10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2014

10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2014

There always are breakthroughs when it comes to technology but there are some breakthroughs that seem to stand out more than others. Here we take a look at 10 breakthrough technologies so far this year.
10 Agricultural Drones

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We are seeing relatively cheap drones coming into the market that are packed with advanced sensors along with imaging capabilities. These allow new ways for farmers to boost the crop yields along with reducing the amount of damage to their crops. Farmers are able to use drones that have cameras and which come in at under $1,000. Key players include Precision Hawk, 3D Robotics and Yamaha.
9 Smartphones that are Ultraprivate

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We are seeing new handsets arrive that have been built with privacy and security in mind. Some of the key players in smartphones which are ultraprivate include Blackphone, CryptoPhone and the Open Whisper Systems.
8 Brain Mapping

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After almost a decade we have seen a new map that shows the brains structures in much greater details than ever before. This has given neuroscientists a better guide to the huge complexity of the human brain. Key players have been Alan Evans at the Montreal Neurological Institute, Katrin Amunts at the Jülich Research Centre and Karl Deisseroth, Stanford University.
7 Neuromorphic Chips

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We are starting to see microprocessors that are more like brains than chips, which could mean that very soon in the future computers could be a lot more astute about what is actually happening around them. Key players have been Qualcomm, IBM, HRL Laboratories and the Human Brain Project.
6 Geome Editing

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The option to be able to create primates that have intentional mutations could lead the way to new ways of studying complex brain disorders that have been baffling doctors for a long time. Key players include George Church at Harvard, Feng Zhang at MIT and Yunnan Key Laboratory.
5 Microscale 3D printing

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We are seeing inks that have come from different materials being applied and these are expanding what can be printed in 3D. Key players in microscale 3D printing include Keith Martin at the University of Cambridge, Jennifer Lewis at Harvard University and Michael McAlpine at Princeton University.
4 Mobile Collaboration

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At last we are seeing an era where smartphones are getting the productivity software that they have needed. This is important as services can be offered to make it more fruitful when it comes to the creation and editing of documents on our devices. Key players include Dropbox, Microsoft, Box, Google, Quip, Quickoffice and CloudOn.
3 Oculus Rift

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It was thirty years ago when virtual reality goggles first made it onto the scene and now this technology can be more widespread in its use thanks to the Oculus Rift. Key players in this include Oculus, Vry, Sony, Nvidia and Vuzix.
2 Robots with agility

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We are starting to see robots that have the ability to balance, walk and run on terrains that are uneven and rough. This will make robots a great deal more useful when it comes to them being able to navigate human environments. Key players in this are Honda, Schaft and Boston Dynamics.
1 Smart wind along with Solar power

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Thanks to artificial intelligence and big data we have been seeing forecasts that are very accurate and this should make it feasible to be able to integrate more renewable energy into the grid. Key players here have been the National Centre for Atmospheric Research, GE Power and Xcel Energy.
source:http://www.technologyreview.com

New revolution for Smartphone: HOLOGRAPHIC INTERACTION DISPLAY

New Revolution for SMART PHONES:

HOLOGRAPHIC INTERACTION DISPLAY

So, after a very long break, I’m back here to provide some chills going on in the smartphone market. The smartphone world today, is some or the other way completely mixed up, ALL OF THE SMARTPHONES (in their respective price ranges) ARE SAME!

People can see a wide range of same phones having same processors, screen size, resolutions, camera quality, etc etc…Though their manufacturers are quite different. People who can’t afford a SNAPDRAGON loaded device prefer to buy MEDIATEK ones, which provide nonetheless same experience with their Octa-Core or Quad-Core processors.

But, now there has aroused need to change this preceding tradition. And so is the answer to this question; SMART HOLOGRAPHIC PHONES!

What is a SMART HOLOGRAPHIC PHONE?

Smart Holographic Phone (prototype).

Well, before going in more brief, I would first give you a quick flash of the topic.

At present, you can see a wide variety of Smartphones giving TOUCH SCREEN features, in two classes:

a) Resistive Touch Screen Display (the first touch screen technology to manufacture TOUCH SCREEN PHONES).

b) Capacitive Touch Screen Display (introduced by APPLE, more advanced than the former one + most widely used today).These have succeeded to provide masses a new change in their phones. HOLOGRAPHIC DISPLAY: the new type of DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY that can track the position of Human Eyes, which in turn creates the illusion that the viewer is looking at the real person/object.

