Musings and Mutterings

Paper screens could provide depth to computer display - tech - 03 December 2009 - New Scientist

The paper has targets that are reflective in the infrared, allowing the position and orientation of the paper to be tracked to within 1 cm. The positional data of the paper is then used to change the image being projected onto the paper, giving it the illusion of allowing you to see slices of a 3D space.

3-D light system revolutionizes way fingerprints are taken | NetworkWorld.com Community

University of Kentucky researchers have developed a system that can automatically acquire 10 fingerprints in high resolution in less than 10 seconds using a structured light system. The system captures a 3-dimensional image of the surface of each finger, then flattens them into a 2D virtual fingerprint. It can also capture fingerprints from the 5% of the population who have fingerprints too warn down to be reproduced using traditional ink-rolling.

Google has introduced a few new software "toys" recently

1) FOXNews.com - Where Are Your Friends and Family? Check Google Maps - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News
"Latitude" allows users to let themselves be tracked by other users so that an icon of them shows up on their friend's Google Maps view.

2) New Google Mars Reveals the Red Planet in 3-D
Google Earth recently announced a module called Virtual Mars that lets you visit Mars, even soar through canyons and mountain ranges. The offering is based on 3D data of the Martian surface that has been made available to the public.

3) New Google Ocean Takes Google Earth Beyond the "Dirt"
Space may be one "final frontier", but not the only one. Google Earth has also released a module called Ocean that lets users visit Earth's aquatic depths, even soar through canyons and mountain ranges. Yes, I meant to say it again. The offering is holed to raise awareness of the beauty and fragility of our oceans.

According to Wired, Battlestar Galactica fans will be interested to learn that many of the props used on the show will be available for sale in January, including a full-sized Viper fighter and various costumes.

PhysOrg presents and interesting article on the challenges involved in generating a high-resolution 3D model of the Palazzo Medici in Italy.

University of Laval researchers have developed an adaptive mirror made from iron particles suspended in antifreeze (what is referred to a a ferrofluid) and coated with silver grains. The resulting mirror can be reshaped using a magnetic field, allowing it to quickly compensate for distortion in fields like astronomy and opthomology.

A recent study by the University of Nevada has concluded that, contrary to popular belief, static stretching of muscles before exercising may, in fact, weaken them, sometimes by as much as 30 percent. They recommend a brief, no more than 5 or 10 minute, aerobic warm-up to raise muscle temperature before stretching, something many modern coaches now advise, but suggest recommend dynamic, rather than static stretches to avoid the inhibitory response that causes muscle weakness.

Forensic investigators' work may just have gotten harder with a new breed of cleaners that use oxygen rather than chlorine. It seems that the oxygen will destroy hemoglobin. Chlorine has been used to remove bloodstains but the hemoglobin was still detectable after more than 10 washings.

Ottawa graffiti artists have taken to acid-etching their work into glass surfaces around the city, presenting a new and expensive headache for the city and store owners who must replace entire sheets of glass to remove the artwork.

3D is becoming big business, so I'm devoting this post to the plethora of 3D-related technologies that are emerging. I have a particular interest in this area, given that I am a researcher in 3D measurement technologies.

( Images under the cut )

Canadian songwriters propose collective licensing - This Slashdot article links to a proposal by the Songwriters Association of Canada in which each internet and wireless customer in Canada pays a $5 yearly fee, and in return can freely share any and all music they purchase as they see fit. They money would be distributed among songwriters, performers, music publishers and record labels.

Stanford offers free conversion of photos to 3D - Researchers at Stanford university have made available a new online service (http://make3d.stanford.edu/) to test drive a new process that attempts to infer 3D structures from a single 2D image. The process uses a Markov Random Field to infer the position and orientation of each a 3D patch corresponding to each point in the image, and from that generate a mesh model. The original image is then laid over the 3D mesh to allow you to perform a limited fly-through of the image.

