilising special 3D glasses you can see the image pop out of the screens. Over the years this technology has improved drastically to create some out standing results. But any visual aid wearing person, like myself can tell you; it's not comfortable having 2 glasses on.

Then 3D screens such as Alioscopy came along, providing viewers a glasses-free 3D technology capable of showing rich detail and depth without the need for funny 3D glasses. Sort of like the computer screen on the movie 'Paycheck'. But like the star Ben Affleck, I'm more interested in having the 3D image appear without the need of such screens.

3D Screen using Alioscoptic Technology.

Then I found the Mirage device. A device capable of generating a holographic image of an item. Unfortunately It was difficult to modify this item to be able to show animated objects. But the clarity and sharpness of the 'mirage' was unbelieveable.

Mirage.

But in order to get animated images out, I had to look at other methods. I found a few people who actually take video of people on a 'black' background and project it on to a special screen. Given the right lighting conditions this looks like a floating hologram. Already used by several companies for commercial purposes, this is the most commercially viable solution to date.

Holographic projection used in Korea.

3D hologram performance in New England Air Museum.

Kate Moss hologram.

The use of holograms have always amazed and interested people from all over the world. As the possibilities of utilising it are endless. Even during the US 2008 Election Campaign, Holograms were used by CNN to make the interviews more interesting. Of course this was more special effects then actual hologram.

CNN Interview of Will.I.Am via Hologram.

But to have a full 360° degrees hologram is something that people are still trying hard to achieve. Some people have used rotating LEDs and mirrors to create an illusion of a 360° degree hologram.

Hologram utilising rotating mirrors.

Hologram utilising rotating LED.

Well so far the closest thing I've found to R2D2's Hologram was a technology called Heliodisplay, developed by a company called IO2 Technology in the US. This is probably the closest thing to date as far as holograms are concerned. Although the images are only 2D, they are able to give a false sense of 3D as it is suspended in mid-air.

Heliodisplay in action.

Well I'm sure there are plenty more technologies out there trying to achieve holographic 'reality', so if you do know of such technologies please feel free to add a comment and share it with us.

LED Invasion.

LED throwies have invaded Europe. The small magnetic lights have become the inspiration for Hi-tech graffiti befitting that of the 21st century. Gone are the days of environmentally harmful Aerosol cans, and in come the bright lights. See what people can do with throwies.





If you want to know how to make an LED throwie, here is a video by Josh Lewis showing you how to create these inexpensive devices.



Not interested in throwing LEDs? How about making them fly? Check out these LED Floaties.

Full Colour 3D printer

3D printers are nothing new. Industrial companies have been using it for many years to produce prototypes and product designs.

In fact my University had a few units for industrial design students to create prototypes of their work. Unfortunately our units were not coloured, which meant that students would have to paint their prototypes manually. Depending on the skills of the student, this could mean poorly painted prototypes.

But recently ZCorporation has launched a new all in one 3D colour printer, allowing prototypes to be printed in full colour. The ZCorporation 650 3D printer may not be able to reproduce all the colours that some people wish or the complexities of some designs, but it is a great stepping stone to what future products would be like. Hopefully cheaper, better products will come up in the future, allowing home users or freelance designers to be able to create their own 3D printout.



For more information, visit ZCorporation's website.

Creating life out of plastic tubes and wires

Dutch kinetic sculptor/engineer Theo Yansen, has created amazing fantasy like creatures out of ordinary tubing. These creatures live on a beach and are powered only by the wind. Utilizing amazing mechanical engineering These 'Beach Beasts' are able to detect the edge of the sea and walk in the opposite direction. Theo's long time dream is to have these creatures fully self sustaining.

Eco-Friendly City

We all know about the massive population of China and how the developments over the last few years has made China one of the largest polluters in the world. But with the great advances in technology and with the eyes of the world on China (especially after the 2008 olympics).

China has placed more efforts into the environment. Starting with a major development of what some people are calling the first 'carbon-neutral city'. Located near Shanghai, this city has been shaped so that its streets will funnel cool air in the summer, yet keep it warm during the winter. Relying on silent wind turbines and biomass for energy. Hydrogen will be used to fuel transport. A city where 80% of waste is recycled and waste water is reused.

Although developments have not yet been completed, China still needs to be given credit for making that first step.

Multi-Touch the Future

Everyone seems to have heard of multi-touch screen technology thanks to Apple and the iPhone product. But is multi-touch just another interface device or is there more to it?

Have a look at what people are doing with a multi-touch table top screen.

Microsoft Table top

Mindstorm iBar

For more information about Mindstorm's iBar and their iWall solutions, visit their website.

The future of sports

It seems that technology has evolved sports to a level where it takes more then a great athlete to win a game. Great gear and advanced technology seem to be making sports more about the tech and less about the sport.

See what Lacoste has envisioned for the future.

Dance Powered Club

We all know that dancing takes up a lot of our energy, but did you know it's enough to power a dance club?

Alternate Power - The Golden Tower

I had a conversation the other day with a colleague of mine about the need for alternate power sources due to the decline of natural resources and the increase in petrol prices. That was when I started to look at what was currently being done to help sole this global problem.


Then I found this interesting video about how the people of Seville (Spain) have developed a "Golden" tower surrounded by 600 reflectors each the size of half a tennis court. Concentrating the suns energy to a central point on the tower. Enabling the tower to produce high amounts of electricity. With 9 of these towers there should be enough electricity to power the entire city of Seville. I applaud the efforts of the people in Spain and hope in the future more countries will follow in their foot steps.

For more information, click here.