2013, augmented reality, Augmented World Expo, AugmentedReality, AWE 2013, Dulce, dulce303, smart glasses, smartphones

AWE 2013 will be held at the Santa Clara Convention Center, on June 4-5, 2013.

Dulce, dulce303, Life Rules

Life Rules

AugmentedReality, Contact Lenses, creepy reality, Dulce, gaming, scary future, Sight, Sight Systems

A short futuristic film by Eran May-raz and Daniel Lazo. This is our graduation project from Bezaleal academy of arts.

Sight from Sight Systems on Vimeo.

cloud computing, Dulce, dulce303, HP Cloud Block Storage, HP Cloud Content Delivery Network, HP Cloud Object Storage, HP Cloud Relational Database, HP Cloud Services

Cloud Computing — The Future Of Business? 

There has been a lot of discussion over the Internet on whether or not to invest or engage in cloud computing. Many businesses and tech experts have debated the security issues and feasibility of adapting a cloud based business model. Most of the criticism stems from privacy advocates who feel cloud services allow the host to monitor and scan a customers private data, and access that data for malicious or litigious purposes. The legalities of cloud computing have many businesses leery of investing and implementing a cloud model. And, most businesses can’t fathom the idea of giving up control of their dedicated host data systems. The cloud looks dark and grey when it comes to security and protection.

Another issue is compliance across applications, not all cloud systems are built to the same standards, and vary in user control and scalability. Open source models allow developers to implement unique API platforms that are sometimes interoperable with existing and newer standards. Even though the trend is to create more portable APIs, some platforms make it hard for business to scale without starting from scratch. Needless to say, the cloud can be a scary place for business.

But, there are some solutions out there. Companies that are trying changing the scary perceptions and give businesses peace of mind and scalability… HP Cloud is one such company.

HP Cloud Services is offering a Public Beta Program of virtual servers with a free trial offer of 500 GB of storage. They provide a partner ecosystem with excellent customer support and infrastructure services based on OpenStack™. HP’s service provides on-demand compute instances, (or virtual servers) , scalable storage capacity and accelerated delivery of cached content to the end user. The infrastructures ease of use gets developers and businesses up and running within minutes, and there is no vendor lock-in. Services available in the public beta include; HP Cloud Compute, HP Cloud Object Storage and HP Cloud Content Delivery Network. There are also private beta services; HP Cloud Block Storage and HP Cloud Relational Database.

HP aims to create a diverse and robust ecosystem, built on a hybrid delivery model that spans traditional IT, private cloud services, managed cloud systems and the public cloud. Open APIs, open standards, elastic scalability and identity services are the core principles of HP Cloud, and they are looking partner with Independent Software Vendors (ISV), Value Added Resellers (VAR), System Integrators (SI), and consulting firms to help change the perceptions of cloud computing. As soon as you sign up for the public beta Customer Support opens a line of communication, and offers resources… live and responsive services 24/7/365.

The cloud is the wave of the future, and businesses need to start understanding it’s application in order to survive into this future. Adopting an open transparent business model while retaining proprietary control over private data is the service HP Cloud is offering, and with a free trial offer it doesn’t cost to get started and testing.

Get more information about HP Cloud’s ecosystem on their blog, Scaling the Cloud.

augmented reality, Dulce, dulce303, GEC-ART, HUB09, Street Art, Urban Augmented Reality

STREET ART & AUGMENTED REALITY BY GEC-ART & HUB09
GEC-ART and HUB09 Italian artist have created a new project combining Street Art and Augmented Reality. The HUB09‘s augmented reality app allows you to frame your smartphone with the street art in order to see her come to life in unexpected ways …. Interesting indeed!

(Source)

AI, artificial life, Cronin, DNA, Dulce, dulce baerga, dulce303, iCHELLs, inorganic chemical cells, Lee Cronin, metal-based cells, polyoxometalates, robotics, robots, University of Glasgow

Researcher says he has created living cells made of metal instead of carbon — and they may be evolving.
By Bryan Nelson — Fri, Sep 16 2011 at 12:38 AM EST

Scientists trying to create artificial life generally work under the assumption that life must be carbon-based, but what if a living thing could be made from another element?

