Sensor

Eleksen Fabric Sensors

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I saw UK based Eleksen at the CES 2005 and was quite impressed what fabrics can do these days.

Jackets with fabric buttons to control MP3 Players are already on the market. Eleksen also makes those. Another fun application are fabric sensors in recliner chairs. The Eleksen fabric senses pressure and stops the chair when it would start flatting the dog under the chair.
Besides simple pressure the eleksen fabrics also can recognize gestures. The fabric sensor has full X, Y and Z axis measurement capability. I saw that in action at the show. ElekTex™ technology is a laminate of fabric layers forming a highly flexible touch sensor that is only 0.6mm thick.

Besides touch sensors, Eleksen also has bend and moisture fabric sensors. I am sure we will soon see many more gadgets that have a fabric casing and fabric based input control.
More details on the Eleksen site.

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Posted on Tue, 1 Feb 2005 08:35:03 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

New Toshiba Notebook with RAID and 3D Shock Sensor

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Toshiba announces four new notebooks in Japan that support RAID and feature a 3D motion sensor for shock detection.

The Toshiba Dynabook SS LX and the L10 feature a 14.1 type SXGA display and weigh 1.99kg. When a 2nd hard-drive is installed both notebooks can be configured for RAID. The new 3D motion sensor shock protection is supposedly the world's first. Apparently former shock sensors are only 2D.

The other two new Toshiba Notebooks (Dynabook SS MX and M10) feature a 12.1" screen.
More details in Toshiba Press-Release (Japanese). Toshiba Notebook Bestsellers.

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Posted on Wed, 19 Jan 2005 00:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Samsung Announces Motion Sensor Phone

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Samsung announced the upcoming SCH-S310 motion sensor cell phone. The phone is unique in that it will be the first to recognize human spatial movement and gestures, and translate it into phone commands. For example, if the phone is playing an MP3, you could swing it to the right to advance it to the next track. Samsung believes that this may be able to take the place of old fashioned button pressing.

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Posted on Thu, 13 Jan 2005 02:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

New NTT Docomo 3G F901iC Fingerprint Sensor Phone

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NTT Docomo introduces another feature-packed FOMA 3G mobile phone - F901iC.

The F901iC features the FeliCa payment chip, fingerprint authentication sensor, Video recording at speeds up to 30 frames/second, virtual surround sound for ring tones, mini-SD card slot, two color screens and two digital cameras: 2MP and 0.3MP.

The F901iC measures 105 x 51 x 28 mm and weighs 129g.
More details in NTT press-release.

Other Recent FOMA 3G Phone Announcements:
First NTT FOMA 3G Phone for International Roaming
New NTT Foma 3G Phone Line-Up
NTT DoCoMo launches WLAN 3G N900iL Mobile Phone

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Posted on Mon, 20 Dec 2004 08:49:33 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Infrared Sensor Shoes for the Blind

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Apparently Antonin Kaspara from Czech invented a low-cost smart shoe that warns about obsticles for blind people.

A infrared sensor detects light reflected back from potential obstacles and indicates this via a vibrating device in the sole of the shoe.
The "seeing" shoe could be on the market next year. The enhancing electronics cost about $20.
Full story on Ananova.

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Posted on Sun, 21 Nov 2004 06:20:11 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

RFideas pcProx Sonar Presence USB Sensor Review

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We reported about the RFideas pcProx Sonar USB presence sensor a week ago.

RFideas sent us now their interesting USB gadget for review.
The pcProx is a proximity zone detector that sends different keystrokes for walk-away and walk-up conditions. The idea is to automatically lock a PC when the user is walking away. If you have a sneaky room-mate or do not want your boss to see that you spent time again on I4U by forgetting to log-off when leaving your PC, the pcProx Sonar is your solution.
Read our full review.

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Posted on Mon, 15 Nov 2004 10:46:59 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Epson developed World's Smallest Gyro-Sensor

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Seiko Epson developed the smallest available Gyro-Sensor with built-in circuitry.

Why does the world need it? This sensor can be used in compact digital cameras and camera-phones to offer high-performance motion correction and stability.
The gyro-chip measures 5.0 x 3.2 x 1.3mm. The XV-3500CB will go in mass production end of the year.
More details in Seiko Epson Press-Release and on NE Asia.

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Posted on Tue, 3 Aug 2004 09:41:22 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Fujitsu LooX T Notebook with Fingerprint Sensor built-in

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The Fujitsu (Biblio) LooX T series Notebooks will use fingerprint ID technology for user authentication for Windows OS and other applications. The ID system reads the user's fingerprint with a sensor in the touchpad.

The LooX T series runs Intel Centrino chip-set. The LooX T Series weighs about 1.21kg and incorporates a 9.5mm CD/DVD drive to stay under 32.2mm thickness.

Fujitsu released a bunch of new Notebooks, which ones will be available on the US or European Market is not clear.
More on Fujitsu Product Page (japanese).

Read also our Fingerprint ID Thumb-Drive Review.

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Posted on Mon, 26 Apr 2004 00:20:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Mobile Sensor Pen

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Story by:
lunacy8m
GadgetMadness.com

The Mobile Sensor Pen operates at a frequency range of 800Mhz-1800z and will start flashing if you have an incoming call on your cell phone. According to the web site, you can avoid becoming a "social pariah" by setting your phone to 'silent ring' in public areas and use this pen to alert you of incoming calls. Effective distance is 2 meters, and the included AG3 mercury batteries give this pen a run time of about 300 hours. The Mobile Sensor Pen will also alert when wireless cameras are nearby, which is a nice bonus. Sadly, no information is available about if it actually writes as a pen, but we assume it does, right?

More details on the Mobile Sensor Pen at IwantOneOfThose.

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Posted on Wed, 10 Mar 2004 08:53:57 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

The Future: EFS Electric Field Sensor System - A Gesture Based Interface

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The German Fraunhofer Institut for Medienkommunikation [IMK] develops a gesture based interface based on electric field sensing principle.

The EFS react directly on the physical condition and properties of the human body such as capacitance and conductance. This metaphorically exemplifies the attempt to explore new ways of reading the human body with computer systems, starting with their physical properties. Interaction is based on "body mapping"- no single point of the body is controlling the interface, instead any part can affect the resulting effects. Spatial memory, spatial thinking and feeling are the basis of interaction using EFS. Read more on the project web page.

The navigation in 3D is still an unsolved problem. The keyboard mouse combination every hard-core First person shooter player is using is just a crutch. But it is currently still the most efficient way to navigate in 3D virtual spaces. Maybe EFS can be the solution.

See Also:
Heliodisplay - 3D display like R2D2
The Future Of The Desktop ?
Matrix Halloween Adult Costumes
The Matrix Revolutions Hits Theatres November 5th

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