The Galactic Suite will look more or less like these artist renditions. Before customers can get to these glorified pods, they’ll have to undergo an eight-week training course, which will be conducted on a freaking tropical island. Then they’re off to the shuttle for the day and a half trip to the pods. Galactic Suites Ltd. Xavier Claramunt compares the pods to a mountain retreat, because there’s no staff there. But the shuttle will be docked with the pods the whole time, meaning the astronaut-pilots will be staying with the visitors, who by the way will wear velcro suits that stick to the walls of the Suite. Stay in a space hotel and be like Spiderman in one go. Damn you rich people.

Claramunt et al claim that a “billionaire space enthusiast” has invested $3 billion in their project, and that they already have 43 people on the reserved list. I hope these customers donate millions to charity too. I mean I know it’s their money, but come on. Whether the hotel will be operational in 2 years or in 5, space tourism will eventually take off and there will be takers, but these outrageous prices just makes me think how misplaced our priorities can be sometimes. But as I always say, it’s your money, so do what you want with it. If you’re interested, you should check out the company’s website for more info.

[via Yahoo! News via DVICE]

Aside from the display, the microphone used to pick up speech is also mounted on the eyepiece. The mic sends data to the small computer, which is meant to be worn on a user’s waist. The computer then sends the data to the remote server, which takes care of the heavy stuff, converting speech to text and finally translating. Then the translated text is sent back to the computer, and finally displayed in the eyepiece. The text is displayed on the user’s peripheral vision, so you won’t go wall-eyed trying to read the translation.

…or so goes NEC’s big plan. Currently the system’s translating capability is not be good enough for real world application, so for now the device is being promoted as a convenient means of looking at user manuals or guides for engineers or technicians to use while their working on something. And since it can receive data from a remote server, the Tele Scouter can also be used to send instructions to several personnel all at once, in real time.

NEC will begin selling Tele Scouter systems next year. I don’t know if it will be fully functional by then, but even if it did it’s not like we’ll be able to afford it: a set-up good enough for 30 users will cost ¥750 million (approx. $8.3 million USD).

[via gizmag]

Organic Light Emitting Diodes are starting to emerge not only in flat-panel displays, but numerous prototypes of OLED lighting fixtures are starting to rear their heads. The great thing about OLED is not only that it is self-illuminating and eco-friendly, but that it’s not a point-source of light. Instead, OLED can be built into flexible panels and produced in specialized shapes, sizes and colors – providing a wonderful ambient glow. There are even transparent oled panels that you can see through, but that can still generate bright ambient lighting. Philips has even made some amazing interactive lighting fixtures using their new Lumiblade OLED technology.

Check out the gallery below to see a variety of prototype fixtures that use OLEDs to generate light.

In addition to Philips, there are many companies working on OLED lighting concepts, including GE, OSRAM, Siemens, Visionox, Samsung, and others – and it’s only a matter of time before we start to see mass-produced commercial lighting fixtures that use the technology. I see a bright future ahead of us.

[via OLED Info]

As you can see from the pictures, AIDA has its own set of facial expressions, to help it “establish an affective bond” with the driver. I guess it is more pleasing to interact with something that has a face, as opposed to talking to the air like the Hoff used to do with KITT, but won’t it become a distraction?

What I like about AIDA though is its ability to familiarize itself with the needs and habits of a driver, like one’s usual destinations, or how one drives. It will then combine that information with real-time data like traffic or weather, stuff that may not be immediately available to the driver, to give hints and tips:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

What do you think? Will AIDA be a helpful companion, or a nagger that you won’t be able to kick out of the car?

[via MIT via Popular Science]

ClearView makes a list of rules based on a program’s “normal” behavior. When something causes the program to deviate from those rules, ClearView “comes up with several potential patches designed to force the software to follow the violated rules… If additional rules are violated, or if a patch causes the system to crash, ClearView rejects it and tries another.” And it does all of that without any human intervention. As a test, ClearView was tasked to babysit Firefox while the browser was attacked via ten different methods. On average, ClearView came up with a patch within 5 minutes of exposure to an attack. How’s that for customer service. If you’re tired of having programs die on you, read the full article at Technology Review. It may just make your day.

