Posted by admin on October 17th, 2007
Many features of modern 2D desktops remind us that there isn’t enough room to organize large numbers of files. Menus that pop up from nowhere and virtual desktops are indications that a better organizational construct is needed.
Tactile 3D corrects these deficiencies by improving upon traditional tree-based file system interfaces. It is more than a 3D replacement for your 2D desktop. It is an organization system for entire hierarchies of information. It will not try to take-over your current desktop and runs as a standard windows application. The desktop has had decades of development and any improvements need to integrate into that established and robust framework.
The Tactile 3D UI allows you to roam around a 3D space and place objects where you want. Each object gives clues as to its contents by emitting sounds and mapping thumbnails and icons onto certain faces. Other cues include a faster rotation rate for recently accessed content, different lighting for read-only files, and variation in collision sound effects based on file size.
see website here
see images here
Posted by admin on October 16th, 2007
The Hybrid Insect Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems project aims to create literal shutterbugs — camera-toting insects whose nerves have grown into their internal silicon chip so that wranglers can control their activities. DARPA researchers are also raising cyborg beetles with power for various instruments to be generated by their muscles.
see article here
Posted by admin on October 16th, 2007
The Robotic Method of data capture is extremely fast compared to traditional methods. Depending on the arrangement of the space, the robot can collect anywhere between 70K sqft and 240K sqft in a single day.
The data collected by the robotic is extremely high resolution. The onboard sensors capture everything in the space, defining your interior space with millimeter accuracy. This data can then be transformed into very accurate CAD or GIS products.
see website here
see video here
Posted by admin on October 16th, 2007
The BigDog, from Boston Dynamics, a company specializing in human simulation, is just weird. A robotic pack mule that runs on petrol, travels at up to 3.3mph over all sorts of terrain, and can carry up to 120 lb, BigDog has received $10 million of funding from the Pentagon. Check how it moves in a 2006 video after the jump.
see website here
see video here
(check out the end of the video, insanely amazing)
Posted by admin on October 16th, 2007
The Morphing Micro Air and Land Vehicle (MMALV) is a hybrid air and land vehicle which can be used to serve as a remote sensor platform. The purpose of this vehicle is to serve as a device that can fly into hazardous/hostile environments, then land and walk around to explore, gather and relay intelligence so that decisions can be made about how to proceed in a dangerous situation without having to physically send people in to do the data collection. In this way, the risk to human lives can be minimized. Applications of the vehicle include intelligence operations, first responders who depend on difficult-to-obtian, real-time information to make decisions, and search & rescue operations.
see website here
see video here
Posted by admin on October 16th, 2007
Three spoked appendages, called “wheel-legs”, combine the speed and simplicity of wheels with the high mobility of legs. The robot can surmount obstacles significantly greater than the radius of the wheel-legs - a difficult feat for wheeled vehicles.
To surmount obstacles of much greater relative magnitude, a version of the robot, dubbed Jumping Mini-Whegs™, has been developed. It can surmount obstacles of 2-3 body lengths high, such as a stair. Based on abstracted biological principles, this small robot combines simplicity, robustness and reliability to provide a desirable combination of speed, mobility and versatility.
see website here
see video here and here
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