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“Windows, Linux and OS X supported”

Microsoft’s revolutionary Surface computers have already hit the shelves of a few selected companies such as AT&T and it seems that this kind of approach will revolutionize the way we interact with our computers. The extremely intuitive software teams up with a natural user interface (the hand) to put all the necessary data at your fingertips.

Following Microsoft’s success with Surface, a group of developers started an open-source project, also known as the Cubit, in order to deliver surface computing to the masses. While a genuine Surface computer is expected to sell later this year for about $10,000, the Eyebeam group developed a DIY multitouch kit that is available for a price between $500 and $1,000.

The kit is comprised of the table, frosted surface and most of the electronics, and the DIY enthusiasts would only have to come up with their own computer, a simple projector and a webcam.

“CUBIT is an interactive surface for multitouch interactions. It was designed with the intention to redefine visual computing and depart from the mouse pointer paradigm. Fingers are seen as points of location, areas of contact, and vectors. Based on these sensory inputs the interface tries to generate graphical widgets which behave along preconceived human notions of physical objects.” reads the project’s webpage.

When all the parts are correctly assembled, the interface will be able to distinguish between multiple points of contact, just like Microsoft’s genuine Surface computer. The Cubit computer works in a similar manner to the Surface: an infrared ray of light is projected under the table, then reflected by the fingertip. All the infrared light changes are then processed by the webcam and sent to the software.

The really interesting part is that you won’t have to replace your operating system of choice in order to enjoy surface computing. The Cubit kit works on all the major operating systems, including Windows, Linux and OS X.

Check out the preview:

Source: Softpedia News

Iron Man,” the upcoming movie from Marvel Studios, will be on screens around the world in a few weeks. In the movie, a genius businessman invents a suit of armor with extraordinary strength. People everywhere have been looking at the previews, asking “Who will be first with a real powered-armored suit like Iron Man’s?”

Well, exoskeleton fans, we’ve got some real contenders warming up.

The Sarcos XOS exoskeleton is an impressive device. The suit allows the user to endlessly pull weight; two hundred-pound pulldowns are easy. The user of the suit feels only about ten of those two hundred pounds.

Picking up and moving 70 pound cannisters is just as easy. How does it work? The machine follows the movements of the user, sampling the user’s behavior thousands of times per secone. A built-in computer performs the monitoring, and amplifies the user’s strength with the robotic exoskeleton (see video).

However, Japan’s HAL exoskeleton is not only an impressive device, but will soon go into production for sale. Cyberdyne Inc will produce 500 HAL suits each year, starting in October of 2008.

The fifteen kilogram battery-powered suit detects muscle movements through electrical signal flows on the skin surface. These currents are picked up by the sensors and sent to the computer, which translates the nerve signals into signals of its own for controlling electric motors at the hips and knees of the exoskeleton, effectively amplifying muscle strength. HAL stands for “hybrid assistive limb”; HAL-5 is the latest version of the suit (see video).

The two real-life exoskeletons and the movie version are compared in a graphic:

Source: Live Science

With automakers like Chevrolet and Pontiac offering six-speed automatic transmissions, it just doesn’t seem right that the world’s leading car makers would offer the same number of cogs on their flagship models. Mercedes -Benz has been offering a seven-speed transmission for some time now and Lexus has stepped up its game with an eight-speed box. And, according to a new report, BMW will also be taking things up a notch.

According to Bimmerfile, BMW will equip its next-generation 7-series sedan with an eight-speed automatic transmission. The new transmission will also see the shifter moved from the steering column back to the center console.

Despite having two more gears than the current 7-series , the new gearbox won’t take up any more space than the six-speed and will also be smoother and more efficient. The extra gears should also help the 7-series see a 6 percent bump in fuel economy.

The new transmission is also said to be very versatile, meaning it will probably spread to other BMW models after its debut in the next-generation 7-series.

Source: LeftLaneNews

‘The HDR-TG1’s WOW factor tainted by MemoryStick format‘

Sony’s diminutive new heir to the newly minted “world’s smallest Full HD camcorder” throne is the travel-ready silver titanium frame HDR-TG1. While Full HD (1920×1080, also known as 1080P) with a 1.3 x 4.7 x 2.5 inch body and $900 price tag would have seemed like fantasy just a short while ago, Sony made it real and gave it a horror twist that just one day after the launch already has potential customers complaining. Stealthy voyeurism in HD may have to wait a while more.

This is a memory card camera, but it can only use Sony’s unsuccessful proprietary MemoryStick format. While it ships with a 4GB PRO Duo Mark 2 card, using it in its most attractive role – as a travel/vacation cam - would most likely force you to buy extra MemoryStick cards, which just happen to be more expensive than (almost twice as much as) the norm. I can see this camcorder joining the pile of Sony products being boycotted by savvy gadgeteers who are dissatisfied with the lack of memory card flexibility.

The 1/5 inch, 2 megapixel ClearVid CMOS sensor is coupled with a 10X Carl Zeiss zoom lens. The sensor’s Exmor technology should reduce some of the noise originated in the really small sensor . The highest possible compression quality here is 16Mbps in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 (an improvement over similar miniature models), for a recording time of 25 minutes on a 4GB card. In the Japanese press release, a slow-motion mode is mentioned but at the moment it is not clear what its exact specs are.

Surprisingly, the HDR-TG1 takes 4 megapixel photos (twice the sensor’s native resolution), presumably through interpolation. Stills can be snapped while recording. The face-detection system can identify up to eight faces and encodes the selected parts of the images with extra bits. The built-in zoom microphone records 5.1-channel surround sound.

Control is exerted through a joystick located on the back of the camera. A small zoom ring surrounds the joystick, within quick access distance of the camera holding hand’s thumb. The ring has, as can be deduced from the Sony launch video, quite a bit of response lag.

Sometime last year, Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute released a decidedly less handsome Full HD camera. While not exactly up to the standards of consumer cams (it can only be controlled through a web interface, as it has no actual buttons), it is smaller than the TG1, has a huge 2/3″ sensor, and advertises 9 stops of dynamic range. While no price is known, the Fraunhofer MicroHDTV is the real “world’s smallest full HD camcorder”.

The HDR-TH1 will cost $900 in May, and pre-order sales have already started.

Source: Softpedia News