Here First - Science and Technology Blog

SixthSense is the latest effort from Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry. The setup features a camera, a projector, a little mirror, phone and colored caps. The components communicates with the cellphone that will access all the data you need. The system tracks the four fingers and recognizes various gestures (zoom in/out, take a picture, organize, resize). It's still a work in progress but its capabilities are just amazing. Price: $350.

We live in a fast world, and technology changed the life of many. Some will argue that the theory that all technology around us brings us closer is amazing, but in reality many of us are all the time on their cell phones and rarely interact face to face. Amber Case argue that all the gadgets we have today are in fact an extension of ourselves, a digital alter ego. I like the theory of bending time and space with voice-calling applications like Skype. via Crazy Cool Gadgets

The BiDi Screen is an example of a new type of I/O device that possesses the ability to both capture images and display them. This thin, bidirectional screen extends the latest trend in LCD devices, which has seen the incorporation of photo-diodes into every display pixel. Using a novel optical masking technique developed at the Media Lab, the BiDi Screen can capture lightfield-like quantities, unlocking a wide array of applications from 3-D gesture interaction with CE devices, to seamless video communication. http://web.media.mit.edu/~mhirsch/bidi/ Video credits: M Hirsch, MIT Media Lab

The first mobile phone based on Android, which is software supported by Google, will debut this fall. We know a lot about the phone’s looks already: Made by HTC, it will have a touch screen and a slide-out Qwerty keyboard, according to this story. But today, Moe Tanabian, senior principal at IBB Consulting who has seen the device, has been able to give me a lot more details on its software. Software is, in fact, what will make or break this gadget, which some call the gPhone. There have been plenty of touch-screen iPhone clones already, several of them from HTC. They’ve done well, but not nearly as well as Apple’s iPhone. Could the Android phone change that? Perhaps. Here’s Tanabian’s run-down on the Android phone’s software features: — If you want to receive push e-mail, you’ll have to use Google’s Gmail. It’s unclear that the phone will support Microsoft Exchange. — The phone will have access to upcoming T-Mobile App Store, which will be very similar to Apple’s store featuring third-...

Furukawa, a Tokyo-based tech company, has developed a thermoelectric conversion material that's said to be able to boost the fuel efficiency of cars by 2% by converting about 7% of exhaust heat into electricity. Unlike conventional thermoelectric conversion materials, which warm up as a whole when one side is exposed to heat, this new material generates energy via the difference in temperature between its two sides. Apparently, that makes it much more efficient. They're currently working to improve the system, but they hope to have it ready for mass production by 2011, at which point that 2% will solve the gas crisis single-handedly. Just hang in there for a few more years!

How do you feel about looking like a sweat band-wearer straight out of the 80s? You’re okay with that? How about if we add in an awkward wire extending out of the forehead area? Don’t worry about looking cool. You’ll be asleep for most of the time. These are the Sleep Headphones, straight from the pages of Etsy. The Sleep Headphones are made to fit comfortably around your head and ears while you sleep. Wearing a big set of muff headphones just doesn’t do the trick when your trying to pass out. But then again, listening to your significant other’s persistent snoring isn’t doing much for your sleeping habits either. The Sleep Headphones look like they could be worn all night without a hitch. Totally custom honed for your sleeping pleasure, the Sleeping Headphones come shipped with a soothing audio CD and a pleasantly girly lavender-colored sachet. Used in correlation with some aroma therapy and maybe a nice glass of wine, nothing will be able to wake you up from your deep slumber. It’s...

Cisco Field will become the Oakland A’s new baseball stadium when the Green and Yellow say goodbye to Oakland Alameda County Coliseum in 2012 and when it does come online, it will be doing so literally as their sponsor, Cisco Systems, will be wiring all 35,000 seats with wireless interactive touch screens. Fans will be able to look up stats, keep score, and even order a beer or hot dog directly through the interface (and probably pay for it with your credit card while other fans overlook and copy down your number). With complete access to various team stats and the ability to order food and drinks directly, and there’s a promise of what the A’s are calling a virtual “autograph session” as fans will be able to talk with their with favorite players through teleconferencing (yeah, we’ll see if that flies). The touch screens will guarantee an entertaining baseball experience for their fans whether the As, who placed 26 out of 30 teams last year, are winning or not. And there’s a practical ...

A n American diplomat was at a dinner party in a Japanese home when he excused himself to go to the bathroom. He did his business, stood up and realized he didn't have a clue about how to flush the toilet. The diplomat speaks Japanese, but he was still baffled by the colorful array of buttons on the complicated keypad on the toilet. So he just started pushing. He hit the noisemaker button that makes a flushing sound to mask any noise you might be making in the john. He hit the button that starts the blow-dryer for your bottom. Then he hit the bidet button and watched helplessly as a little plastic arm, sort of a squirt gun shaped like a toothbrush, appeared from the back of the bowl and began shooting a stream of warm water across the room and onto the mirror. And that's how one of America's promising young Foreign Service officers ended up frantically wiping down a Japanese bathroom with a wad of toilet paper. "It was one of my most embarrassing experiences in Japan,...