You can save lives or save money - A research group in the Netherlands has determined that smokers and obese people cost less to a health care system in the long run because they die sooner. Meanwhile, thin and healthy people cost the system the most because they tended to live longest. The conclusion was that reducing smoking and obesity rates will increase, not decrease, overall health care costs.

US privacy board is running on empty - In 2007, the Privacy and Civil Liberty Oversight Board was created  to keep an eye on US anti-terrorist activities to ensure that the privacy and civil liberties of US citizens were being safeguarded. The terms for all members of the board expired on January 30th, but no candidates have yet been nominated to sit on the board.

Shapeshifting robots from magnetic swarms - New Scientist reports on attempts by US researchers to build "claytronic" robots that cling together, allowing them to assume any shape. Follow the link to view a video of what they envision to be the outcome of this research. In larger test robots, electromagnetism was used to share power, communicate, move, and sense their environment. The test robots had wheels, but they were unpowered so they could only maneuver using their electromagnets and by working together.

Source: BBC News Indian researchers have developed a hand-held scanner that is able detect potentially dangerous blot clots on the surface of the brain. These clots often expand, putting pressure on the brain, leading to death if the problem is not detected quickly enough. The device has drawn the interest of the US Navy who hope to use it to diagnose similar injuries in the battlefield.

Source: BBC News Russia is proceeding with the construction of the first floating nuclear power plant. More than a dozen countries have expressed interest in purchasing a similar plant to address their own demands for electricity. The 70-megawatt plant is expected to be completed by 2012 and will supply energy to a ship-building operation in the Russian Arctic that builds nuclear submarines. They are confident that, in the event of an accident, the radiation damage will be contained to a 1-kilometer radius.

Source: Globe and Mail Australian researchers have succeeded in splitting the beer atom.... no, not really, but they have discovered a way to generate clean energy while brewing some good Aussie suds. The process uses waste material, generated when beer is brewed, to power a microbial fuel cell. The 2,500 litre cell then converts the waste into electricity and clean water. The system is expected to generate two kilowatts of power, which is small, but can be used to reduce the electrical demands of the brewery. More importantly, the system eliminates the waste material that would otherwise have to be processed using more expensive methods.

Source: Coolest Gadgets IdeaLab's Desktop Factory is a 3D printer that fits on a desktop and can generate plastic 3D parts from model schematics supplied by a PC. The system costs about $7,000(US), not too much more than a specialty printer. The device is well suited to places like tech schools where students can design and build low-cost prototypes and mock-ups.

Source: Sci Fi Tech When making microchips, capacitance is your enemy. IBM is proposing a new process that uses self-generating polymers to create vacuum pockets around wiring, thus, eliminating the problem of capacitance. They expect to see a speed increase of 35% and a increase in energy efficiency of 15%. This means cooler, faster chips. They hope to have the process up to commercial scale by 2009.

Edit: Found a better picture for the 3D printer at Engadget.

Source: XYZ-RGB Corp

From their web site:

XYZ Imaging Inc. is the world’s first holographic printing bureau capable of creating production ready multi-resolution, full color, reflective holograms from pure digital media. This technology uses patented holographic technology developed over a 6 year timeframe at a cost of nearly $ 23 Million US dollars. Combined with a revolutionary emulsion that is more than 300 times finer than ISO 300 film on a super wide format that measures over 1 m wide, allowing for the production of never-before-seen large format holographic prints with a single sheet size of: 1m wide x 1.2m long or longer (based on the length of the film roll).

What is a hologram? A hologram is a three-dimensional scene with an incredible illusion of depth and motion that is unlike anything you've seen before. These holograms can be appreciated without glasses or a special viewing device. XYZ Imaging has created a new breed of large format, color static (non-rainbow) reflective holograms that astound viewers, gathers crowds and becomes the hot topic of conversation wherever they are displayed.

There's not much more to it except to say that it has to be seen to believed. A potential extension of this is to figure out how to replace the chemical emulsion with a digital display to animate it.  Check out the video of a soccer playing bouncing a ball and this advertisement for Final Fantasy.