[via Slashdot]

The sit-down electric YikeBike tops out at 20km/hr (appx. 12 MPH). An electric chainless drive powers the bike up to 10 kilometers (appx. 6 miles) on a quick 30 minute charge. While that’s not a ton of range, it’s certainly enough for most urban commuters to get to and from work. It’s also great for short haul travel from public transportation sites like trains and buses.

And thanks to an innovative lightweight folding carbon composite frame, you can carry the YikeBike up to your office during the day for a recharge (and to protect it from theft on the street). The whole thing weighs just 9.8 kg (appx. 21 lbs.) which means it won’t break your back carrying it around either.

If you can get past the annoying song in this commercial, the YikeBike actually looks pretty cool…

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Here’s a better (and far less irritating) video that shows off the YikeBike being put through its paces on a variety of challenging terrains. It’s surprisingly agile, given its unassuming looks.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Expect the YikeBike to start shipping sometime in 2010. Final pricing hasn’t been set yet, but it’s likely to run between €3500 and €3900 (appx. $5180 to $5772 USD). You can reserve one now with a €100 (appx. $148 USD) deposit here.

The demonstration had a sender think of either 1 or 0. For some reason the person in the video didn’t directly think of either number; he had to think of moving his left arm for 0, and his right arm for 1. I wonder why. The EEG attached to the sender amplifies his brain signals, which are sent to the receiver via the Internet. The receiver’s brain picks up the 1s and 0s via a set of LEDs that flashed a different pattern depending on the digit sent.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Obviously the demo wasn’t too practical, but if this technology is improved maybe we won’t need monitors in the future; instead data will be sent directly to our brain. Then while you’re b2beeing with your friend, you could mess with his brain and make him slap or pee on himself. Awesome.

[via FreshCreation via gizmag]

By using advanced facial recognition technology, the monitor can tell when your eyes are on the TV screen, and keeps it turned on only when you’re actually watching. Jump to the 45 second mark on the video below to see an early prototype of the technology in action (or watch the whole thing to see some other cool Hitachi display tech from the CEATEC show)…

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Both Hitachi and Sony have been working on versions of the system, so maybe that lends it some added creedence. I’m just not sure how much power this will really save, especially now that more and more TVs are moving to LED backlighting, but I suppose every little bit helps. I also think I’d turn off this setting the minute I got up to the kitchen and tried to watch my TV from the other side of the room during the football game.

[via BBC News and Engadget]

Months later, the students released a video with a proof-of-concept of the D&D-Surface mashup, which they named SurfaceScapes, including a look at how combat plays out.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Virtual d20 ftw.

[via Wired via Penny Arcade]

CMU’s Snackbot is a roving wheeled ‘bot who’s primary purpose is to roam the halls of the University’s buildings, delivering tasty treast to students and faculty. Snackbot not only drives around bringing snacks, he also brings plenty of goodwill, with a pleasant-sounding voice communication system and calm demeanor unlikely to be rattled by even the most demanding snack customer. He features a sophisticated “multi-sensor fusion algorithms” which let him understand where he’s going, navigate through crowds, and can autonomously learn new objects.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

My only complaint is that all that he seems to be delivering in the video clip above is granola bars and souvenirs. What kind of snacks are those? Where are my Ding Dongs, Ring Dings, Big Wheels and King Dons? Even Snackbot’s early prototype delivered M&Ms, Twix and Oreos…

While Snackbot was designed for a nobler cause – studying human-robot interactions, bringing snacks to my office each day would be plenty reason for me to invest research dollars – as long as there are creme-filled snack cakes, that is.

[via BotJunkie]

The Vicon Revue was originally called SenseCam. Some of you may have heard of SenseCam before; it was developed by Microsoft Research in Cambridge, UK. Basically it’s a low-res fish eye camera, about the same size as a Post-it notepad, that is worn on a cord around the neck. It automatically takes pictures based on two things: a preset time interval, even as short as once every 5 seconds, and various stimuli, like changes in light or temperature. So when you enter a room for example, the difference in brightness will prompt the camera to snap a picture. Even if you just moved from your living room to the garage. Or if you turn off the lights. Or if you repeatedly cover and expose the light sensor.