One British researcher may have proven that theory, potentially rewriting the book of life. Lee Cronin of the University of Glasgow has created lifelike cells from metal — a feat few believed feasible. The discovery opens the door to the possibility that there may be life forms in the universe not based on carbon, reports New Scientist.

Even more remarkable, Cronin has hinted that the metal-based cells may be replicating themselves and evolving.

“I am 100 percent positive that we can get evolution to work outside organic biology,” he said.

The high-functioning “cells” that Cronin has built are constructed from large polyoxometalates derived from a range of metal atoms, like tungsten. He gets them to assemble in bubbly spheres by mixing them in a specialized saline solution, and calls the resultant cell-like structures “inorganic chemical cells,” or iCHELLs.

The metallic bubbles are certainly cell-like, but are they actually alive? Cronin has made a compelling case for the comparison by constructing the iCHELLS with a number of features that make them function much as real cells do. For instance, by modifying the outer oxide structure of the bubbles so that they are porous, he has essentially built iCHELLs with membranes capable of selectively allowing chemicals in and out according to size, much as what happens with the walls of real cells.

Cronin’s team has also created bubbles inside of bubbles, which opens the door to the possibility of developing specialized “organelles.” Even more compelling, some of the iCHELLs are being equipped with the ability to photosynthesize. The process is still rudimentary, but by linking some oxide molecules to light sensitive dyes, the team has constructed a membrane that splits water into hydrogen ions, electrons and oxygen when illuminated — which is how photosynthesis begins in real cells.

Of course, the most compelling lifelike quality of the iCHELLs so far is their ability to evolve. Although they aren’t equipped with anything remotely resembling DNA, and therefore can’t replicate themselves in the same way that real cells do, Cronin has nevertheless managed to create some polyoxometalates that can use each other as templates to self-replicate. Furthermore, he is currently embarked on a seven-month experiment to see if iCHELLs placed in different environments will evolve.

The early results have been encouraging. “I think we have just shown the first droplets that can evolve,” Cronin hinted.

Though the idea of a strange new metal-based form of life rapidly evolving in a lab somewhere on Earth may sound ominous, the finding could forever change how life is defined. It also greatly improves the odds of life existing elsewhere in the universe, since life forms could potentially be built from any number of different elements.

The possibilities are exciting to imagine, even if Cronin’s iCHELLs eventually fall short of full-blown living cells. His research may have already blown the door off previous paradigms about the conditions necessary for life to form.

(Source)

biometrics, carbon nanotubes, Dulce, dulce baerga, dulce303, Molecular Material, nano, nanotech, Nanotechnology, power felt, thermoelectrics, Wake Forest

New technology from Center of Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials holds promise in thermoelectrics

When Wake Forest graduate student Corey Hewitt (Ph.D. ’13) touches a two-inch square of black fabric, a meter goes berserk. Simply by touching a small piece of Power Felt – a promising new thermoelectric device developed by a team of researchers in the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials – he has converted his body heat into an electrical current.

Comprised of tiny carbon nanotubes locked up in flexible plastic fibers and made to feel like fabric, Power Felt uses temperature differences – room temperature versus body temperature, for instance – to create a charge.

“We waste a lot of energy in the form of heat. For example, recapturing a car’s energy waste could help improve fuel mileage and power the radio, air conditioning or navigation system,” Hewitt says. “Generally thermoelectrics are an underdeveloped technology for harvesting energy, yet there is so much opportunity.”

The research appears in the current issue of Nano Letters, a leading journal in nanotechnology. Potential uses for Power Felt include lining automobile seats to boost battery power and service electrical needs, insulating pipes or collecting heat under roof tiles to lower gas or electric bills, lining clothing or sports equipment to monitor performance, or wrapping IV or wound sites to better track patients’ medical needs.

