Your's Web Tech Power Blog's: Oct 22, 2010

Friday, October 22, 2010

Latest Posts on Coolest Gadgets

Samsung Portable X-ray Machine
New augmented reality system at Digital Content Expo 2010
Diminished Reality: The World is a cleaner, scarier place
Gadget Thumbnails for 20-Oct-2010

Posted: 21 Oct 2010 04:39 PM PDT

I remember seeing that Will Smith movie The Pursuit of Happyness where he is trying to sell a bone density scanner.

Clearly, he was in the wrong business, because I can’t remember the last time I had my bones checked out by a bone density scanner. I believe that the main character is quoted as saying that it gave a readout twice as blurry as an X-ray. However, Samsung is planning to get in the mobile X-ray business with this portable X-ray detector.

This detector is apparently attached to some monitor that converts the captured X-ray image right onto the screen. This certainly would make it a lot easier for doctors that have to leave the office. Aren’t most X-rays these big old machines that take up a whole lot of space?

Of course, I have heard that X-rays have this whole radiation thing about them. Samsung says that their portable X-ray solution is less harmful than conventional X-ray machines and can even bring a more accurate diagnosis.

They also say that “the benefits of using such a device include less trouble for patients who suffer from severe musculoskeletal pain”.

I suppose this is just precursor to days when we can do a harmless X-ray in realtime. We’re pretty close to that now, aren’t we?

Source

Coolest Gadgets UK – For all your UK centric tech and gadget news.
[ Samsung Portable X-ray Machine copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

New augmented reality system at Digital Content Expo 2010

Posted: 21 Oct 2010 04:13 PM PDT

Just when I thought I was finished reporting on realtime digital video alteration with diminished reality, I see this.

This RT2 chara AR Project was on display at the Digital Content Expo 2010, and it is a very interesting augmented reality experience that has to have three studios in three different places to make some interesting videos. You can see them after the jump.

It looks like the person wearing a motion capture suit (which looks like it is from the Kick-Ass movie) is at the convention itself, while more technology for these augmented reality effects are located elsewhere. This comes in handy with the lady with the jellyfish.

My Source calls this some sort of possible holodeck, but I think that is jumping the gun a little bit. I mean, isn’t the point of a holodeck supposed to be something where a user immerses him or herself in some unreal place? However, this looks like a way for others to see someone in another environment, or record themselves somewhere else, I suppose.

So as it is, I really can only see this being used in Hollywood for special effects, really. Motion capture has been used for a lot of CG movies, and I suppose anything that can improve on those would be worth it.

Source

Coolest Gadgets UK – For all your UK centric tech and gadget news.
[ New augmented reality system at Digital Content Expo 2010 copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Diminished Reality: The World is a cleaner, scarier place

Posted: 21 Oct 2010 03:38 PM PDT

I remember thinking that augmented reality was the neatest thing, and I have to admit that diminished reality is another cool development in real-time video alteration.

If you have never heard of diminished reality, it is technology developed by a team of researchers at Technische Universitat Ilmenau in Germany, and it is probably the antonym of augmented reality.

So what is it? Diminished reality is technology that can remove selected objects from video recordings, in real-time. I have a video of it after the jump so you can see it in action.

See in the picture how the stapler, phone, and other assorted office supplies just vanish from the desktop there? Now imagine the camera moving to the left and right, and those objects are still gone.

Believe it or not, it was as easy as circling this object on a screen, and then begin filming. There are a lot of examples of it on film, and you may notice that the area where things have been removed is slightly blurry, like a Romulan cloaking device.

I don’t know about you, but I am a little skeptical about technology that makes things invisible in real-time. I suppose that makes Live newscasts selective of what they can show, but that may not be a good thing. I don’t know why I always see new technology in a dystopian sense.