It was originally intended for people suffering from Alzheimer’s and other memory-debilitating conditions. Tests have shown that “reviewing SenseCam photos of a significant event every two days for three weeks, the person could remember it substantially better, even after months of not looking at the photos, compared with events that were not reviewed this way or were recorded only in a written diary.” The Vicon Revue will be marketed to researchers at first; a consumer version will follow next year. Here’s a sample shot from the SenseCam:

Can you see it now? People uploading shit like this with their tweets. “OMG I think I saw Steve Jobs is this him <Vicon Revue pic>” “OMG my tummy got 3 mm bigger <Vicon Revue before & after pics>” “OMG!!!! My Vicon took pictures of a cloud shaped like a penis roflcopter I didn’t even see it lololololol <17 Vicon Revue pics of a cloud that looks like anything but a penis>”

The SenseCam takes pictures at 640×480. It has 1GB of internal flash memory, capable of storing more than 30,000 of the low-res pictures. I don’t know if there will be changes in specs, if any, on the Vicon Revue. I think the reason why it’s so expensive despite it’s mediocre imaging capabilities is the myriad of built-in sensors: light-intensity and light-color sensors, a passive infrared (body heat) detector, a temperature sensor, and a multiple-axis accelerometer.

The Vicon Revue that will be sold to researchers will sell for £500 (approx. $820 USD). I’m guessing the consumer version of Vicon Revue will be a bit cheaper, and have at least double the memory. If all goes well, the internet will be flooded with billions of mundane fisheye pics in 2010.

[via New Scientist & Microsoft Research]

As you can see from the picture above, Miller’s take on the next generation interface is a keyboard-sized multitouch pad, partnered with software that makes use of 10 fingers at once. But that’s not even half of Miller’s practical ideas. He also imagines an operating system that, instead of letting users clutter their screens with windows, imposes order by constraining the position, size, and movement of windows. Think it won’t work? You’d better watch Miller’s video for the rest of his 10 cents:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You know what, screw you tengooey, man the narrator’s voice is hypnotic. Comforting. Soothing. He could be saying fruit gallop poncho for all I care. I think I’ll play this video until I fall asleep. Check out the 10/GUI website for more info.

[via digg]

You see, it’s relatively easy (for nerds) to build a robot that can find its way to a target outdoors, thanks to the magic of GPS. But what if you want to search inside a building? GPS won’t help you there, believe me. I researched it extensively. If you don’t have a map of the building or whatever structure you’re infiltrating, you’re screwed. But more importantly, GPS receivers need a strong signal to work, something which you’ll have difficulty obtaining inside a building.

So the aforementioned MIT students came up with a laser scanner that sweeps the helicopter’s immediate area, and that along with some algorithm magic (yeah this is where I lose track of definitions) builds a corresponding rough three-dimensional map of the autonomous vehicle’s immediate environment, as shown in the image above. Now I need you to watch the video below and then answer one tiny question for me: when the narrator uses the word “we” and “us”, does he mean that they can control the robot remotely which means they can see the map that the laser sweep generates, or is the robot fully autonomous?

Maybe the chopper is the narrator, and it’s talking using lasers. I don’t know. I’m confused.

[via MIT Tech TV]

Instead of using programmable “soft” keys, Craighton Berman’s LEGO TV Remote uses physical keys that you arrange and snap into place on the surface of the remote.

Sure, it’s completely impractical for anything more than a single device, but I want one now.

[Fueled by Coffee via reubenmiller via swissmiss]

The image above is an actual result from Photosketch. This shit is magical. The crucial thing about Photosketch of course is the algorithm that selects the images that best fit a given sketch. Instead of pretending to understand these things, I’ll just let Tao Chen, one of the students behind the program, explain it to you:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Photosketch is so awesome that the webpage it was on had to be taken down, most likely due to the massive hits that it got. Although personally I think that the program can still be improved – for example, it seems that you can’t look for a specific entity, say “Cheney” to go along with “rifle” and “face” – this is definitely truly really mind blowing technology. Nerd Powah!

[via The Presurfer]