“Imagine it in an emergency kit, wrapped around a flashlight, powering a weather radio, charging a prepaid cell phone,” says David Carroll, director of the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials and head of the team leading this research. “Literally, just by sitting on your phone, Power Felt could provide relief during power outages or accidents.”

Cost has prevented thermoelectrics from being used more widely in consumer products. Standard thermoelectric devices use a much more efficient compound called bismuth telluride to turn heat into power in products including mobile refrigerators and CPU coolers, but it can cost $1,000 per kilogram. Like silicon, researchers liken its affordability to demand in volume and think someday Power Felt would cost only $1 to add to a cell phone cover.

Currently Hewitt is evaluating several ways to add more nanotube layers and make them even thinner to boost the power output. Although there’s more work to do before Power Felt is ready for market, he says, “I imagine being able to make a jacket with a completely thermoelectric inside liner that gathers warmth from body heat, while the exterior remains cold from the outside temperature. If the Power Felt is efficient enough, you could potentially power an iPod, which would be great for distance runners. It’s pretty cool to think about, and it’s definitely within reach.” Currently Wake Forest is in talks with investors to produce Power Felt commercially.

Source

9to5Google, augmented reality, Dulce, dulce baerga, dulce303, glasses, goggles, Google, Google X, heads-up display, HUD, mixed reality, smart glasses

Google is working on a set of HUD, (heads-up display), glasses, they are now in prototype phase and will enable users to tap into Google’s cloud services through augmented reality. Here 9to5Google Explains…

We detailed the first information about the Google [x] Glasses project in December.

They are in late prototype stages of wearable glasses that look like thick-rimmed glasses that “normal people” wear. However, these provide a display with a heads up computer interface. There are a few buttons on the arms of the glasses, but otherwise, they could be mistaken for normal glasses. Additionally, we are not sure of the technology being employed here, but it is likely a transparent LCD or AMOLED display such as the one demonstrated below: In addition, we have heard that this device is not an “Android peripheral” as the NYT stated. According to our source, it communicates directly with the Cloud over IP. Although, the “Google Goggles” could use a phone’s Internet connection, through Wi-Fi or a low power Bluetooth 4.0. The use-case is augmented reality that would tie into Google’s location services. A user can walk around with information popping up and into display -Terminator-style- based on preferences, location and Google’s information. Therefore, these things likely connect to the Internet and have GPS. They also likely run a version of Android.

Since then, we have learned much more regarding Google’s glasses…
Our tipster has now seen a prototype and said it looks something like Oakley Thumps (below). These glasses, we heard, have a front-facing camera used to gather information and could aid in augmented reality apps. It will also take pictures. The spied prototype has a flash —perhaps for help at night, or maybe it is just a way to take better photos. The camera is extremely small and likely only a few megapixels.

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The heads up display (HUD) is only for one eye and on the side. It is not transparent nor does it have dual 3D configurations, as previously speculated.

One really cool bit: The navigation system currently used is a head tilting-to scroll and click. We are told it is very quick to learn and once the user is adept at navigation, it becomes second nature and almost indistinguishable to outside users.

(As an aside, I built a head mouse as a Masters Thesis project a few years back that used head tilts to navigate and control menus. I am ready to collect royalties!)
I/O on the glasses will also include voice input and output, and we are told the CPU/RAM/storage hardware is near the equivalent of a generation-old Android smartphone. As a guess, we would speculate something like 1GHz ARM A8, 256MB RAM and 8GB of storage? In any case, it will also function as a smartphone.

Perhaps most interesting is that Google is currently deciding on how it wants to release these glasses, even though the product is still a very long way from being finished. It is currently a secret with only a few geeky types knowing about it, and Google is apparently unsure if it will have mass-market appeal. Therefore, the company is considering making this a pilot program, somewhat like the Cr-48 Chromebooks last year.

Yes, Google might actually release this product as beta-pilot program to people outside of Google—and soon.

FYI Motorola’s got something cool in this area brewing as well.

(Source)

3D Mapping, augmented reality, Dulce, mapping, projection, sony, Video Mapping, virtual projection

Sony Realtime Projection Mapping 2 from