South Korean scientists have unleashed their first android upon an unsuspecting populace. EverR-1 is a humanoid robot that can understand speech, speak responses that are synchronized with the movement of her lips, blink with her eyes, and move her arms and hands. Ever-1 can also make detailed facial expressions ranging from joy to sorrow and happiness to anger, an emotion Korean robot manufacturers seem to enjoy. The lower half of her body is currently immobile, but her creators are planning to give her the ability to sit and stand by the end of the year. Other improvements will be to continue to up her creepiness level until not even innocent kids care to caress her lifeless face.
Sensatex, a leading electronic textile company, has initiated a Beta launch of its flagship SmartShirt System. The SmartShirt measures and transmits a wearer's heart rate, movement, and respiration rate using a conductive fiber grid that is knit into the material of the shirt. The shirt could eventually be used to remotely monitor the health of senior citizens, outpatients, training athletes, truck drivers, and soldiers. An additional idea would be to make a little SmartShirt sweater for your cat. That way, when you leave your cat alone for a few weeks, you can remotely check on him to make sure he's still doing okay. Swap out the word 'cat' with 'neglected toddler,' and the concept still applies.
LED Signs on Toronto's subway cars were flashing messages implying that Canada's prime minister "eats babies." The electronic advertising system, which usually displays transit updates and advertisements, started flashing the phrase "Stephen Harper Eats Babies" every three seconds late last week. The transit commuter system was forced to shut down the screens on Monday in order to repair the problem. Stephanie Sorensen, spokesperson for the transit system, announced that they "assume" it was the work of a hacker, and it "appears" to be a case of electronic vandalism. She followed that announcement by saying "We'll probably never find out who did this, and we should probably stop looking. Also, we'll never figure out who spray painted 'Stephanie hates Harper' all over the train cars, so let's all just move on with our lives."
I'm sure you were excited when you found that you could customize your car's wheels with LED pictures, but what about people people whose only mode of transportation is by dirigible? The Lightships Group has them covered with the A-170 Video Lightsign Airship. Measuring 30 feet by 70 feet, the color screen can broadcast "live TV, internet sites, stock tickers, slide shows" and marriage proposals from guys just too lazy to actually ask their fiances. This blimp ushers in a new age of advertising where "flying electronic billboards" crowd the sky and giant videos of Paris Hilton eating a cheeseburger eclipse the sun. I think we can all agree that the night sky will be much more beautiful when it's filled with videos of monkeys talking on cell phones.
Kaya Special Optics specializes in optics and lenses that enable regular cameras to see through various types of materials. Placing Kaya's Infrared filters on certain consumer cameras and camcorders instantly creates images that "visually penetrate an object's surface to see what lies below." According to their website, their filters can capture images through fog, haze, tinted car windows and sunglasses, inks, dyes, pigments, make up, and, of course, certain types of clothes. If these lenses gain popularity, there might just be a resurgence in the lead underwear market, finally paying off for those of us who bought into the "solar radiation makes your testicles explode" rumor of 1997.
The Medical Technology company Luminetx has begun shipping the VeinViewer, an instrument that uses infrared light to clearly project the location of veins onto the surface of skin. Although the VeinViewer can be used to find veins for drawing blood and inserting IV's, its main purpose is to assist with difficult procedures that require a great deal of precision, like inserting catheters and removing varicose and spider veins. It has also been suggested that VeinViewer could be used to find the fragile, elusive veins of children, the eldery, and unconscious fans. The VeinViewer is currently priced at $25,000, so it may take a while before you see one in your neighborhood doctor's office.