MIT's Ramesh Raskar, creator of amazing things, is on the cusp of creating a fantastical camera that can take pictures of objects that are hidden around corners. As long as light can reach the object, this camera can capture it.
The camera works much like a flashlight that has been pointed at a mirror. When you do that, you see the light reflected onto another surface, or back at you, which is precisely the effect that Raskar and his team at the MIT Media Lab have accomplished with their powerful femtosecond laser camera.
After the laser does a series of 12 or more 0.000000000000001 second pulses, the camera's software starts crunching data to create a 3D image:
It then use complex algorithms - similar to those used in medical CAT scans - to construct a probable 3D model of the surrounding area - including objects that may be hidden around the corner.
"In the same way that a CAT scan can reveal what is inside the body by taking multiple photographs using an x-ray source in different positions, we can recover what is beyond the line of sight by shining the laser at different points on a reflective surface," he said
The images are incredibly basic now, but Raskar and his team see huge potential in the areas of fire and rescue, the military and especially the surgical field, where he sees the camera being used as an advanced endoscope. [BBC]
You ever find yourself stuck at a traffic light that'll just never turn green? Doesn't it feel like forever? If traffic lights used this this concept LED Sand Glass, you'll know exactly how much time is left. Here's how it works:
It's an incredibly simple idea: LED lights trickle down in a virtual sand glass that countdowns how much more Red and Green there will be. When it approaches 3 seconds left, the LEDs switch to yellow and give you an exact count on what's left.
Could it work? Maybe. But how it turns yellow before it turns green AND red could be a little confusing (though some traffic lights already do that, so maybe not!). [Yanko Design]
发 表 于:
2010.11.22 11:30:07 AM
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I'm Sure Aliens Will Hide In the Taiwan Tower
I thought Dubai and Shanghai had the craziest, most futuristic architecture in the planet. Sorry Taiwan, you and your Taiwan Tower—a 984-foot (300 meter) high structure with mechanized observation platforms that float using helium and propellers—win.
Originally conceptualized by Romanian architect Stefan Dorin, the tower will be the tallest building in Taichung, Taiwan. At its base, the tower will include a museum, restaurant, offices and a conference center, while the pods—filled with helium and powered by propellers—will glide up and down the tower, tethered to tracks, carrying 50 to 80 people that will be able to enjoy a panoramic view of the island and the sea. Like a Ferris wheel from space, in vertical format.
According to the designers, the floating observatories are inspired by video games. To me, the whole thing seems to belong inside EVE Online. The design will be the base for the real project, which is scheduled to begin in 2012. [DSBA via Dezeen, EarthTime and Pop-Sci]
发 表 于:
2010.11.22 11:45:04 AM
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fluid filled dress: mind blown, head tripping
Minneapolis artist Charlie Bucket (not the kid from Willy Wonka) knit himself a dress. But this thing isn’t just any old garment. The dress is made from 600 feet of knitted plastic tubing, filled with luminescent fluid.
The whole dress is then connected to a pumping backpack which precisely times the movement of the fluids – resulting in an amazing lightshow. But enough of my yakkin’. Watch, and be mesmerized…
Trippy, no? Now all he has to do is figure out a way to make it truly portable, and he’d be able to sell thousands of these for rave-goers.
发 表 于:
2010.11.24 11:56:38 AM
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The Viva Light Tower
The Viva Light Tower is a lamp post but totally independent from the grid. It derives its power from three natural sources; sun, wind, and biochemical. Seems like an interesting idea but looks quite expensive to implement, but hey – lamp posts and street lights need a massive upgrade if we’re to cut emissions by the year 2020. This is one idea that could see our way there.
OK, OK. Fine. Travelling at 12 MPH across all seven emirates and breaking obscure world records over a period of 11 days in some hot-ass weather and breaking obscure world records is pretty rugged, especially when it's totally carbon-neutral. But next time, this thing better be powered by cold fusion and brainwaves. [Treehugger via Pop Sci]
The images are incredibly basic now, but Raskar and his team see huge potential in the areas of fire and rescue, the military and especially the surgical field, where he sees the camera being used as an advanced endoscope. [