As mentioned above, this technology is fully based upon the position of Human Eye; it is currently unable to provide a consecutive view from different directions at the same time. That is, the illusion field generated is limited to the eyes of a single person and provides the best experiencing only to a SINGLE PERSON. So, we’ll call it as SMART HOLOGRAPHIC or PERSONAL HOLOGRAPHIC DISPLAY.Let’s get more aware and included. The Holographic display can be classified in further three types:

• Physical Holography (holographic film, laser holographic printing).
• Digital Holography (projected laser holographic imaging).
• Computing Holography (eyeball tracking holographic imaging, scenario tracking holographic imaging).

Holographic Display technology

Laser holography is the method to record the amplitude as well as the phase information in the light wave that reaches the film. There are quite a lot of variations in the basic method, but ALL HOLOGRAPHY REQUIRE LASER LIGHT, i.e. light that is coherent over the object to be imaged. This is a must to construct a hologram. While in normal photography light, film can only record the intensity of light. Along with all the phase information contained in the original light, the time it reaches the film it is lost, and there is no 3D effect of the film.

Where can Smart Holographic Phone be used?

Implementation of HOLOGRAPHIC Display Technology

The first thing which will be attracting your mind after reading the above news will be the scene of a Science Fiction Movie, where a crazy scientist controls all his work by working on an invisible screen in the air, or, a conference of high authorities which appears holograph generators, etc .

So the question is: “What is the exact and most valuable use of this technology?”

Here’s a queue which might enlarge the limited view of its use:

1. HOLOGRAPHIC NAVIGATION:

While 2D display is unable to show the complex road system, this will improve the location and complexity precision by employing 3D images.

2. COMMODITY VIEW in ONLINE SHOPPING:

Earlier and now, e-commerce sites show the image of the good in only a few views, which sometimes disappoint the buyers after receiving their product. This will enhance the more detailed and specific view of the products available at online stores.

3. IMPROVED and THRILLING GAMING EXPERIENCE:

Yes, for hectic gamers, this will be a new surprise regarding their real-life experience with the gaming world.

4. OMG! MYTHICAL and FUTURISTIC MOVIES:

Who does not desired to be in the world of THE LORD OF THE RINGS, STAR WARS or any other such movie? Well, this might fulfil the wish to some extent.

5. VIDEO CALLING-MEETING THE CALLER IN PERSON:

This will make the caller and attendant feel as if the person they are talking to is sitting or walking along with them while on the call.

Any revolution in APP DEVELOPMENT to go with SMART HOLOGRAPHIC PHONE?

What about App development?

The success of Android & iPhones literally lies in thousands of amazing apps that provides the users the all new experience. Same in this case, users are still in confusion whether there may be apps for this technology or they have to wait. According to sources, Eastar has set up an OPEN PLATFORM FOR HOLOGRAPHIC APPS DEVELOPERS to invite them from all over the globe! However, there is no record of any active partners or achievements.

Difference between HOLOGRAPHIC DISPLAY and 3D NAKED EYE:

Will the use of this technology be real? Or is this just a Stunt Trick Hoax played by phone developers?
Holographic display relies on light intervene and diffraction to reproduce 3D image of a projection; while Naked Eye 3D uses the principle of grating, requiring video source to be processed. The video source of Naked Eye 3D can be converted from 2D videos, but it requires viewers to be at a specific angle and distance in order to experience 3D effect.

Even though, the technology of Naked Eye 3D has passed over a lot of improvements over past years, reports still includes dizziness and vomitive experience of users. These negative feedbacks impacted user experience. As a result, this became more of a stunt than of real-practical-use.

How this technology works?

As Smartphone display reached the resolution of 1080P along with the advanced hardware configurations, there REMAINS NO SPACE FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT. Still, manufactures are trying to find a way to differentiate them using the HOLOGRAPHIC DISPLAY. As this tech can produce a virtual image of a 3D object when its images from different angles are projected from the screen, it is widely believed that this will achieve a better response than that of Naked Eye 3D.

