Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Sunday, July 06, 2008

The UBiqWindow: Google Earth Hologram Device You'll Want [Google Earth]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/326653833/the-ubiqwindow-google-earth-hologram-device-youll-want

If you can forgive the crap music, you'll just love this video of Google Earth mashed up with a hologram machine. This is real, and I want one very, very badly. By combining a 2D mid-air projection system and motion sensors, the device gives you a gesture-based interface for exploring the world. The term "badass" springs to mind. [UBiqWindow via GED via GEB]

NASA Shows Off Fireworks In Space [July 4th]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/327395825/nasa-shows-off-fireworks-in-space

Before we completely bid adieu to our nation's birthday, we here at Gizmodo would like to give one more shout out to the fourth of July. Seems like even the stars in the sky can't resist putting up a display for good ol' American freedom. These red-white-and-blue pictures of Supernova remnant SN 1006 are what's left over from a star explosion first observed by humans in year 1006.

The flash in the sky is a remnant of a blast 7,000 light-years away in the Lupus constellation. Scientists say that it was the brightest observed supernova in recorded history, and that the light from the explosion could be seen in the daytime for weeks afterward.

The supernova sent a shockwave that traveled outwards at nearly 20 million mph. In the 1960s, radio astronomers first detected the ring of material pushed out by the shockwave. With the latest imagery, released by the Hubble Space Telescope's science team, you can see a gossamer stripe with starlight shining through it – the rocket's red glare indeed.

[Cosmiclog]

ST-2 Indoor Shooting Simulator Is Duck Hunt on Steroids [Shooting Simulator]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/327612838/st+2-indoor-shooting-simulator-is-duck-hunt-on-steroids

For the ultimate game of Duck Hunt, Marksman Training Systems is offering the ST-2 shooting simulator—the first on the market for shotgun and rifle shooting. Co-developed by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, the simulator is so accurate that its used by Russian and Slovakian national clay shooting teams as a way to practice before the Olympics.

The ST-2 gives exact feedback after every shot, including hit position and a replay of the aiming movement. Results can be saved and kept in a file to record short- and long-term progress. You can even bring your own gun, which can be hooked up to the system's programs. Pricing is on a case by case basis, but you can expect this outfit to cost a pretty penny. Snickering dog not included. [Marksman Training Systems via Born Rich]

Sony Gets Serious With Another Next-Gen Display Tech: FED, Like CRT But Really Thin [Sony]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/327626171/sony-gets-serious-with-another-next+gen-display-tech-fed-like-crt-but-really-thin

Sony is probably OLED's most vocal prophet as the TV of the future. But according to Nikkei, they're hedging their bets and getting more serious with another next-gen display tech: field emission display, which is a lot like a good ol' cathode ray tube, except that it's super thin—it has all the benefits too, like deep blacks and zero motion blur. A "dream panel" says Nikkei. Plus, they're easier to build at large sizes than OLED TVs. Sony just agreed to take over a plant run by Pioneer to begin mass production of FED panels in late 2009 after holding the tech at arm's length for years.

Sony's plans for FED displays are to push them to broadcasting and medical apps first, building slowly, rather than to jump right into the high-stakes plasma/LCD war, where nobody's making money thanks to the very bloody price war. Then it'll inch into the consumer market, first with 60-inch displays (at the level they can be more profitable, obviously). Looks like after plasma vs. LCD, we might have yet another fight on our hands: FED vs. OLED. [Nikkei]

Sharp brings TV to the powerless

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/326518041/

Filed under: Displays

Forget schools, forget lighting, forget easy access to drinking water... it's that sweet TV goodness that people living off the grid really need. Well, that and laptops. You're looking at Sharp's 26-inch LCD prototype which uses just a quarter of the power (or a third measured annually) of a conventional CRT with the same screen size. That's low enough to be suitably powered by a Sharp, triple-junction thin-film solar cell module whose surface area is roughly equivalent to that of the LCD screen. Sharp hopes to market the two items as a pair in a bid to "contribute to the environment." Good thing too, 'cause nothing fills a billion empty bellies like an eye-full of boob-candy.

[Via Impress]

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