Competitor in the HOLOGRAPHIC SMARTPHONE WORLD:  AMAZON FIRE PHONE!

Before the actual launch of devices featuring this technology, there already is a competitor present for it. Around 3 weeks earlier, Amazon unveiled its FIRE PHONE. Except from its amazing service, its BIGGEST SELLING POINT is the DYNAMIC PERSPECTIVE. It constructs 3D images at 60 frames per second, and together with the help of several infrared sensors display the image in 3D. Compared to Naked Eye 3D technology, the Dynamic Perspective of Fire Phone can change a picture’s view as users move and tilt the phone around. Still, it is not related to Holograph technology and is limited within the category of 2D display.

This phone is configured with a 4.7-inch HDS LCD display, supported with a 2.2GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 800 CPU and Adreno 300 GPU, with 2 GB of RAM. It has a 13MP rear camera with Optical Image Sensor and a powerful f/2.0 lens and also a 2.1MP front facing camera.

Well, it is certainly for sure that the evolution in field of Smartphone Display will possibly undergo many revolutions, providing an excellent user-experience and a well brand new perspective.

This Material Is Capable Of Making Water Defy Gravity, Run Uphill

You could very well shout out; ‘Optical illusion’ but we assure you that this is real and not just another optical illusion. Yes, scientists have found a way to defy gravity and they did so by making water run uphill. This was made possible by making use of a material that has a number of very small electroplated metal bristles that respond to a magnetic field. A change in magnetic field results in a change in the bristles, subsequently imparting direction to the water that sits on them.
The research comes from MIT and the team foresees the use of this material in creating glare-resistant windows and clothing that will resist rain. The micro-hair is made of nickel and has a height of 70 microns and a width of 25 microns. Comparing it to a human hair reveals that it is about 1/4^th the diameter of a human hair. The research team made an assembly of micro-hair that was crafted onto an elastic and transparent layer of silicone.
During the test phase it was discovered that the material, magnetically activated, was also able to direct the flow of light and not just fluid. According to the research team, this research could very well provide a way to making waterproofing and anti-glare products. According to Yangying Zhu, graduate student in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering; ‘You could coat this on your car windshield to manipulate rain or sunlight. So you could filter how much solar radiation you want coming in, and also shed raindrops. This is an opportunity for the future.’
According to Ms Zhu, the inspiration for this research came from nature. In words of Ms Zhu; ‘We see these dynamic structures a lot in nature. So we thought, ‘What if we could engineer microstructures, and make them dynamic?’ This would expand the functionality of surfaces.’ She also said that more complex magnetic fields could be designed and incorporated to come up with more elaborate tilting patterns. The flexibility of the material also allows for it to be incorporated into fabric.
Miss Wang said; ‘A nice thing about this substrate is that you can attach it to something with interesting contours. Or, depending on how you design the magnetic field, you could get the pillars to close in like a flower. You could do a lot of things with the same platform.’

Grain Sack That Doubles as a Solar Powered Water Purifier for the Third World

Grain Sack That Doubles as a Solar Powered Water Purifier for the Third World

Outraged by the existence of so many starving communities with no access to clean water in many poor countries, three Korean industrial designers – Jung Uk Park, Myeong Hoon Lee and Dae Youl Lee – created a special bag that initially is used for delivering the food sent by the UN and international NGOs to those in need. The idea is that these organizations replace conventional bags with a Life Sack to ship grains and other food staples to these people. After the food is stored, the bag works as a water purifier.

The container uses Solar Water Disinfectant Process (SODIS) technology to kill organisms in the contaminated liquid through thermal treatment and UV-A-radiation, which easily penetrates the PVC easily. An internal filter is able to remove all microorganisms bigger than 5 nanometers. To get an idea of this filter’s efficiency, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis is 200 nanometers in size.

More than 4,000 children die everyday as a result of diarrhea from drinking contaminated water; SODIS is a free and effective method for treating water using plastic bottles and the sun’s UV rays to kill pathogens responsible for diarrhea. Simply leave a clean plastic container filled with water in the sun for 6 hours and those bacteria are destroyed, literally scorched.

Considering that some people walk great distances to get water, the Life Sack comes with straps so it can confortably be carried as a backpack. Then they just hang it in the sun and let the magic work itself.




Via: [Pure Drinkable Water]